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One of the most talented rosters of the 2020-21 NBA season belonged to the New Orleans Pelicans. But that assumption is based solely on potential, and the New Orleans Pelicans were unable to produce winning basketball play consistently throughout the past NBA campaign.
The team, coached by Stan Van Gundy, finished the 2020-21 NBA regular season with a 31-41 record. They were just two games away from the NBA's Play-In tournament as they were 11th in the West.
3 Predictions for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2021 NBA off-season
The New Orleans outfit struggled to be consistent and the young, talented team often failed to close games that they seemed to have under control. The Pelicans lost 14 games in which they enjoyed a double-digit advantage at some point. If they had won even half of those games, their record could've been good enough to enter the Play-In stage.
For the 2021-22 NBA season, the New Orleans Pelicans will have a new coach in Willie Green, who was an assistant earlier to Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams.
The New Orleans Pelicans struggled last year on defense and often failed to maintain an adequate level of focus to secure victories throughout the year.
Even though the Pelicans were 12th in Offensive Rating last season, they only ranked 22nd in Defensive Rating and had a negative Net Rating (they ranked 18th out of the 30 NBA teams). To solve some of those problems, they will need to make some changes.
There will also be other personnel decisions facing the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2021 off-season and we will take a look into what could happen in some areas. Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart represent the two most important free agents for the franchise in the 2021 NBA off-season, and both are restricted free agents.
Whether they both stay with the team or not will be interesting to see. Even otherwise, the Pelicans have big decisions ahead of them. In this piece, we will try to predict three moves from David Griffin's office.
Without further ado, let us start.
#3 Josh Hart remains at the New Orleans Pelicans
Josh Hart has just finished his fourth year in the NBA, and the wing player is currently a restricted free agent. He could potentially draw attention from some teams that are looking for flexibility and solid play.
Hart should be a priority for the New Orleans Pelicans, especially after seeing some other free agents fail to positively impact the team's past season. Hart and Lonzo Ball are the two most important players in the New Orleans Pelicans' 2021 NBA off-season and both will demand a salary rise.
The Pelicans have to keep at least one of the two players, and maintaining Hart seems to be a little more straightforward. Hart averaged 9.2 points and a brilliant eight rebounds per game in the 2020-21 NBA season while playing 28.7 minutes per night.
The New Orleans Pelicans should be able to keep Hart on the team this offseason.
#2 The Pels trade Eric Bledsoe and can try to retain Lonzo Ball
Eric Bledsoe joined the New Orleans Pelicans after the franchise traded Jrue Holiday to eventual 2021 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks. But the 31-year-old guard endured a difficult season with the Pels.
Bledsoe averaged 12.2 points per game last year, his lowest average since the 2013-14 campaign. He also had the lowest field-goal percentage (42.1%) since his sophomore year in the NBA, with his free-throw shooting also suffering a similar fate.
On the other side of the court, Bledsoe had the worst Defensive Rating of his career, at 116. Trading Bledsoe would be sensible from a basketball standpoint, and also with respect to financial terms. Without him in the picture, the New Orleans Pelicans could try to retain both Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart.
#1 The New Orleans Pelicans could entertain trading Brandon Ingram
The New Orleans Pelicans simply struggled in the 2020-21 NBA season, even with Brandon Ingram (an All-Star in 2020) and Zion Williamson (an All-Star in 2021) playing well alongside each other.
Whether it was all about the defensive end or a case of the team not having chemistry on the basketball court, the Pels did not work well collectively. Ingram was not responsible for the team's struggles though, as he did a good job. His value is quite high at the moment and the New Orleans Pelicans could land a superstar like Damian Lillard if Ingram is included in the trade package.
Of course, keeping Brandon Ingram would not be a bad thing for the New Orleans Pelicans, as he boasts tremendous potential and had an efficient year on offense again. Ingram averaged 23.8 points and essentially five assists and five rebounds per game last year, with 46/38/87 shooting splits.
The 23-year-old's value is definitely high right now, and putting him in a trade package for any unhappy superstar in today's NBA would certainly be great for the receiving team.
Guess the Lakers players!
