After months of waiting, the NBA regular season is finally around the corner.
The New Orleans Pelicans endured a rough 2024-25 season, as they finished 21-61, the second-worst record in the western conference finishing only ahead of the Utah Jazz. The Pelicans were therefore looking for at least a top-five pick in the draft in the lottery; they ended up with the seventh.
After sitting and watching teams with a better record select top players, New Orleans opted to select Jeremiah Fears, a guard from the University of Oklahoma.
Fears was one of my favorite players going into the draft process. He had freakish athleticism with an incredible motor. Sometimes, he would become uber-aggressive and make mistakes, but teams would arguably rather see young players make aggressive mistakes than passive ones. He does have to work on his shooting, but he will be a fundamental piece for the Pelicans’ rebuild.
They weren’t done there. The Pelicans had the 23rd pick as well that they acquired at last year’s trade deadline when they shipped former all-star Brandon Ingram to Toronto, which led them to trade up to thirteenth and select forward Derik Queen out of the University of Maryland.
Queen was quite the force at Maryland. He has a very mature game for his age, and he stays cool in high-pressure situations, shown by his game-winner in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament against Colorado State University. While he’s dealt with an injury for most of the summer months, Queen is finally cleared for basketball activities and will look to make an impact as soon as he steps on the floor.
The Pelicans are young, and they made sure to get younger. There is not a single player on the roster above the age of 30. They traded guard C.J. McCollum to the Washington Wizards for Jordan Poole, who is a polarizing name in basketball. His flashiness can oftentimes upset people, but he can be one to look out for if he gets hot.
Zion Williamson is finally healthy, and he still has an opportunity to become the franchise player the organization expected. He has been prone to injury for a multitude of reasons, but the most talked-about factor has been his weight.
“He’s slimmer than I’ve ever seen him… He is in a really good place mentally,” said his teammate Trey Murphy III.
Murphy broke out last season, as he is coming off of a year in which he averaged 21.2 points. As one of the more prolific 3-and-D players in the game, he hopes to take another step.
Along with Murphy, two other returning players have a chance to make a huge leap this season: Herbert Jones and Yves Missi. When Jones is healthy, he is one of the best defenders in all of basketball. Missi looks to build off of a strong rookie campaign that earned him NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors.
The regular season tips off on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies on Oct. 22 at 7:00 p.m. CST.