The New Orleans Pelicans enter the 2026 offseason with arguably the same needs they had in the summer of 2025. Once again, the Pelicans' regular-season outcome proved the same as the year prior: the team is in dire need of an experienced center.
The top half of the roster, with Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, Herb Jones, and Trey Murphy III, is strong, but to fully maximize them as individual talents, a real center needs to be put in place. During the 2025 offseason, Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver tried to address this need for a five-man by using their available cap space to sign Kevon Looney. The Pelicans didn’t need much from the center spot; hard screens, rebounds, and someone who protects the basket—all things Looney excelled at throughout his career.
On top of that, he was bringing real playoff experience as a three-time NBA champion with the Warriors to a young team that needed a veteran leader. In theory, it all made sense, but age caught up to Looney. The 30-year-old only made 21 appearances throughout the season, and while his production was still solid, he wasn't durable enough to be someone the team could rely on nightly.
But the Looney signing flopping for the Pelicans shouldn't make Dumars and Weaver change their approach, as this team still needs a center of the same archetype as Looney.
The product was the problem, not the process
Last offseason, New Orleans' front office faced significant backlash for the moves they made. Whether it was trading up to draft Derik Queen, trading away soon-to-be-expiring salary for Jordan Poole, or the Looney signing.
However, what was always unfair about this criticism was that the Pelicans' process was never incorrect. When they traded up for Queen, he was the No. 2 player on the team's board behind only Jeremiah Fears, which is why they were willing to give up so much to land him. Trading for Poole was another move that didn't lack process, as he was coming off a career season and shot the lights out from three. The Pelicans needed more shot creation, better guard play, and improved shooting, all of which Poole was expected to provide.
It's the same story for Looney because, in theory, everything he was expected to bring was exactly what this team needed and still needs from the five spot.
Once the Pelicans put a new head coach in place and the front office shifts its focus to rounding out the rest of this roster, they should take another stab at addressing the center spot. While the Looney signing not panning out set the team back, the process was correct. New Orleans still desperately needs a dirty-work experienced five-man, and this summer’s free agent class features several bigs of that archetype.
Using the same process they did when deciding to sign Looney this offseason could position the Pelicans for a strong 2026-27 campaign.
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