The New Orleans Pelicans have a lot of introspection ahead of them. They're currently staring down the barrel at a potential franchise detonation which could mark the end of the Zion Williamson era in the Big Easy.
There have been conflicting reports to come out of New Orleans regarding their future with Zion. Some state that the organization is still committed to building around their former number-one overall pick. Others have suggested that the Pelicans are willing to trade nearly everybody on the roster and may have even been shopping Williamson to other teams along with Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum. His recent suspension also might imply that the team is still considering keeping Big Z around for the future though.
Regardless of whether the Pelicans hold onto Zion, the organization must examine their past to see exactly what went wrong, whether it's to improve their approach for their next franchise cornerstone or the next iteration of this team built around Williamson. It's clear now that the Pelicans' construction around Zion Williamson failed because the team accelerated their rebuild way too fast.
The Pelicans' commitment to being in NBA purgatory destroyed their chances of building a title team around Zion
It began in 2019, the summer the Pelicans drafted Zion Williamson out of Duke with the number one selection. That same offseason, they also traded away former franchise cornerstone Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers in return for rising prospects Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and the fourth-overall pick in the 2019 draft which would later be parlayed into another trade between New Orleans and the Atlanta Hawks.
The strategy was solid. They traded away their current superstar in return for a package featuring young players that could become foundational pieces alongside their new prized rookie in Zion. Unfortunately, the talent they got back from the Lakers were a little too good too fast. Their presence alongside the Pelicans' remaining veterans like Jrue Holiday, JJ Redick, and Derrick Favors kept New Orleans from being able to truly tank, even with Williamson missing practically the entire season due to injury.
The Pelicans would finish the 2019-20 season at 30-42. That may not sound like an astounding record — and they did finish just 13th in the Western Conference — but it did give them more wins than seven East teams that year. New Orleans drew the 13th pick in the lottery due to their unexpected success which would turn out to be Kira Lewis Jr. Because of their poor standing in the lottery, the Pels missed out on Tyrese Haliburton by one pick and Devin Vassell by two selections.
This would go on to become a pattern in New Orleans. Even with the team eventually trading away Jrue Holiday, the Pelicans never committed to being terrible in pursuit of a long-term plan. Instead, they continually tried to accelerate their timeline around Zion and wound up trapping themselves in NBA purgatory: too good to land another franchise-altering draft pick but not good enough to really compete for a title.
The Pelicans would get the 10th pick in 2021. To their credit, they were able to turn that selection into Jonas Valanciunas and Trey Murphy III. In 2022, they landed the eighth pick which they spent on Dyson Daniels, who was traded away this past summer in a package for Dejounte Murray. In 2023, they came away with Jordan Hawkins, the 14th pick. This past summer, they drew the 21st selection and used it on Yves Missi.
For what it's worth, the Pelicans have mostly done well with their draft picks. That only makes it more frustrating to think about what the franchise could have done with higher selections to build around Zion.