The big news that dominated all Louisiana sports headlines on Sunday is that, after months of rumors and speculation, Lane Kiffin has reportedly agreed to a contract to become the next head coach of LSU football. This news has distracted so many people and probably made many fans forget that the New Orleans Pelicans were even playing tonight, which is definitely a good thing as they lost 133-121 to the Los Angeles Lakers.
I hate to sound like a broken record… but honestly, it’s going to be extremely difficult to put a positive spin on anything this team does given the way the Pelicans have built up losses.
Again, I’m a huge Derik Queen guy, and I think he and Jeremiah Fears are laying the foundation for a talented and exciting young core. However, losses like Sunday night make it extremely difficult to accept that this team doesn’t have a 2026 first-round pick.
Derik Queen shot just 33 percent from the field and finished the game with a minus-22. Obviously young players will have bad games and their ups and downs. Still, it’s easier to accept that if you go into a season with the expectation that you’re rebuilding or winning games, neither of which the Pelicans are doing.
What I’m getting at is that giving up as much as Troy Weaver and Joe Dumars did to take over Queen creates the most unrealistic expectations and puts enormous pressure on him.
The other problem right now is that the team’s most experienced and talented players are not playing.
Health remains a battle for this core
The Pelicans’ five highest-paid players were all out of the lineup as Zion Williamson, Jordan Poole, Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones all dealt with injuries. Every team deals with injuries, but not in the same way as the Pelicans.
The core of Murphy III, Williamson and Jones have never had a healthy season together, yet the new front office decided to invest in them and rely on them for their success this season. I’m not going to sit here and lie and tell you that I didn’t completely agree with the way this roster was built heading into the season.
However, I think it’s ridiculous that after a 3-18 start we’re not even hearing rumors of a change. Instead, it appears this front office is content to remain a bottom-feeder. The idea was to give this group of players one last chance to do something together and show the front office that they were worth building around, and to believe that these first 21 games of this season were enough opportunities.
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