The NBA is quickly approaching training camp and the preseason, which will answer a lot of the remaining questions surrounding each of its teams. On October 1, training camp will officially begin for the entire league, but a few select organizations can report before then, namely, the teams selected to participate in the NBA's designated overseas preseason games.
The Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets will play a quick two-game series in Abu Dhabi in early October, and the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards will duke it out in Montreal. Those four squads open training camp on September 25, while the rest of the NBA will begin practicing at the beginning of October.
That includes the New Orleans Pelicans, who have plenty of questions surrounding their roster. Chiefly, what will their starting lineup look like this year with Jonas Valanciunas out the door? The Pelicans didn't acquire an obvious replacement for their starting center slot, which means that this positional battle could carry on through training camp.
Will Daniel Theis, Yves Missi, Karlo Matkovic or none of the above be the starting center?
Currently, the Pelicans have a smorgasbord of uninspiring/unproven names in the center slot of their depth chart. Between Daniel Theis, rookie Yves Missi, and free agent addition Karlo Matkovic, none of them jump out as an obvious choice for the starting spot alongside CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson. Each of them brings different pros and cons to the table, and none of them are a perfect choice:
Daniel Theis
Daniel Theis is by far the most experienced of the group and is probably the safest choice out of the three. He has 373 NBA games under his belt, so he'll have the most understanding of the game's pace, space, and how to be effective out of the gates.
He has decent size for a center, and has shown to be a passable positional defender. Theis also adds an element as a stretch-five, as he's hit 186 threes in his career at a 33 percent clip. With the Pelicans needing to integrate Dejounte Murray into the offense and building a cohesive attack around a group of All-Stars with overlapping skills, going with Theis, someone who knows their role and won't stress about touches, might be the best move for New Orleans to start the season.
That said, even at his best Theis wasn't really a starting level center in the NBA. Out of 373 games played, he only started 151 of them. Most of those came on a Boston Celtics team whose center rotation featured Enes Kanter, Tacko Fall, and Luke Kornet. Now, at 32 years old and after multiple devastating injuries, does he have enough left in the tank to be a full-time starter on a team with title aspirations? Probably not.
Yves Missi
Yves Missi is basically the exact opposite of Daniel Theis. Everything he lacks compared to Theis's experience and awareness, he makes up for in terms of pure athleticism and effort. The rookie out of Baylor shot up boards leading up to the draft due to his combination of physicality and motor.
Ever since drafting Zion, the Pelicans have been in search for a true stretch five who can protect the rim and space the floor on the other end of the court. While Missi is a non-shooter, his level of activity and verticality will lend him gravity as a roller and screener, which should open things up for Zion and the rest of the Pelicans, should they deploy Missi correctly when he's on the floor.
He'll likely take time to adjust to the speed, talent, and spacing of the NBA game, but he certainly has the physical tools to be an effective defensive anchor one day. How quickly he picks things up on that end of the court will determine how soon he's ready to be a consistent contributor for the Pelicans.
The best case scenario for New Orleans would probably have Missi starting — besides trading for one — with the NBA freshman developing quickly and snatching the starter job away from Theis and Matkovic.
Karlo Matkovic
Karlo Matkovic is the midpoint between Daniel Theis and Yves Missi. This upcoming season will be the first NBA campaign for Matkovic as well, even though he was drafted in the second round back in 2022. While he didn't land an NBA contract back then, he's spent time garnering experience as a professional overseas and in the G-League, developing his body and his game in preparation for the NBA.
Like Theis, he has experience against NBA-level athletes and talent under his belt. He also adds an element of floor spacing, as he's shown to be an outside shooter in the G-League and with his last overseas team, Cedevita Olimpija.
Like Missi, though, Matkovic is still young, currently only 23 years old. He finally signed his first multi-year NBA deal this summer, but he'll still have the hunger to prove himself a capable NBA rotation player. He was originally drafted in 2022 due to his combination of physicality and athleticism, and should bring that to New Orleans, as well as his expanded range and improved strength and conditioning.
If Matkovic turns out to be the starter for the Pelicans, it should be as a pleasant surprise.
None of the above
Someone will have to be the starting center for the Pelicans, but it could turn out to be none of Theis, Missi, or Matkovic. For one thing, New Orleans could very well be on the trade market looking for a starting center right now. Their war chest might be depleted after the Murray trade, but they still have quite a few tradable assets — including Brandon Ingram, a couple of future first-round picks from the Milwaukee Bucks, and a plethora of enticing role players — to pursue a starting center.
New Orleans will need someone to fill the role until they're able to find a trade that they like, though. The assumption is that they'll have to identify a center to plug next to CJ, Murray, BI, and Zion, but there's another route that the Pelicans could take. There's a chance that Head Coach Willie Green foregoes a starting center altogether and opts to go small to start the games and the season. The Pellies could roll out a lineup consisting of their four stars and Trey Murphy III or Herb Jones, with Zion sliding over as a small-ball five (extremely small, if his new summer body holds up).
The Pelicans have an obvious need to fill. Whether that be through trade or through internal development remains to be seen, but, regardless, someone will have to step up as their new starting center. We'll just have to wait until training camp to see who emerges as the new man in the middle for New Orleans.