Crisis Hits the NBA: League Faces Its Most Troubling Situation Amid Team Turmoil, Injuries, and Unprecedented Uncertainty
NEW ORLEANS — There is a specific kind of silence that has settled over the Smoothie King Center this season. It isn’t the hushed anticipation of a crowd waiting for a buzzer-beater, nor is it the stunned silence of a heartbreaking loss.
It is the silence of apathy. It is the sound of empty seats, of free tickets going unclaimed, of a city that has simply stopped caring because the franchise has given them no reason to do otherwise.
The New Orleans Pelicans are a complete and utter disaster. At 3-21, they are on pace to be one of the worst teams in NBA history. Their net rating of -10.9 rivals the 1948 Providence Steamrollers—a team that played in an era when players smoked cigarettes at halftime and worked as plumbers in the offseason.
But bad teams happen. Rebuilds happen. What makes the Pelicans’ situation truly tragic—and perhaps unforgivable—is that this wasn’t supposed to be a rebuild. This was supposed to be the year they turned the corner. Instead, they have driven off a cliff, and in a final act of organizational malpractice, they threw away the parachute.
The Pelicans are historically bad. And they don’t even own their first-round pick.
The Ghost of Futures Past
To understand the depth of this failure, you have to rewind just six years. The future in New Orleans was blindingly bright.
They had just traded Anthony Davis to the Lakers for a king’s ransom of young players and draft picks. And then, the basketball gods smiled upon them: They won the lottery for the Zion Williamson draft.
Zion was more than a prospect; he was a cultural event. He was supposed to be the heir to LeBron James, a force of nature who would put New Orleans on the map. Pair him with Brandon Ingram, an All-Star wing, and a chest full of assets, and you had the makings of a dynasty.
“We thought we were set for a decade,” says a former front office executive who asked to remain anonymous. “We had the talent, we had the picks, we had the excitement. It felt like we couldn’t mess this up.”
They messed it up.
Fast forward to today. Zion Williamson’s career has been defined less by his dominance and more by his absence. Whether it’s the training staff, the cursed soil of the arena, or simply bad luck, the franchise player has been a ghost. Brandon Ingram is gone, traded for scraps. CJ McCollum, acquired to be the veteran stabilizer, was shipped out for Jordan Poole—a move that felt less like a basketball decision and more like a cry for help.
And now, the cupboard is bare. The assets have been squandered. The excitement has curdled into resentment.
The Pick That Got Away
The defining sin of this season—and perhaps this era of Pelicans basketball—is the trade that sent their 2026 first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks.
The logic, if you can call it that, was to move up in the draft to select Derik Queen. Queen is a fine player. He’s averaging 12 points and 6.5 rebounds, showing flashes of real talent. Jeremiah Fears, drafted seventh overall, looks promising too.
But to trade an unprotected first-round pick when your team is teetering on the edge of collapse is managerial suicide.
Right now, that pick has the highest odds of landing at number one overall. The 2026 draft class is headlined by generational talents like AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, and Darryn Peterson. These are franchise-altering players. These are the guys you tank for.
The Pelicans are tanking for the Atlanta Hawks.
“It’s malpractice,” says an Eastern Conference scout. “You look at that roster, you look at Zion’s health history, and you bet on being good? That’s not optimism. That’s delusion.”
Imagine a world where the Pelicans kept their pick. They would be terrible, yes, but they would be terrible with a purpose. They would be looking at a core of Queen, Fears, and Dybantsa. That is a future worth selling to the fans. Instead, they are selling hope for a draft lottery they aren’t even invited to.
A Comedy of Errors
The missing pick is the headline, but the story of the Pelicans’ demise is written in the margins of a dozen other baffling decisions.
Take the Dejounte Murray trade. The Pelicans saw the Hawks’ failed experiment with Murray and Trae Young—a backcourt that fit together like oil and water—and decided to replicate it. They traded Dyson Daniels, one of their best young defenders, to acquire Murray.
The result? Murray got hurt, played poorly when he was healthy, and now has zero trade value. Meanwhile, Daniels has blossomed into a First Team All-Defense candidate in Atlanta.
Then there was the CJ McCollum trade. Dealing a steady veteran for Jordan Poole was a gamble on upside that ignored reality. Poole has been a disaster, his efficiency plummeting along with his trade value. And now he’s injured too.
And let’s not forget the Kevon Looney signing. In an offseason where they desperately needed shooting or playmaking, the Pelicans used their limited cap space on a center who is currently racking up DNP-CDs (Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision).
“It feels like they’re throwing darts at a board in the dark,” says a Western Conference assistant GM. “There’s no plan. There’s no vision. Just reaction after reaction.”
The cherry on top of this sundae of incompetence? The trade for the 23rd pick. The Pelicans acquired it from the Pacers just five days before Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in the NBA Finals. Had they waited less than a week, the value of the Pacers’ future picks would have shifted dramatically. Instead, they rushed into a deal that cost them flexibility and yielded little in return.
The Empty Smoothie King Center
The on-court product is bad. The off-court vibe is worse.
New Orleans is a football town that learned to love basketball. But love requires reciprocity. The fans showed up for Chris Paul. They showed up for Anthony Davis. They showed up for Zion.
But they are not showing up for this.
Attendance has cratered. Tickets are being given away, and still, the seats remain empty. The apathy is palpable. And in the NBA, apathy is a death sentence.
Whispers of relocation have started to circulate on social media. It seems unthinkable—the NBA has fought hard to keep a team in New Orleans—but if the franchise continues to be a black hole of revenue and relevance, the conversation will grow louder.
“I don’t want to see them move,” says a longtime season ticket holder. “But I also don’t want to pay to watch a G-League team play for another franchise’s draft pick. What are we doing here?”
Is There a Way Out?
The bleakest part of the Pelicans’ situation is the lack of an escape hatch.
In a normal rebuild, you trade your stars for assets. But who wants the Pelicans’ stars?
Zion Williamson is a distressed asset. His talent is undeniable, but his availability is nonexistent. Maybe a desperate team like the Chicago Bulls takes a swing, but the return would be pennies on the dollar compared to what he was worth two years ago.
Trey Murphy III is a good player on a decent contract, but the Pelicans have overplayed their hand, demanding multiple first-round picks for a guy with his own injury history. Herb Jones is a fan favorite and an elite defender, but again, health is a concern.
They have squandered their leverage. They are selling low on everyone.
There is a glimmer of hope in the young guys. Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears look like NBA players. If they can develop, maybe, just maybe, there is a foundation to build on. But without the injection of top-tier talent that a high draft pick provides, that ceiling is limited.
The Pelicans need a miracle. They need Zion to get healthy and stay healthy. They need Derik Queen to become a superstar. They need the Hawks to somehow implode so badly that the pick swap becomes irrelevant (unlikely).
More realistically, they need a reset. Not of the roster, but of the organization.
The training staff needs an overhaul. The front office needs a new vision. The franchise needs to apologize to its fans, not with words, but with competence.
Until then, the Pelicans are the 2026 Providence Steamrollers. A historical footnote. A cautionary tale. And a tragedy for a city that deserves so much better.
AROUND THE LEAGUE: The Best of the Rest
While the Pelicans burn, the rest of the NBA marches on. Here’s a quick look at the action from around the league:
Clippers in Crisis: The Los Angeles Clippers are trying their best to join the Pelicans in the basement. Another blown lead, another loss, this time to the Timberwolves. They are now below the Brooklyn Nets in the standings, which is a sentence that should get someone fired. With Kawhi Leonard giving you 20 points and James Harden putting up a 34-point triple-double, you simply cannot lose these games. But they do. And like the Pelicans, they don’t own their pick (hello, OKC Thunder).
Cavs Concerns: The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to a Golden State Warriors team missing Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler. Let that sink in. The Cavs, with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, got worked by Pat Spencer and Buddy Hield. The offense looks broken, shooting 24% from three. Mitchell is carrying them, but he can’t do it alone. Panic button? Not yet. But the glass is broken.
Jalen Johnson’s Leap: The Hawks forward dropped a 31-12-12 triple-double. He is an All-Star lock and potentially an All-NBA candidate. While the Pelicans mourn the pick they traded to Atlanta, the Hawks are celebrating the development of a genuine star.
Zach LaVine’s Audition: The Kings beat the Heat behind LaVine’s 42 points and eight threes. He is playing like a man who wants to be traded to a contender. Miami, meanwhile, looks listless without Tyler Herro, getting fried by a Kings team that isn’t exactly known for its defense.
Luka’s Dominance: The Mavericks blew out the Rockets, with Luka Dončić continuing his assault on the record books. Even without Alperen Şengün and Steven Adams, the Rockets had no answer. Cooper Flagg added 19 points for Dallas, looking every bit the part of a future star.
