The New Orleans Pelicans’ offense fails to make sense

Questionable offseason decisions and even stranger lineup choices have the New Orleans Pelicans looking anything but playoff locks.

A 118-102 loss to the Utah Jazz was the sixth defeat in the last seven games for the New Orleans Pelicans. Their lone victory was a slim five-point victory against the Sacramento Kings, a team with as poor a defense as we’ve ever seen.

New Orleans was expected to vie for a playoff spot, compete for the play-in tournament at the very least. They’re currently 5-8, good for 12th in the Western Conference. Only so much ground separates teams this early in the season, a silver lining for teams like this one trying to gain traction. With a roster revamped and fully healthy, the Pelicans hardly thought they’d be among that struggling group.

Health has truly been a godsend for the Pelicans. Most importantly, it’s been present for Zion Williamson, already halfway to the total amount of games he played last season, withstanding more playing time and dominating opponents to the tune of 26.3 points per game on 61.8 percent shooting over his last eight.

But the questions many had about this roster during its construction are at the forefront of these recent struggles. They seem to then be exacerbated by the lineup decisions made by Stan Van Gundy.

The 3-point shot remains invaluable to the success of modern offenses that rely on basic spacing principles to thin defenses out and attack accordingly. New Orleans is trending in the opposite direction, shrinking its court as a bottom-five team in triples made, attempted and overall percentage.

Zion and Brandon Ingram — 22.8 points and 5.0 assists per game — attract incredible amounts of attention with the ball in their hands. They’d love nothing more than to locate open shooters along the perimeter, creating a lethal pick-your-poison scenario.

The Pelicans should’ve done plenty to place the faces of their franchise in those scenarios, but the personnel to actualize that fantasy remains absent. Predictably, the Pelicans’ offense is teetering just outside the bottom third of the league.

Eric Bledsoe is the only Pelican hitting more than 40 percent of his threes, but a reputation earned over more than a decade of subpar shooting — career 33.8 percent outside shooter — ensures that opponents will leave him open to go contest shots they actually fear.

There are ways to mitigate the lack of attention Bledsoe commands beyond the arc to better accentuate his downhill prowess. Slotting him in a backcourt alongside another struggling shooter isn’t the answer.

After shooting a career-high 37.5 percent from downtown last season, Lonzo Ball is below 30 percent so far this season. He was 0-of-6 on threes against the Jazz. In the minutes Ball and Bledsoe have shared so far this season, New Orleans is posting a mediocre offense that generates only 109.3 points per 100 possessions, which is in the 40th percentile — per Cleaning The Glass.

If only there was a sharpshooting guard at Van Gundy’s disposal who could not only offer your basic spacing but actually accentuate whichever player stands alongside him in the backcourt.

Following some early-season struggles, JJ Redick has made 39.4 percent of more than six nightly 3-point attempts over his last five games. He makes life easier for teammates if only by ensuring his man can’t offer help without paying a hefty price. The offense is surprisingly struggling in his presence, but it’s hard to imagine much of a long-term trend for the best shooter on one of the league’s worst shooting teams.

The Steven Adams acquisition didn’t make much sense from this standpoint either. Stretch fives don’t exactly grow on trees. That doesn’t mean Griffin had to go get a polar opposite and ink him to a two-year extension.

Zion and Ingram are one of the most potent young duos at the offensive end. They should be gifted complete freedom of movement to run and jump where they see fit. Instead, no fewer than four total defenders are zeroed in on them when they have the ball. Their options are to heave a well-contested shot or dish to teammates who aren’t likely to convert. Not exactly the quality of options any leading scorer look for.

Though not an ideal fit, Bledsoe was simply the cost of doing the Jrue Holiday trade that netted New Orleans all those draft picks. Along with Adams, the Pelicans believed they were building a defensive attack that would suffocate at all angles. They’re currently 21st in defensive rating.

Neither side of the ball offers much optimism right now. Fortunately, the offensive end offers much quicker solutions in the form of simple rotation tweaks over the more complex ideological teachings of point prevention.

Redick is only getting 21.8 minutes a night, a significant drop-off from the six players ahead of him in the rotation and barely ahead of sophomore Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Lineups with Williamson at center have always intrigued for their potential versatility but have rarely been experimented with.

If New Orleans’ defense already isn’t up to par, you’re not really sacrificing much with these changes. So why not give them a try in times that are only growing more desperate?

Something has to be working at a high level to keep the Pelicans in the fight for a playoff spot. Zion and Ingram should dictate what that is, which tells you everything you need to know about the adjustments Van Gundy needs to begin making.