The New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Washington Wizards 128-107, snapping a nine-game losing skid. Every win in the NBA is a good one, but this one proves why the front office is making a huge mistake heading into the trade deadline.
Sure, the Pelicans can beat bottom-tier/rebuild teams like the Wizards, but they’re still not built to compete with the mid-tier contenders or even playoff teams. That’s why it’s such a flawed idea for Joe Dumars and his staff to approach the trade deadline with five untouchable players in a season where the team now has a 9-31 record through 40 games.
To me, three or maybe even four of the five players listed as untouchables by the Pelicans in a report coming out today from Chris Haynes makes sense.
Trey Murphy III, Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears are the three that make perfect sense to me as they are clear building blocks, with Herb Jones being the one I can somewhat wrap my head around. Zion Williamson, on the other hand, is an untouchable player with the Pelicans’ current position in the standings and roster construction and makes no sense whatsoever.
Perhaps Dumars’ philosophy is that because the team doesn’t own their first-round pick in the 2026 draft, there’s no reason to become a seller at the deadline. But that is only a postponement of the inevitable: a complete reconstruction is coming. By making a change now, the Pelicans can be ready to compete sooner, rather than continuing to chase the same group of guys that the previous regime failed with.
My thoughts on the game
While I feel like Zion Williamson is the odd man out, I can’t overlook the fact that he is a walking matchup nightmare for teams like the Wizards. Washington had zero, and I mean zero answers for Z tonight, just like he did got the basket with easeand the only time they could stop him was by fouling him and sending him to the line. Williamson finished with 31 points on 85.7 percent from the field.
Although Williamson played well and the Pelicans wouldn’t have won the game without him, Derik Queen showed why the franchise needed to cut ties with the former No. 1 overall pick.
Queen was cheating his teammates left and right, give or take hit cutters, throw lobsdrive-and-kicks or dump-offs. He did it all tonight. Queen finished with a triple-double of 14 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists. Obviously he and Williamson can play together, but replacing him with someone who can space the floor would make him even more dangerous as a creator for this team.
DQ wasn’t the only rookie who looked good, as Jeremiah Fears had a very strong second half after five turnovers in the first half, finishing with 21 points, five rebounds and six assists. Micah Peavy was also phenomenal and was ultimately rewarded for all the hustle and bustle he made on the offensive end by the basketball gods. Peavy had nine points on 4-for-9 shooting.
Trey Murphy III remains this team’s best shot maker and overall player. He had 35 points tonight, which is the sixth time he has surpassed the 30-point mark this season, killing the Wizards defense from beyond the arc with seven were threes.
Even though this was a nice offensive win for the Pelicans, it highlighted the fact that if change isn’t made, this team will remain in NBA purgatory.
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