The New Orleans Pelicans dropped their preseason finale to go 1-3 in the games that don’t matter.
Even though it is only the preseason, there were some positives to take away, as well as some troubling trends that we hope don’t carry into the regular season.
The Pelicans were without Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram for most of it (Ingram played one game) so it’s tough to really get a gauge of where they are as a team.
There were some things to like and some clear changes from last season, but we will have to wait and see the team at full strength to know if those changes will translate into wins.
You can’t get too worked up over preseason either way, but there were some good, bad and flat-out ugly takeaways from these four games.
Let’s start with the good.
New Orleans Pelicans: Trey Murphy III and the bench
Trey Murphy III was the Pelicans’ best player in preseason, which is positive sign for the rookie, who looks like one of the steals from last year’s draft.
Murphy III finished the four games averaging 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, which both led the team, while shooting 53.1 percent from long range. He played solid defense at several different spots and looked like a guy who is ready for the league.
He could end up in the starting lineup, especially if Zion Williamson has to miss some games to start the season.
The bench wasn’t always great but the Pels did showcase more depth and much more defensive versatility from their bench units in the preseason. Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III and Naji Marshall are going to allow the Pelicans to run out their own version of a small-ball lineup that should be effective in bursts and allow the Pels to create mismatches.
Most of the positives from the preseason revolved around the rookies, as both TM3 and Jones were very good and looked like guys who will be ready to contribute right away.
Now onto the bad.