It feels like we've been here before, as the New Orleans Pelicans are once again entering an offseason with the center spot remaining a major topic of conversation. During the seven years Zion Williamson has been in New Orleans, they have had brief moments when they surrounded their star with a center who fit and was good enough to start on a playoff-caliber team. Of course, I'm referring to Jonas Valanciunas and Steven Adams. However, the days of those two are long past.
For a while now, the idea of adding a floor spacing five man next to Zion in the frontcourt has been an idea many (myself included) have been infatuated with.
One of the names that has popped up in this free agency class as a potential target for the Pelicans is Nikola Vucevic, who spent the second half of the 2025-26 season with the Celtics.
Considering Vooch received a DNP in the final game of Boston's round one series with the Philadelphia 76ers, many have suggested he'll likely be looking for a new home this summer. While the idea of Vucevic's skill set would be great for New Orleans, he has major limitations that led to him being played off the court in round one, and the Pelicans must avoid him at all costs.
Floor spacing isn’t enough
Throughout Vucevic's entire NBA career, he has been an offensive weapon and someone a team can run its offense through. In his prime, he was a consistent 20-point double-double that was also a threat from beyond the arc. This type of offensive firepower always made accepting his defensive shortcomings much easier to accept, as the two sides of the ball would cancel each other out. But as he gets older, now 35 years old, that offensive impact continues to dwindle, and his defensive shortcomings only become more glaring.
In the Celtics' round one series, Joel Embiid tore the Celtics' defense apart, and Vooch played a huge role in that. I understand Jo-Jo was playing out of his mind, and very few bigs in the league could've even neutralized him in that series. However, it wasn't just that Embiid was making tough shots or doing anything out of the ordinary when guarded by Vucevic—he was just straight up lost.
Anytime he was on the court, Nick Nurse would put Vucevic in a two-man action, and Celtics fans would sit and watch him get fried in drop coverage.
If he couldn’t survive with Boston’s defensive infrastructure, in what world would he survive with a Pelicans team that is levels below the Celtics on that side of the ball?
For the Pelicans, getting a floor-spacing five would be awesome, especially one with the reputation Vooch has built. But more than anything, they need someone who can be a last line of defense and a rim protector. Zion, Trey Murphy III, Saddiq Bey, and Dejounte Murray already provide enough offensive firepower. They just need some help defensively, and signing Nikola Vucevic is the furthest thing from that.
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