The New Orleans Pelicans would be best served by winning a bunch of games this season. That way, everyone would forget about the trade that sent their 2026 first-round pick, unprotected, to the Atlanta Hawks.
But is that possible? Do the Pelicans have the firepower necessary to even stay competitive night to night in a loaded Western Conference? I personally don't think so, although I've been wrong in the past about plenty of things.
But the Pels having the pressure to do that in the first place, knowing the relief of a first-round pick isn't coming next summer, is a dilemma that won't be fun to navigate in 2025-26. And unfortunately, it's a dilemma the Pelicans put themselves in by potentially rushing a trade that could change the trajectory of both franchises involved.
If the Pelicans want to be competitive enough that losing next year's pick doesn't feel detrimental, they will need Jordan Poole to keep being the good, normal basketball player he was last season in Washington. If he can be that, and complement a (hopefully healthy) Pels roster, then there's a world where the coveted first-rounder ends in the mid-teens, an outcome that wouldn't feel nearly as cataclysmic as it landing in the top three.
Can Jordan Poole be the star on a competing team?
Before you fall out of your chair due to the above headline, hear me out; I know Jordan Poole has been meme'd half to death online (and often he has earned it, to be fair), but last season he was a pretty normal, pretty productive NBA player, a far cry from the chaos of his first season in Washington.
If his first year in New Orleans looks more like the 2024-25 season than the 2023-24 season, then the Pels' guard rotation will be in much better shape than if he reverts back to the freewheeling, inefficient player he was two seasons ago. Last year's Poole, but alongside far more talent in New Orleans than he had flanking him in Washington, would allow this team to hang around in more games than expected.
Jordan Poole probably didn't expect to play such an important role for the Pels this season, and even if he did expect it, he probably didn't foresee that role as being "Just play well enough so your team doesn't look bad for giving up an unprotected first-round draft pick next season." But here we are!
There is a way this Pelicans season turns out to be positive; it just involves winning, which can likely only be done if Jordan Poole steps up in a big way.