New Orleans Pelicans: Where does the roster go without Lonzo Ball?

The New Orleans Pelicans find themselves back at square one after watching Lonzo Ball sign a deal with the Chicago Bulls that would ultimately turn into a sign and trade that netted them Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple and a second-round pick. This simply cannot be the outcome the Pelicans (or Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram) had hoped for. When combined with contracts being locked down by Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley and more point guards, the Pelicans find themselves in a precarious position.

The two young All-Stars made it quite clear that they wanted Ball back in the fold. David Griffin made a trade at the draft to make room under the salary cap to pay a top point guard, whether that be Ball or one of the more established stars. The guard rotation (unless something changes in free agency) will include veterans Satoransky and Temple along with third-year player Nickeil Alexander-Walker and second-year player Kira Lewis Jr. None of them is the floor spacer or passer that Ball had grown into over the last two seasons.

Lonzo Ball is no longer a member of the New Orleans Pelicans. Where does the team go from here to try to rebound for next season?

The rest of the roster saw an influx of shooting after drafting Trey Murphy and swapping Steven Adams for Jonas Valanciunas. Again, this is not nearly enough around Williamson and Ingram, but perhaps throughout the free agency process, they will be able to do so.

Ultimately, how much this works out will be dependent on the development of the two young guards on the roster and their readiness to contribute to winning as soon as next year. Ideally, the starting lineup at the beginning of the season will be Satoransky, Temple, Ingram, Williamson and Valanciunas with either or both incumbent youngsters overtaking the new Pels as starters not long into the season. Alexander-Walker seems to be the more ready to take on a larger role, especially after showing signs last season late in the season of the progress that he has made. Lewis is a speedster in transition who could thrive alongside Williamson in that regard, but the full-court lobs that became a nightly highlight are no more.

This is the most recent move that starts the clock ticking on the time bomb that is Zion Williamson’s future. He will be playing for his third coach in three seasons and does not want to have to wait to compete for the playoffs. The Western Conference is perennially a bloodbath and any sort of step back in overall talent typically does not bode well for getting a chance to make progress.

There is still plenty of time in free agency for the New Orleans Pelicans to change things up but for now, the roster feels worse than it did at the beginning of the day. If winning in the short term was the only goal for the franchise, so far not so good. The progress of Josh Hart’s situation is the next possible domino to fall.