Expert is not a fan of New Orleans Pelicans offseason

David Aldridge – if you’ve been following basketball for some time, you’ve surely heard that name before. That’s because he’s been doing what he does for quite a long time, and he’s damn good at his job too. Some would even venture to say he’s an expert at his craft.

And it looks like this expert isn’t too high on the New Orleans Pelicans offseason. In an article for The Athletic, Aldridge began a mini-series where he ranked the offseason of all 30 NBA teams.

As is the case with most ranking articles, he started with the teams he was the lowest on. And considering the Pelicans were included in this first article, that’s probably a sign that he wasn’t too keen on what they did during the offseason.

Overall, he ranked the Pelicans 23rd of 30 teams – just ahead of the Orlando Magic and just below the Minnesota Timberwolves. Here is what he had to say to justify his ranking:

"“Maybe this is a little low for the Pels, given how much I like Hawkins, who’s been taught the game at two of the best hoops programs on earth: DeMatha Catholic High School (One DeMatha!) and UConn, where Hawkins helped lead the Huskies to their fifth national championship. But New Orleans’ future is still tied directly to Williamson, so who knows at this point? The Pelicans have everyone else in place; they need their star to tie it all together. At some point in the future, New Orleans is going to have to decide what the long-term play is with Williamson. Liddell will lengthen the rotation after missing all of what would have been his rookie season.”"

The good news here is that Aldridge likes our 2023 first-round pick, Jordan Hawkins. But Aldridge, like everyone else, knows that the fate of this team hinges on our superstar Zion Williamson.

There is a YouTube video created by Thinking Basketball titled “Why everything depends on Anthony Davis.” There, the video’s author is referring to how important Davis is to the fate of the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors second-round series.

That title reminds me of what Williamson means to the Pelicans entire season. It all depends on Williamson. If he’s hurt again, the season is sunk. But if he’s healthy, let’s just say Aldridge is going to need to revise his offseason rankings.