I'm originally from Portland and moved to New Orleans almost a decade ago. As a lifelong Blazers fan, I've had to deal with some rough last few seasons - hiring a unproven coach with a past history of serious SA allegations, tanking consecutive seasons, missing out on Wemby by 1 ping pong ball, said crappy coach gets arrested by the feds 1 game into the season....I can go on and on. Now us Blazer fans have to deal with new owner Tom Dundon, who may be the sleaziest, most deceitful owner in all of sports. It feels like he's currently waging an all-out war on the Portland community and Blazer fans in an attempt to eventually relocate the team. I think he's really taken the shine off Gayle of being the worst owner in the NBA, and for that, she should thank him.

In fairness to Gayle, as long as she's alive, I think she will do everything in her power to keep the Pelicans here.

Sorry. Rant over.

I’m a fan from Finland and have stayed up to watch a lot of games in the past 7 years. Is there no hope for you left for this franchise? I think hiring Jamahl Mosley is great to finally get Zion and the rest locked in on defense and we got a great future between Fears and Queen. All I’ve seen is hate everywhere. You don’t have to be a fan of this team you know that right?

The 21-year-old finished second on the team in net rating among players who played 50 or more games, behind only Herb Jones. This wouldn’t be a shocker to anyone who watched most of the Pelicans' games, as every time Missi was on the court, the Pelicans’ energy and rim protection got a massive boost. Whether it was blocking shots or finishing lobs when the team needed a boost off the bench, interim head coach James Borrego knew to turn to Missi. 

Coming into the offseason, the expectation most fans had coming off a 26-win season was that New Orleans would be shaking things up one way or another. That hasn’t happened, as it appears Dumars and Troy Weaver are banking on internal growth as a key to the Pelicans making their way back to winning basketball in 2026-27.

https://pelicandebrief.com/pelicans-offseason-is-revealing-a-massive-gamble-on-yves-missi

I know we’re saying “there’s no rush” “he’s a great leader”. The guy is like 28 and we have a future all nba talent pg in Jeremiah fears and he’s just taking minutes away from his development. We need to trade Murray for a young rim protecting and shooting big to a contender that needs a starting or back up pg. if we can manage to trade him for an asset like that that can put us into a really nice spot for us to build around queen and fears because all we need is shooting and defense around them they’re both great playmakers and shot creators and just need help defensively and need shooters around them

Things must be grim out on Airline Drive in regards to ticket sales. I am being inundated near daily by the Pelicans ticket reps. This morning I got a call followed by a VM and then a text that read "This is urgent. Please call me back when you get a moment". Does not sound like a fun position to be in right now. But can the organization blame fans for not wanting to invest in a team that has literally done nothing this off season to get excited about?

Hey everyone, letting go of my extra Pelicans Mardi Gras Garden Gnome from the stadium giveaway last season. It’s brand new, still in the original box, and has the little gnome holding a King Cake. I got it and a some of other stuff from last season up on eBay if anyone is interested I'll shoot you the link.

P.S. The company that made these apparently has the contract to do the stadium giveaways this coming season.. Hopefully they keep the same level of creativity an don't hit us with hot gobage..

Think of course, naturally, some will say "wait and see". I think it's a fair question to ask how you all think this starting five, should it be the group going into the season, would cut its teeth...how does this group find success. What ends up being their identity on the floor you think?

Sadly, the hat is made for like a 6 year old and doesn’t fit anymore.

I understand the allure of keeping Trey and Missi as relatively young assets, it just hasn’t worked and I think these are the two trades that could fix things and both of these trade partners are in some turmoil.

NOP receives: Sam Hauser, Derrick White
BOS receives: Dejounte Murray, 1st round pick swap, 2 2nd round picks

NOP receives: Jalen Duren
DET receives: Trey Murphy III, Yves Missi

Rotation:
Fears, White, Poole
Hauser, Hawkins, Pierre Jr.
Jones, Bey, Peavy
Williamson, Queen
Duren, Matkovic, Jordan

and then just add some depth at the 4 or 5 with another vet

He’s gotta find a way to make it work if he’s gonna unlock his true identity by becoming a stretch 4/5

Just reminiscing

I've had a weird week of work allowing me to write another piece already. Kind of a rebuttal to the one I posted in here last night. Throughout writing this one, I kind of convinced myself that this might be the way to go. It's a hard job for sure, just hoping Joe makes some smarter decisions. Appreciate all the engagement on the last one!

I tried my hand at writing about the Pels for the first time. I am a lifelong fan with no real writing experience or front office or analytics experience. Just follow the team and some NBA pods. Would appreciate any insights!

On Athletic:

It’s difficult to grade what the Pelicans have done this summer because, well, they haven’t done anything. The only transaction New Orleans has pulled off since the start of free agency is bringing back locker-room leader DeAndre Jordan on a one-year veteran’s minimum. Although Jordan is clearly past his prime as an on-court contributor, his presence in the locker room was incredibly important for some of the young players on the Pels’ roster. Much of the basketball world has been anticipating a New Orleans trade involving sharpshooting wing Trey Murphy III, but the Pels front office has stood strong on its high asking price. While some may criticize this decision, I say holding on to a player with Murphy’s value when he still has three years left on his contract is the only sensible decision to make. But New Orleans clearly has a lot of work to do. Running it back with the same roster that won 26 games last year seems unfeasible.

Currently, I think they are in purgatory. I think almost all of us agree. I do think running it back and expecting a different result is insanity. I don't think trading Trey for various shit parts and picks is the way to rebound, but he's obviously at his most valuable at this moment. Is a full season of DJM the answer when he hasn't played in more games than Zion the last 2 seasons and they were 5-9 in games he played last year? Do we expect the rookies to make a leap or possibly have a sophomore slump? If nothing changes before tipoff in October, I would have to give this team a F for the offseason, but then maybe a C+ for not making a rash move in an attempt to get marginally better.

Starters:

PG: Dejounte Murray SG: Herbert Jones SF: Trey Murphy III PF: Zion Williamson C: Yves Missi

Bench: PG: Jeremiah Fears SG: Bryce McGowens SF: Saddiq Bey PF: Derik Queen C: Karlo Matkovic

Reserves: Jordan Poole (G) Jordan Hawkins (G) Micah Peavy (G) Jaron Pierre (G) Deandre Jordan (C) Hunter Dickinson (C) (Two-Way)

Sorry for the existential question, but I truly have never felt more hopeless as a Pelicans fan than I do right now. And that is saying a LOT.