3 NBA playoff outsiders that must make the postseason in 2022

Teams that must make the NBA playoffs: 3. New Orleans Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans are walking down a familiar, dark path.

When the team drafted Anthony Davis first overall back in 2012, it landed one of the best big men to ever play the game of basketball.

But just a few short years on, and Davis had decided enough was enough after years of failure to build a successful team around the multiple-time All-Star, trying desperately to force a move away from the Pels. He would eventually succeed, joining LeBron James in Los Angeles where he would win a ring in the Orlando bubble.

Davis was, and still is, a generational talent. Very rarely does a team get the chance to draft two potential all-time greats within the space of a few years, but that’s exactly what happened when New Orleans landed the first pick in 2019 and took Zion Williamson.

Williamson has the chance to be truly special. His freak combination of speed, athleticism, finishing, strength and ability to handle the ball are unseen in someone his size. But while only two years into his stay in New Orleans, the lack of a clear plan as to how to best build a title-winning team around Zion, much like in the Davis years, is hugely concerning.

The Pelicans have had three head coaches in Zion’s time with the team, firing Alvin Gentry to replace him with Stan Van Gundy, an experiment that completely failed to the point where the team has now appointed Willie Green in his place.

This instability does not bode well when it comes to Zion’s future. There have also been some questionable roster decisions, such as trading for a paint-oriented center in Steven Adams and signing him to massive extension, before a year later opting to send him to the Memphis Grizzlies.

If Williamson wants to reach his true potential as an all-time great, he has to be playing playoff basketball. The Pelicans still have time to get it right, but there is a countdown on that clock. Zion isn’t going to wait forever for the team to organize itself.

Despite the team missing out on the postseason with him in it last season, losing Lonzo Ball was nonetheless a blow given his shooting leap last year. But with Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valunciunas beside Zion, the Pels do have enough to make it into the playoffs next year.

Williamson is not completely blameless in the team’s failings. He has to do a better job on defense, as does Ingram, with the team’s lack of organization off the court also evident on it.

This coming season is a huge one for New Orleans. Missing out on the playoffs again could have a huge implication on Zion’s future and could lead to a big roster overhaul during the season or next summer.