There is no immediate fix to the Pelicans defensive problems, and a trade will be necessary if the team wants to make real improvements on that end. Or maybe two trades. But changes are needed, because this can't continue for much longer before fans completely lose their collective mind.
It's hard to envision a positive defensive future with the roster the New Orleans Pelicans currently employ. Herb Jones is an elite defender at his position, and that's about the entire list of positives on the Pels defensive scouting report. I know it rings hollow after how this team has played to start this season, but there is talent on this roster. However, that talent is not producing any positive results right now, and I have very little faith that this version of the Pelicans can ever be competitive due to the defensive struggles at each position.
Right now, this team is third-to-last in fastbreak points, sixth-to-last in opponent points in the paint, fourth-to-last in rebound rate, and third-to-last in blocks. Those numbers don't happen because of a few struggling defensive players. Rather, they're caused by a fundamental lack of defensive talent on the team. It's a hard truth to accept, but it's a necessary one.
Pelicans need for defensive talent is glaring
The Pelicans are currently No. 29 in defensive rating, above only the Brooklyn Nets, who will challenge for the worst record in NBA history this year. The eye test backs up the Pels' woeful DRTG, too — they get beat off the dribble, no one helps on defense, no one closes out very well.
Even worse? They haven't gotten extremely unlucky. In fact, the Pels are No. 10 in opposing 3-point percentage thus far, so if anything they've gotten lucky with how opposing teams shoot. Nightmare!
It's not just poor point-of-attack defense, or poor transition defense, or bad rim protection, or bad communication, or bad help defense. It's all of them, combined. No one player can be blamed for this because no one player is responsible; everyone is! When everyone on a team is just a little worse than they should be defensively, it culminates in a brutal overall team defense.
I don't know what the trade would look like, and I don't want to single out any player as the "weak link" on this team. The defense won't be "fixed" with just one trade, and it will take a pretty big overhaul to get this team close to competent on that end. But standing pat and hoping for every player to improve enough to pull this team up from the gutter is the least realistic of all.