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3 reasons New Orleans Pelicans won’t make the 2019 NBA Playoffs

By James Grieco

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images /
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Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images) /

3. The West is stacked

In accordance with the annual 21st century tradition, the Western Conference was a bloodbath last year, with the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves squeezing into the playoffs with 47 wins.

The 2018-19 season isn’t looking any easier, with most of last year’s playoff teams standing pat and a few of last year’s bottom feeders poised to make significant improvements. Per OddsShark, 10 Western Conference teams have an over/under above 41 wins (a .500 winning percentage), and that’s accounting for the healthy skepticism over/under win totals typically take.

  • The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets are playoff locks.
  • The Utah Jazz have one of the league’s best defenses, a burgeoning superstar in Donovan Mitchell and went 37-18 with Rudy Gobert in the lineup last season.
  • The Oklahoma City Thunder absolutely rolled opponents with the Russell Westbrook–Paul George–Steven Adams–Andre Roberson lineup that figures to play big minutes this year. Carmelo Anthony may also prove to be addition by subtraction.
  • The Los Angeles Lakers signed LeBron James.
  • The Denver Nuggets have an otherworldly offense and have had more time to work Paul Millsap into the system.
  • The Portland Trail Blazers have made the playoffs five straight years and didn’t lose any significant contributors this summer.
  • The San Antonio Spurs won 47 games last year with virtually no Kawhi Leonard; now they’ve added DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl.
  • The Minnesota Timberwolves (likely Jimmy Butler trade notwithstanding) still have an All-Star in Karl-Anthony Towns and a lineup full of capable players around him.
  • The Los Angeles Clippers, Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies are all probably going to be competitive throughout the year, as each expanded its roster this summer.

Beyond maybe the Warriors, Rockets, Jazz and Thunder, there are a lot of different opinions about how the West will shake out this year.

Regardless of how seeding works out, the West will offer very few easy nights throughout the year, so it’ll probably take over 45 wins for any team to feel safe that it’ll be playing past early April. Right now, the Pelicans are not comfortably above that fray, leaving them at risk of missing out entirely.

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