This offseason, Joe Dumars has leaned heavily into offense when constructing the New Orleans Pelicans roster for the 2025-26 season. Although the Pels will have their fair share of struggles defensively because of this, they'll also have a lot of lineup flexibility throughout the season.
When healthy, we could see three guard combinations with Jeremiah Fears, Jordan Poole, and Dejount Murray. We could also see lineups that feature a double big combo of Derik Queen, Kevon Looney or Yves Missi. This is an exciting opportunity for head coach Willie Green to get creative with his rotations. When looking at the roster as a whole, one of the most interesting lineup combos features point Zion making his return.
If you're unfamiliar back during the 2020-21 season the Pelicans were coached by Stan Van Gundy. During this time, SVG aimed to maximize Zion Williamson's usage by putting the ball in his hands and allowing him to initiate the offense. While the Pelicans didn't have much team success during that COVID-shortened season (31-41 record), Williamson posted the best numbers of his career, averaging 27.0 points per game.
Having Williamson running the point helped unclog the paint and give him the spacing he needed to get downhill and attack. In my opinion, this was the best form of Williamson we've ever seen, as he thrived with the ball in his hands and was exceptional as a decision-maker. I don't see a better time to bring back this trend than now.
The Pelicans' death lineup
Now, the lineup that could bring the return of point Zion would see Williamson at the one, Herb Jones at the two, Trey Murphy at the three, Derik Queen at the four and Yves Missi at the five. This lineup would be a nightmare for opposing defenses to stop. The perfect combination of size and skill, I understand there may be worries with the spacing, but that's what Jones and Murphy are there for.
I can already picture Williamson initiating the offense by driving in and then dumping it off to either Queen or Missi, or even kicking it out to Jones or Murphy for the three. This group would have an average of around 6'8", and although Jones is the only elite defender in this lineup, because of their size, they wouldn't struggle defensively.
Another aspect of this lineup that could be deadly is the playmaking ability these guys have. Derik Queen was the best passing big coming out of the 2025 draft and thrives at setting up his teammates. Murphy, as well, has grown tremendously as a passer, especially last season, averaging 3.5 assists per game in 2024-25. And then, as I mentioned earlier, Williamson is incredible as a playmaker when he is the one initiating the offense.
The amount of size New Orleans would have with this lineup would overwhelm opposing defenses and create havoc. This lineup would be unstoppable and likely lead the entire NBA in paint points per 100 possessions.
I'm not saying the Pelicans should ever start this lineup, but they should experiment with it at specific points in the season. With this very likely being Willie Green's last season as the head coach of the Pelicans, there's no better time to get creative and experiment with lineups. The Pelicans have the personnel to go extremely small or extremely big in different situations, and they should test both those possibilities.