When Everything Is Broken, Start With the Most Obvious Solution

The Pelicans have countless issues. But the first step to reshaping the organization is letting go of its past hope.

By Scott Kushner

This is just about the worst-case scenario.

Right?

Of all the timelines presented when lottery balls aligned, so the New Orleans Pelicans could select Zion Williamson at No. 1 in the 2019 Draft in front of a packed Fulton Square, it’s hard to conjure a series of events that could’ve put this franchise, and this lightning bolt of a player, in a worse position than it is right now.

The Pelicans are 31-94 since the start of last season. They’re not in a process. They’re not tanking. In fact, they’re fully ensconced in “win now” mode.

They’re just losing three-times more often than they win.

And there’s no end in sight.

From the static ignorance perched atop the organization, to the befuddling decisions executed by its newest administrators, to the infuriating late-game performances, nearly everything in the Pelicans’ world feels misaligned and in relentless retrograde.

So, it’s long past time to change the Pelicans’ paradigm.

Where does transformation start, though?

The Pelicans’ original sin is, of course, ownership. And the warts showing from the C Suite have never been as gruesome and obvious as they are right now.

Because rather than conduct an exhaustive search to replace David Griffin atop basketball operations, Gayle Benson’s cabal of executives hand-selected their longtime friend Joe Dumars, ignoring his reputation as a league wide laughingstock.

Dumars installed Troy Weaver at general manager, a savvy talent evaluator known for an overzealous deployment of assets in his failed stint atop the Detroit Pistons. Instead of managing Weaver’s limitations, Dumars empowered them—handing him the keys to the Pelicans’ war chest.

So, of course, Weaver immediately unloaded the assets, exchanging it for 2025 draft picks (giving up multiple first-rounders to select Derik Queen), trading for familiar faces (dealing CJ McCollum’s expiring contract for Jordan Poole) and ink some ineffective free agents (hello, Kevon Looney).

Meanwhile, they remained stagnant on the core of the existing roster, retaining the mercurial and high-priced Williamson as the team’s centerpiece. Then Dumars publicly prioritized loyalty over competitiveness by sticking with deteriorating coach Willie Green, who instantly showed he’d lost the confidence of the roster they were so bullish on, resulting in Green’s swift early-season firing.

Written out in a handful of paragraphs, it’s a jaw-dropping sequence of incompetence all around. So, the problems are myriad and layered.

Digging through it isn’t easy.

But there’s a natural place to start. Because it’s the simplest explanation.

We all just expected more from Zion.

From Benson, to Dumars, to Weaver, to Green, to the local media, to Pelicans’ fans, to the executives at Nike. Everyone believed Zion Williamson’s availability was the X-factor to make this team a consistent playoff contender.

And it sent everything astray.

If he could only stay healthy, the Pelicans would win, right? He’s a two-time All-Star, a No. 1 overall pick and once deemed a future face of the league with a building-length billboard to prove it. If only he was playing, all would be fine.

It’s why the Pelicans were comfortable trading an unprotected first round pick and re-tooling with Poole rather than resetting the cap for a run at something better. They were betting on Zion.

“I’ve talked to (Williamson) about the responsibility of being great and the responsibility of being a leader, of being a captain, of being the best player, of being the face of a franchise,” Dumars told ESPN in July. “I’ve talked to him about how all of those things come with responsibility and how it’s time, now, at 25 years old, to embrace those responsibilities.”

Yet, here we are. Wrong. On all of it.

The Pelicans entered Wednesday with the worst record in the entire NBA. Again.

Williamson played in 27 (of 43) games this year. The Pelicans are 7-20 in those games.

It turns out Williamson just isn’t the answer everyone wanted him to be. And it’s possible all those extended injury absences, which caused him to miss more than half of his seven-year career, actually clouded the real problem.

He isn’t getting any better at basketball.

Whether it’s been a weight thing, a health thing or a maturity thing, the conversation around Williamson almost never involved the actual in-game performance. In the absence of data, most anticipated the same trajectory of improvement seen from league’s brightest talents, where young superstars slowly adapt to the league and add skills to their arsenal each offseason until opponents simply have no answers.

Well, with Zion, they have all the answers.

Because facing him has required taking the same test since 2019. Keep him away from the rim by any means necessary.

And if you have a center capable of shutting off the restricted area, it’s going to be a tough night for Zion.

Williamson is logging career lows in scoring (22.3 points), field goal percentage (56.7%), and rebounds (5.7) per game. He is converting just 38% on shots outside of 3-feet, the worst rate since his rookie year.

More importantly, his presence on the floor doesn’t have much bearing on whether or not the Pelicans are successful. They lose with him. They lose without him.

So, now, after this stretch, it’s fairly clear he simply isn’t the player New Orleans and the basketball world thought he would be. At least by now.

The reality of his limitations grows clearer with each passing game. At 26-years old he is no better at basketball than he was at 19.

A sobering realization.

And something that should spur the franchise to move on, even if the return is minimal. Williamson is not helping develop Queen or Jeremiah Fears, the team’s beloved rookies, or making the game any easier for leaders like Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III.

So, it’s especially bizarre NBA insider Chris Haynes reported last week Dumars is rebuffing trade inquiries for Williamson, the same way they’ve apparently made Murphy, Jones, Queen and Fears unavailable at the upcoming deadline.

Maybe this is a smokescreen, to fish better offers for Williamson. But, based on what we’ve seen on the floor and heard off of it, little evidence suggests smart teams are willing to ship out valuable assets to take on Williamson and the $87 million remaining on his contract over the next two seasons.

Regardless of returne, it’s time to move on. The disappointment of this entire era hangs around him and has become an undue burden on a franchise that desperately needs to find a public pivot.

Is everything his fault? Absolutely not.

The shortcomings that exist in the owner’s suite and the front office will likely hold this franchise back from attaining any real greatness. But, that doesn’t make it right to keep dragging this saga along.

If nothing else comes from all this losing, at least let it be a catalyst to turn the page on Williamson and all the frustration he’s wrought.

Perhaps Zion will be the Zion we expected at his next stop. If he takes himself seriously and works on his game, his talent can take him to incredible heights.

But it’s not going to happen in New Orleans.

You can’t fire the owner. And based on his insider status, it’s highly unlikely Dumars is going anywhere for a while.

But, the Pelicans can do this. And do it now, before the trade deadline.

Show some semblance of recognition about where the franchise is and how much needs to shift in order to turn them into a team deserving of fans’ trust and respect.

At least it can’t get any worse, right?