The New Orleans Pelicans’ offseason has done little to quell concerns about their future. New GM Joe Dumars has barely been on the job for three months but has already made several head-scratching moves.
He made the wildly dumb decision to trade up 13 spots in the 2025 NBA Draft to select Derik Queen by giving up a 2026 unprotected first in the process. Unfortunately, he will miss the start of next season and perhaps even longer after suffering a leg injury.
His getting injured before he even plays a game for New Orleans is just the latest in what appears to be a Pelicans curse. Of course, Pelicans star Zion Williamson is the poster child of their injury woes, and another Zion injury could spell disaster for New Orleans.
The Pelicans are sitting on a ticking Zion Williamson time bomb
After coming back from a hamstring injury, Zion played well last season, but it’s hard to imagine him being able to stay healthy all of next year. That’s what makes Dumars’ decision to trade the rights to their unprotected first-round pick all the more ridiculous.
Unless everything goes right for the Pelicans, which it almost never does, they could be the worst team in the West next season, all but guaranteeing they’d have one of the five worst records in the NBA.
Given how talented the 2026 NBA draft is with four elite prospects, the Pelicans will almost certainly regret trading their pick. After all, even if Queen and Jeremiah Fears are good, they still could have passed on a chance at a top young player.
It calls into question the future of the franchise. Their starting point guard, Dejounte Murray, will likely be out until February after suffering an Achilles tear last season. He’s owed $30 million a year over the next three seasons and may not be the same player he was before the injury.
They also traded for Jordan Poole, who, despite having a good season last year, is incredibly polarizing. He’s owed $35 million a year over the next three seasons.
The Pelicans roster with Zion Williamson makes no sense
That’s what makes this roster so confusing. They have good players such as Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, and Zion, but the influx of new players doesn’t make sense for the team they have. For instance, Zion and Queen would be a terrible fit next to one another in the frontcourt.
Trading Zion and starting from near scratch makes the most sense, and it seemed as though that was what Dumars intended to do. However, his trade market is likely dirt cheap right now, and they may feature him in the lead-up to the trade deadline to move him and move on from him.
But even one injury would not only tank his value but also the Pelicans’ season, causing a double whammy of pain. They’d be stuck with Zion and stuck hoping that he can stay healthy while also unable to properly rebuild after trading their 2026 first-round pick. Tough times for the Pelicans.
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July 24, 2025 | 9:00 am
