Record: 21-57
OffRtg: 110.0 (25) DefRtg: 118.7 (29) NetRtg: -8.7 (28) Pace: 99.6 (15)
The Pelicans have beaten a couple of the other teams in the bottom six in the last couple of weeks, but will likely have the fourth best odds in the Lottery, and this is a team that has done well with its Draft picks over the last few years. Of course, one of those was Dyson Daniels, who the Pelicans sent to Atlanta (along with two first round picks) for Dejounte Murray.
One takeaway
The Pelicans have been 13.3 points per 100 possessions worse this season (minus-8.7) than they were last season (plus-4.6), with that being the third biggest season-to-season drop-off for any team in the last 25 years. Their struggles go beyond their myriad of injuries, as they were outscored by 1.3 points per 100 possessions in 667 minutes with any three of CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III and Zion Williamson in the game. Even when they had some of their best players on the floor, they weren’t very good.
What to watch for this summer
The Pelicans’ chances of getting a top-five pick will likely be better than 50%. More interesting, of course, is the future of Williamson, who will have played in just 215 (45%) of a possible 487 games (including Play-In and playoffs) over his six-year career. He was better offensively over his last 15 games (25.9 points, 5.7 assists, true shooting percentage of 64.2%) than he was over his first 15 (23.3, 4.9, 55.9%), but 30 games total just isn’t enough. The Pels could also use some help in the backcourt, with Dejounte Murray (torn Achilles) likely to be on the shelf through (at least) the first few months of next season.
Week 25: @ BKN, @ MIL, vs. MIA, vs. OKC
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