The Pelicans didn’t shake up their roster a ton this summer, with their one notable move being the addition of Bennedict Mathurin, who signed a two-year deal with New Orleans. Unlike last offseason, when the Pelicans shook things up in the trade market by acquiring Jordan Poole, this summer was all about continuity. Poole staying put in New Orleans surprised some and becomes even more interesting with the addition of Mathurin.
Poole had a down season in 2025-26 for the Pelicans, averaging 13.4 points and 3.1 assists per game, while shooting just 37.2 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three. This disappointing year made Poole a prime candidate for a bounce-back season in 2026-27, and prior to Mathurin joining the Pelicans, he appeared to have a clear path to doing that. But now with Mathurin coming in and likely playing that scoring sixth man role, JP may be out of luck.
Between Saddiq Bey, Jeremiah Fears, and Derik Queen, JP getting a ton of touches seemed slightly far-fetched, and now with Mathurin joining the party, it seems impossible.
JP might be doomed
I understand that coaches rarely use platoon-style substitutions, especially in the NBA, and that Poole could come in when Mathurin or Fears is off the court. However, when those two are off the court, Dejounte Murray will probably be on the court, and having Poole out there with him seems slightly redundant.
What also isn’t working in JP’s favor is that he doesn’t defend well and hasn’t shown in his career any upside on that side of the ball that would motivate Jamahl Mosley to play him. He is also someone who ideally plays with the ball in his hands and looks to create his own offense, which New Orleans already has plenty of off the bench.
On top of that, when you look back at Mosley’s time coaching the Orlando Magic, one thing that was a consistent theme with his rotations was that he loved having size. That’s where a guy like Karlo Matkovic comes in and eats up minutes. Ideally, on an NBA bench that plays a 10-man rotation, you’d have one lead ball handler, two wings and two bigs. For the Pelicans, Mathurin and Bey are the wings, Fears is the ball handler, and DQ is one of your two bigs, with Matkovic being the second one.
Matkovic is more efficient and fills a need as another big Mosley can go to. He also is a restricted free agent next summer and seems more likely to be a Pelicans down the road than Poole.
It feels like Poole is that 11th man on the outside looking in when it comes to a potential 10-man rotation for the Pelicans. Even on some nights, Mosley may be looking to Bryce McGowens because of his plug-and-play ability.
This team isn’t going to struggle scoring the ball, and that isn’t good for Jordan Poole, whose best trait is his creation and scoring ability. What this team is going to need is guys who can defend, rebound, and provide size, all things that aren’t in Poole’s profile. Sure, if someone goes down with an injury, JP is an obvious first guy to slide into Mosley’s regular rotation, but at full strength he doesn’t have a clear path to playing much next season.
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