New Orleans Pelicans: 5 reasons for optimism in the new year

5 reasons to be optimistic about the New Orleans Pelicans

Willie Green was the right choice

One thing has become abundantly clear this season: The New Orleans Pelicans chose the right coach.

I wasn’t thrilled with the choice of Stan Van Gundy, nor that the Pelicans were entering this season with their third coach in as many years.

But Willie Green has this team playing with heart and effort that they haven’t shown before. The young Pels are clearly buying in and this is not the same team as years past.

He’s has as many challenges as any coach in the league, yet has been a calming presence who has gotten the most out of what he’s had to work with. I can’t wait for the future with coach Green and to see what he can do with a full roster.

The New Orleans Pelicans are the best “bad” team in the Western Conference

The bottom of the West has not been good this season, but if you look at the teams that are there, the Pelicans are really the only one heading in the right direction.

Unlike almost all of the other teams, the Pels have never been at full strength this season, so the fact that they are even sniffing the play-in tournament while missing a lot of games from their best players, shows this team is trending up.

Let’s take a look at some of these other teams:

• Houston Rockets: They stink, and just had a fight in their locker room. Good times, in Houston!
• Trail Blazers: A mess with no clear way to get better except to trade their superstar for ten cents on the dollar.
• OKC Thunder: The one team on this list that seems to be getting better and has some nice pieces to build around but they are still a LONG way from being good.
• Spurs: Surprisingly frisky this season but would you rather build around Dejounte Murray or Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram?
• Kings: They are still the Sacramento Kings and are about to drive Alvin Gentry insane with their poor effort.

The Pelicans are the best of the this lot (not saying much) and would almost certainly be ahead of all of them if they were even remotely healthy. Being the best of the worst is not anyone’s goal, but at least the New Orleans Pelicans have a clear path to improvement.

The last year was pretty much trash for the entire world, including the New Orleans Pelicans, but things are looking up.