We’re at the point of the off-season where everyone is waiting for the return of New Orleans Pelicans basketball. However, they don’t play their first meaningful game until October 25th (when they play the Memphis Grizzlies). And before the regular season starts, you have to have the preseason (the Pelicans’ preseason schedule can be found here). And before you can have the preseason, you have to go through NBA Training Camp.
But when is the start of NBA Training Camp?
Technically speaking, the first day that players can start showing up for training camp is September 26th. With that said, that date only applies to players participating in preseason games in Abu Dhabi, UAE. If you are a player who is playing preseason basketball outside of North America that isn’t in Abu Dhabi, then you can start reporting to training camp on September 27th.
If you clicked on the link we provided earlier, you’d know that the Pelicans don’t play any preseason games outside of North America. So, when does their training camp start?
For teams that don’t fall under the first two exceptions we mentioned, NBA Training Camp officially begins on October 3rd. So, that is when the Pelicans are eligible to get the ball rolling.
That date gives the Pelicans exactly one week before their first preseason game, which will take place on October 10th against the Orlando Magic (it will be a home game).
One thing people forget to factor in when they are prescribing all the different wrinkles teams should add to their schemes is that they only have a limited amount of time to implement these new tactics. As a general rule, training camp is really the only time teams have to install their core offensive and defensive concepts.
That is the part that sucks about having a team with a lot of new pieces. You have to spend most of your limited training camp time teaching players the basics. However, when you have a team like the Pelicans, who are bringing back most of the same core, you can focus less on the basics and more on adding new elements to your system.
Let’s see what the Pelicans use this training camp cycle to accomplish.