During the long NBA offseason, fans and analysts alike mostly pass by the time by scrutinizing the team's roster, especially the changes made during the summer. There's already been a lot of discussion about the New Orleans Pelicans new lineup, including their blockbuster trade with the Atlanta Hawks for Dejounte Murray.
Anytime an organization can build a conglomerate of All-Star talents, it bodes well for the team's title chances. Despite adding Murray's two-way talents this offseason, the sentiment surrounding the Pelicans roster has mostly been negative. This is mainly due to two different weak points. Firstly, they lack a true pass-first point guard, something they haven't had since Rajon Rondo. But even more glaring has been their lack of depth at center, which has been widely retread.
New Orleans will have to hope that their current center rotation consisting of Daniel Theis, rookie Yves Missi, and free agent addition Karlo Matkovic will be enough, lest they make a midseason move for an upgrade in the middle. But, those aren't the only needs on the roster. The Pelicans could use a bit more of something that's become a dire necessity for an NBA team: shooting.
The New Orleans Pelicans need to add more shooting around Zion Williamson
When taking a quick glace at the Pelicans roster, shooting doesn't jump out as a massive need. After all, they have Trey Murphy III, CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Dejounte Murray, Jose Alvarado, Jordan Hawkins, and an improved outside shooter in Herb Jones. All of these players are capable marksmen, or at least have presented as such recently.
But, just having a portfolio of three-point makes and a decent shooting percentage doesn't make one a great shooter. For example, CJ, BI, and new acquisition Murray are all decent three-point shooters, but they're all at their best attacking on the ball. It's not as if they can't hit a catch-and-shoot triple, but it's not exactly a strength in their games. If all three of those players start alongside Zion, as they're expected to, that means that the Pelicans starting lineup could have only one true off-ball sniper in Trey Murphy III, and they could have none if New Orleans opts to insert a real center into their starting lineup.
Furthermore, the three-point percentages of each individual player can be misleading. Last season, the Pellies only had two players who shot over 37 percent from deep and took over four triples per game: CJ and TMIII. In fact, the only other player who took more than four threes a night was Jordan Hawkins, who only hit on 36.6 percent of his deep attempts.
Of their players who garnered more than 1000 total minutes last season, New Orleans only had six that shot over 37 percent from beyond the arc. Of those six, Larry Nance Jr. and Naji Marshall are both gone, with the former traded away to the Hawks in the Murray deal and the latter leaving in free agency for the Dallas Mavericks. In the remaining group, only CJ and TMIII made more than two triples per game, with Herb averaging 1.5 3PM and Alvarado hitting just 1.4 a night.
When diving deeper into the numbers, it's unsurprising to see that New Orleans ranked just 18th in three-pointers made last season. They may have clocked in at fourth in deep shooting accuracy, but their 24th-overall ranking in three-point attempts means that opposing teams didn't have to worry about the Pelicans killing them from beyond the arc.
With a team led by Zion Williamson — a relentless beast who's unstoppable when attacking the paint — it's ideal that they roster as many catch-and-shoot threats as possible, especially if that squad also employs midrange killers and slashers like CJ, BI, and Murray. And yet, the Pelicans only had two players who hit two or more catch-and-shoot triples per game last season: CJ and TMIII. They only had four other players who hit more than one a night: Alvarado, Herb, Hawkins, and utility player, Matt Ryan.
It's clear that New Orleans could use a few more off-ball snipers and, ideally, movement shooters. They'll have to either rely on internal development from their burgeoning marksmen like Jones and Hawkins, or they'll have to add some on the trade market. Either way, they have to find more shooting to maximize Zion Williamson and the rest of this team.