It seems it will be more of the same for New Orleans this season. The Pelicans’ front office did almost nothing in terms of personnel changes for a roster that eked out 26 wins and missed the Western Conference Play-In by 11 games. The only impactful free agent who was added was Bennedict Mathurin, and the only player drafted was second-round guard Jaron Pierre Jr. out of SMU.
The biggest change was bringing in Jamahl Mosley, who was fired by Orlando this last offseason for failing to achieve at the highest level with a roster the front office heavily invested in. Perhaps Mosley is better suited for a roster like New Orleans’, which has some decent young building blocks. Even if that is true, it is hard to picture a massive leap from last season given the front office is content in running it back.
BURNING QUESTIONS
How will Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen follow up strong rookie seasons?
Of the two, Queen was the biggest revelation for New Orleans last season. The 13th overall pick finished the season averaging 11.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game on 47.3% shooting from the floor. Queen’s 21.3% assist rate was in the 95th percentile for his position, and his 0.91 assist-to-usage rate was good for the 80th percentile. Near the tail end of the season, Queen seemed to fall out of favor with interim head coach James Borrego. Particularly in a tough March in which he averaged only 8.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game on 19.7 minutes per contest. Fears’ impact was not as strong, but at 14.3 points and 3.4 assists per game, the seventh-overall pick showed a feel for the game. Fears is also extremely young and comes into the 2026-27 season having freshly turned 20 years old. When the duo played together, the Pelicans ranked in the 24th percentile in net rating. It wasn’t all gold, but there is clearly something here, and Mosley will be charged with unlocking its potential.
Can Zion Williamson do it again?
The painful irony of last season for Pelicans fans and bettors was that they finally got to see what was essentially a full season for Zion Williamson. The former first overall pick played in over 60 games for just the third time in his career. He averaged 21 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game on 60% shooting from the floor. But he did not have the impact that he once did in his career. New Orleans was still outscored by 2.3 points per 100 possessions with Williamson on the floor. To his credit, it seems Williamson is approaching this season with urgency. He is reportedly down nearly 10 pounds as training camp gets started. He will also reportedly start to incorporate more jump shots to his game, something that is sorely needed. Williamson shot just five long mid-range jumpers last season and missed all five. He took four three-point attempts and hit only one. Williamson is an effective finisher, but he cannot be a complete non-factor from the perimeter. Prop bettors should look out for the change in his game this season.
Will Mosley get it right this time around?
It went south quickly for Mosley in Orlando. Some of that was due, in part, to a front office that had pushed its chips in, and with that comes heightened expectations. But Mosley did his part as well. The Magic never found even a semblance of decent offensive play. His teams in Orlando never finished better than 18th in non-garbage-time offensive efficiency, and no better than 17th in halfcourt offensive rating. Thus, it isn’t exactly thrilling to hear that Bret Brielmaier joins Mosley from his time running the offense in Orlando. Mosley can get the most out of a defense — that is almost guaranteed. The Magic were an elite defensive team in his time there, and they finished 11th or better in defensive rating — including second for two straight seasons — in four of his five years at the helm. But it will be a different task for Mosley in New Orleans. In Orlando, the expectation was playoff berths and competing for championships. That will come with the Pelicans, but clearly the priority will be to develop a young core and make sure players improve. Does Mosley have that in his bag?
WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: Under 29.5
