The 3 biggest strengths of the New Orleans Pelicans roster

The New Orleans Pelicans have put together a much-different roster than the one that finished 11th in the Western Conference last season.

The starting backcourt will be completely different with Lonzo Ball and Eric Bledsoe traded away and the center position will be occupied by Jonas Valanciunas instead of Steven Adams.

The Pels are a lot younger than last season and will have some new faces in the starting lineup that they are counting on to make an impact.

I think it’s fair to say that this is not a championship caliber roster and that it has some huge flaws, namely that there might not be enough shooting and the Pels are relying heavily on unproven players in their first, second or third year in the league.

That being said, the New Orleans Pelicans roster also has some strengths that new head coach Willie Green can use to his advantage. I think he’ll do things much differently than Stan Van Gundy, especially defensively, which will lead to some additional wins next season.

Here are the strengths he can work around.

The New Orleans Pelicans roster is versatile

I think the biggest difference between last year’s roster and this one is that the New Orleans Pelicans are far more versatile.

Last season the Pels had several key players in J.J. Redick, Nicolo Melli, Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams who could really only guard one position (if that) and weren’t very dynamic players on either end.

With guys like Josh Hart, Trey Murphy III, Naji Marshall and Nickeil Alexander-Walker playing large roles this season, the Pelicans should be more versatile defensively and much better equipped to try and stop the wings who dominate the Western Conference.

Willie Green will have a ton of lineups to choose from and can mix-and-match much longer, more athletic defenders with his bench unit and starting lineup.

The Pelicans won’t be burdened by guys who can only do one thing and have a dynamic roster with more weapons and athletes.