It may be Thanksgiving, but it's hard to find much to be thankful for so far in the New Orleans Pelicans' 2024-25 NBA season. After just a month of the campaign, they've gone from dark-horse contenders or at least playoff threats to a team competing for the top pick in the upcoming draft.
It's not just their pitiful record either, although it's difficult to be optimistic when looking at the Pelicans' 15th-place residence in the Western Conference standings after a 4-14 start to the year. It's also how they've gotten there. New Orleans was hoping for a healthy season after getting 70 games out of Zion Williamson in 2023-24. He even significantly slimmed down over the summer in pursuit of an extended playoff run. The franchise also did their best to insure themselves against any long absences from their stars by trading for another competent offensive engine in Dejounte Murray.
All of that optimism went out the window when Murray went down with a fractured left hand after just one game with the Pelicans though, and the injuries only snowballed from there until, at one point, they were missing eight rotation players at once. Despite their miserable start to the season so far, there have been a few silver linings to be found within this team. Here are two things that the Pelicans and their fans can be thankful for this holiday.
2 Things the Pelicans and their fans can be grateful for this Thanksgiving
1. Young players have been impressive
It feels like the New Orleans Pelicans have been a burgeoning team that's failed to get over the hump for a decade. It hasn't been quite that long, but they have been a bottom-half playoff team practically the entire time in the Zion Williamson era. Despite their middling success, though, New Orleans has yet to advance into the second round since drafting Big Z, and Williamson himself still hasn't made his playoff debut due to injuries.
Although it feels like the Pelicans are an old and tired team struggling to claw themselves out of purgatory, there's actually a very promising young core buried beneath all of the mediocrity. Some of the brightest spots for New Orleans this season has been the performance of their fresh-faced players like Jordan Hawkins, Yves Missi, and Brandon Boston Jr.
Those three, along with Zion, Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, and Antonio Reeves form a strong group of up-and-coming talents worth building around.
2. Pelicans have a wide-open future ahead of them
This season has been a disaster so far, but it may be a blessing in disguise. Because the Pelicans have fallen so far behind the ball, they may be forced into changing directions. At this junction, there's a much better chance that New Orleans can land a top-five pick this summer than somehow turning their season around and becoming a legitimate title threat.
It's becoming more likely that the Pelicans may have accelerated their construction around Zion too quickly. Thankfully, it's not too late for them to turn it around. With the young core mentioned above, they're not far off from building a roster that fits around Williamson both in terms of timeline and on-court production. Landing a top draft pick will allow them to add another franchise cornerstone this summer, with a stacked class full of game-changers like Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, and Ace Bailey.
If they accept their fate this season, they'll have plenty of ammunition to help retool the team too. Trading away their veteran, win-now players like CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, and Brandon Ingram should bring back a collective haul of young prospects and draft capital that the Pelicans could either spend on more promising talent or use in further deals to fill out the roster. Zion Williamson's contract even offers them an out if they want to completely tear it down. The present may be bleak in New Orleans but the future is full of opportunity.