The New Orleans Pelicans are currently having their least successful season in over a decade. They're on pace to finish with just 22 wins this year, by far their worst mark since the 2011-12 team won 21 games. That disastrous campaign resulted in the Pels drawing the first-overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, which they of course spent on Anthony Davis.
This year, New Orleans is again chasing lottery odds in hopes of landing another top selection in a loaded 2025 draft class featuring several potential franchise cornerstones such as Duke's Cooper Flagg, Rutgers's star-studded duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, and Baylor's VJ Edgecomb. Unfortunately, they may have just taken a step backward after stumbling into a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, 112-99.
It's clear how important this summer's lottery and subsequent draft will be for this franchise. Lucking into the opportunity to add a true game-changing talent to a roster built to win now featuring several top-tier players like Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, and CJ McCollum could instantly vault New Orleans from a bottom-feeder this season into a true contender as early as next year. The Pelicans might not have been able to advance their tank against the Sixers, but it wasn't due to a lack of trying — and not every basketball fan has been pleased with the methods that the Pels and other tanking teams have been taking to try to maximize their lottery odds.
The Pelicans vs 76ers game featured two blatantly diminished lineups
Heading into the season, many would have thought that this late March showdown between New Orleans and Philadelphia would have been a star-studded affair worth the price of admission. This clash should have featured Zion, TMIII, CJ, Dejounte Murray, Herb Jones and the other Pelicans taking on Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and the rest of the Sixers. Instead, it was a duel between former second-round pick turned international free agent Karlo Matkovic and undrafted rookie Justin Edwards.
Honestly, a casual basketball fan probably wouldn't have been able to identify the two teams that played by looking at the lineups. New Orleans started Jose Alvarado, Jordan Hawkins, Keion Brooks Jr., Kelly Olynyk, and Yves Missi. Philly rolled out Jared Butler, Ricky Council IV, Justin Edwards, Chuma Okeke, and Guerschon Yabusele. This game turned out to be much closer to a G-League match than the heavyweight bout it was supposed to be.
Some of the absences couldn't be helped. Both sides have multiple serious injuries, with Trey Murphy III, Dejounte Murray, and Herb Jones all out for the year for the Pelicans and Joel Embiid and Paul George shut down for the Sixers. That said, this game could still have featured Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, Bruce Brown Jr., Tyrese Maxey, Kyle Lowry, Kelly Oubre, and Quentin Grimes, but all were held out either for rest or minor ailments.
Clearly, this is an issue for the NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver, the NBA Player's Association, and President CJ McCollum have all tried various strategies to cut down on tanking and load management, but it remains a pertinent problem for this league. The rationale behind it is sound. It's clearly wise for both the Pelicans and the 76ers to try to lose as many games as possible for the remainder of the year to try to capitalize on their lost seasons and land high lottery picks that could change the fortunes of their respective franchises. That said, only the most diehard fans are going to want to tune into a meaningless late March game between teams led by Karlo Matkovic and Justin Edwards.
The more of these games that go down, the more attention will be drawn to the NBA's tanking problem. Eventually, the league is going to have to come up with a real solution. Hopefully, New Orleans will have already landed their next franchise superstar by then.