The 2024-25 NBA season has officially ended for the New Orleans Pelicans. After falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 115-100, they finished the year at 21-61, good for 14th in the Western Conference and 27th overall. That gives them the fourth-best odds in the NBA Draft lottery, including a 12.5 percent chance at landing the number-one pick.
The lottery and subsequent draft will clearly have some heavy influence on the Pelicans and their future direction. Regardless of how the draw goes, though, New Orleans should be expecting to make some major changes to their roster this summer.
We learned this past season just how precarious the Pelicans' situation is. While the injuries they endured were unavoidable and way too devastating for any team to overcome, this past season was a stark reminder of how limited this current roster construction is, as New Orleans was terrible despite Trey Murphy III's ascension and Zion Williamson's 30 games of pure dominance. Midseason, this franchise was prepared to overhaul their personnel. While it doesn't have to be quite that drastic, the Pelicans clearly need to make some major changes to their roster, and they should start with these four players.
4 Players the New Orleans Pelicans shouldn't bring back for the 2025-26 NBA season
CJ McCollum
CJ McCollum has been the requisite professional ever since he arrived in New Orleans. He's repeatedly evolved his game in order to best serve the team — expanding his range, reducing his on-ball usage, and moonlighting as a de facto point guard. Unfortunately, the Pelicans will need him to make another sacrifice to get them over the hump, and it's the ultimate one that an NBA player can make.
Between Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, Dejounte Murray, and their incoming lottery pick, they'll have plenty of offensive firepower and not much use for McCollum's main strengths. CJ also happens to be New Orleans's best remaining expendable trade chip. With him slated to hit unrestricted free agency in summer 2026, the time for the Pelicans to trade him and maximize his value will be this offseason, when he can provide a full season of veteran leadership and consistent offensive production for his new team as well as future financial flexibility.
Jose Alvarado
At the end of last offseason, the Pelicans and their faithful were celebrating the announcement of Jose Alvarado's extension, an extremely team-friendly two-year, $9 million deal. Don't get me wrong; that's still incredible value for him and a reliable bench guard in general. However, New Orleans has evolved beyond the need for Alvarado at this point in their construction.
He doesn't have enough playmaking juice to be a legitimate creator for them off of the bench. He's not a good enough shooter to consistently play off of the ball. His ability to create extra possessions on defense has always provided a nice spark, but his lack of size keeps him from impacting the Pelicans' D positively on a regular basis. The Pelicans have a solid backup point guard locked down in Elfrid Payton. Keeping Alvarado on the roster would just prevent Payton from getting playing time in lieu of a worse player.
Jordan Hawkins
I still believe in Jordan Hawkins. I believe that he has the goods to become one of the better bench scorers in the league if he can put it all together. The Pelicans don't have the time or touches necessary to properly nurture his development anymore, though.
He's simply not a reliable enough shooter to deserve steady minutes for New Orleans, as they should be gunning to make a deep playoff run next year. His deficiencies as a playmaker and defender make him unplayable when his shot isn't falling. So far in his career, it doesn't fall very often. At this point, a breakup might be the best thing for both he and the team.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
After the buzzer sounded on the Pelicans' final game of the season against the Thunder, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl officially became an unrestricted free agent. While he's been a comforting presence off of their bench for the past two years, he hasn't done enough to warrant another deal from New Orleans, especially considering the depth of their roster now. Keeping Keion Brooks Jr. on a two-way deal will aptly replace all the production and presence that JRE gave the Pelicans.