The NBA and Amazon Prime officially released the groups for the 2025 NBA Emirates Cup, and the Pelicans' chances look slim. They announced these groups across social media in a commercial featuring Oklahoma City Thunder star Chet Holmgren and former NBA superstar Blake Griffin. The timing of Holmgren being in this ad is quite amusing, as he just signed a massive five-year contract extension with the Thunder earlier today.
For a quick refresher, the NBA Cup is divided into three groups of five teams per conference. The winners of each group advance to the tournament stage, along with one wild-card team from each conference. The wild card team is the team with the highest point differential and the best winning percentage. This was how the Pelicans qualified for the tournament in its inaugural year, 2023.
The Pelicans group includes the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Clippers. I understand that the Western Conference is tough, and avoiding both the Thunder and the Houston Rockets gives the Pelicans a better chance; however, it's hard to see New Orleans competing with the teams in this group. All four of these teams, except maybe the Grizzlies, have improved significantly this offseason.
The LA teams
Looking at how the Pelicans matchup with both LA teams, the key thing to look at is experience, starting with the Clippers. Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Brook Lopez, Derrick Jones Jr, Nic Batum and Ivica Zubac are all guys that have been part of extremely deep playoff runs or have even won championships. That's the type of experience New Orleans doesn't have and will struggle against.
Now with the addition of John Collins, the Clippers, who were a top-five defence last year, just got bigger. On top of that, there are reports that they may get either Bradley Beal if he's waived or sign Chris Paul, adding to their already insane depth and experience.
The Lakers lack depth but were a top 3 seed last season with Jaxon Hayes as their starting center and have replaced him with a former No. 1 overall pick in Deandre Ayton. That, paired with a better-jelled Luka Doncic and LeBron James, is going to be trouble for the Pelicans' defense, which was the second-worst in the league last year.
The Division rivals
If playing the Grizzlies and Mavericks four times a year wasn't already hard enough, they now have to see them where the stakes are higher in NBA Cup action.
Dallas may be the tougher of the two teams, boasting an elite defence and a veteran core featuring Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, and Daniel Gafford. On top of that, they added the first overall pick, Cooper Flagg, and signed a great placeholder for Kyrie Irving in D'Angelo Russell. Dallas is highly experienced, skilled and talented and will be a tough challenge for New Orleans.
Although Memphis may be the weakest team in the Pelicans group, they are no slouches. Sure, trading away Desmond Bane signaled a step back, but it wasn't. The team added Ty Jerome, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Jock Landale, and brought back Santi Aldama. These additions, with a healthy Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., as well as Jaylen Wells and GG Jackson, are bound to step up their game; the Grizzlies are no joke.
The Pelicans were dealt a brutal hand for the 2025 NBA Cup. With a stacked group featuring the Lakers, Clippers, Mavericks, and Grizzlies, their path to the knockout stage looks bleak. Unless they shatter expectations, a winless run isn’t out of the question.