Things could not have gotten off to much worse of a start for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2021-22 NBA season. The organization had high hopes for the season, with playoff aspirations, but we are just over two weeks into the season and things are already looking grim in the Big Easy.
A lot of people questioned the moves that David Griffin made in the offseason, as the Pelicans made some peculiar moves. They traded multiple draft picks to move some salary, but then didn’t use that salary to upgrade the roster.
The front office had a plan in place, but that plan has not resulted in many victories on the court. New Orleans is currently 1-8 and things do not look like they are going to improve any time soon.
Injuries have been a big issue for the Pelicans thus far. Brandon Ingram, the team’s leading scorer with 25 points per game, has played in only six out of nine games. Josh Hart, an integral glue guy and rotation piece, has missed four games already this season as well.
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Filling those voids is hard enough, but it is an insurmountable task when you are attempting to do it without the face of your franchise in Zion Williamson. Injuries have become a troubling trend for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, as this is the second time in three seasons he is overcoming an injury to begin the season.
Williamson has yet to play in a game this season and is still multiple weeks away from being able to play. He will have scans of his foot looked at again by doctors in 2-3 weeks and at that time, he could be cleared to return to contact practices. The Pelicans will be playing at least 5-10 more games without him.
Being without their All-Star for the first quarter of the season will be too much for the team to overcome. They are struggling mightily as it is and by the time he is ready to return, they will have dug a hole too deep to climb out of.
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What makes this even worse is that it is an improvement over his rookie season when the organization was waiting for Williamson to return to the court. He missed the first 13 weeks of the season that time with a knee injury.
This time around, he may miss about half the amount of time, but the results will be the same. The New Orleans Pelicans will be near the bottom of the Western Conference with another ticket to the lottery instead of a berth in the postseason.
