It looks like the 2024-25 season is quickly slipping away from the New Orleans Pelicans. They have been among the most injured teams in the league, at one point having six rotation players out, including all-stars Dejounte Murray and Zion Williamson.
That has resulted in an ugly 4-17 record, which has put them in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs, let alone the play-in tournament. With the season slipping away and Zion out for the foreseeable future, the Pelicans have an incentive to tank this year.
That might be a controversial decision among Pelicans fans who had high hopes for their team. However, it may be their best bet. Even if Zion had a return date and it was soon, New Orleans would struggle to get back into play-in contention.
The 2025 NBA Draft is loaded, and the Pelicans have their own pick. That gives them a chance to add a key rotation player, particularly if they luck out and end up with the number one overall pick for the third time in 15 years. If that ends up happening, then they could take generational prospect Cooper Flagg.
Should the New Orleans Pelicans consider tanking this season?
Flagg would give them a new building block to build around with Zion unreliable due to him missing nearly half of his career games thus far. Of course, having Flagg and healthy Zion would be the best possible outcome for what is quickly turning out to be a nightmare season for the Pelicans. However, it will depend a lot on the direction that the team chooses to head toward.
If they go the tanking route, then they would be wise to take what they can get for Brandon Ingram. Ingram will be an unrestricted free agent after this season and the two sides appear to be far apart on a potential new contract.
Moving him during the season would make tanking more of a possibility with him gone and Zion possibly still out around the trade deadline. If that is the case, then they could shut Zion down for the rest of the season to increase their lottery odds.
That would raise questions about his future with the Pelicans, with him not on a fully guaranteed contract after this season and having been unable to prove that he can stay healthy.
Ultimately, New Orleans' struggles have derailed their season, perhaps past the point of salvaging. Depending on what they decide to do, they can potentially tank in the hopes of landing a new franchise player to build around.