After last season's disappointing sweep in the playoffs, the Pelicans took the opportunity to dig deep, and learn why they were so thoroughly picked apart in Michael Porter's dominant run for the title. The next season came around, and things looked bleak at first. With Markkanen out of the first 24 games of the season, we played active but relatively uninspiring basketball, with a 10-14 record and struggles with our scoring output. Malik Beasley and Svi Mykhailiuk were effective scorers, but couldn't score enough to stop their bleeding on defense. After Markkanen's return, the team went 37-23 for the rest of the season, good for a 50 win season if stretched to 82 games. But this wasn't good enough for New Orleans, who were also looking to fix their salary cap situation at the trade deadline. As such, New Orleans traded away both Beasley and Mykhailiuk to the Atlanta Hawks, in exchange for both Justin Anderson and Julius Randle.
Justin Anderson and Julius Randle were key additions, who both played critical roles throughout the playoffs. If it weren't for their additions, New Orleans truly wouldn't have made it that deep. Especially Justin Anderson, who played a key role as a wing defender, and picked up difficult defensive assignments nightly. Some nights it was Dzanan Musa or Cameron Johnson, other nights it was Jarrett Culver or Luka Doncic. Regardless, both players were vital additions needed for the playoff run, and New Orleans thanks them greatly.
With that out of the way, let's take a look at our regular season stats:
Markelle Fultz
71 Games Played | 71 Games Started | 32.5 Minutes per game
15.7 PPG | 2.4 RPG | 5.6 APG | 1.8 SPG | 0.2 BPG | 2.3 TO | 2.2 Fouls
5.5-12.8 FG 42.8% | 3.0-7.8 3FG 37.7% | 1.8-2.4 FT 75.1%
Cameron Reddish*(New Orleans Pelicans)
28 Games Played | 26 Games Started | 24.3 Minutes per game
8.9 PPG | 2.4 RPG | 2.1 APG | 0.8 SPG | 0.6 BPG | 1.6 TO | 2.1 Fouls
3.3-7.5 FG 43.8% | 1.4-3.9 3FG 37% | 0.8-1.0 FT 82.7%
Nassir Little
71 Games Played | 71 Games Started | 33.3 Minutes per game
12.8 PPG | 5.0 RPG | 6.5 APG | 2.0 SPG | 1.2 BPG | 1.9 TO | 1.7 Fouls
4.7-11.9 FG 39.9% | 0.8-2.0 3FG 40.6% | 2.5-4.2 FT 61%
Lauri Markkanen
58 Games Played | 58 Games Started | 33.9 Minutes per game
23.2 PPG | 9.3 RPG | 1.1 APG | 0.8 SPG | 0.7 BPG | 2.1 TO | 2.4 Fouls
9.0-18.5 FG 48.6% | 1.5-4.0 3FG 37.5% | 3.8-4.4 FT 85.9%
Mohamed Bamba
82 Games Played | 82 Games Started | 28.3 Minutes per game
11.1 PPG | 10.1 RPG | 1.3 APG | 0.7 SPG | 1.9 BPG | 2.3 TO | 3.2 Fouls
4.9-9.1 FG 54.1% | N/A 3FG | 1.3-2.7 FT 47.5%
Justin Anderson*(New Orleans Pelicans)
24 Games Played | 3 Games Started | 27.8 Minutes per game
9.0 PPG | 3.1 RPG | 1.5 APG | 1.5 SPG | 0.8 BPG | 1.5 TO | 1.7 Fouls
3.3-7.7 FG 43.2% | 1.0-3.5 3FG 30.9% | 1.2-1.5 FT 81%
Throughout the regular season, Nassir Little proved to be one of the best defenders in the CSL, and one of the most versatile wings across the entire league. Capable of both creating for both himself and his teammates, his biggest struggle was scoring efficiently when he had his own chances at the rim. Otherwise, Little was spectacular, landing himself in the top 20 of total assists created for the season. Markelle Fultz also had himself a resurgent season, proving to the league why he and Little were drafted with such high expectations. Fultz became one of the most versatile 3 point weapons in the CSL this season. Specifically with the ball in his hands, Markelle Fultz displayed his craft in and around the 3 point arc. That fabulous flexible handle, with that high-arching jumpshot, creates the deadly combo known as Markelle Fultz. Mohamed Bamba had arguably his best season as a pro, playing a full 82 games and averaging the first official double-double of his career. He extended his personal growth with career highs in total defensive rebounds, steals, blocks, assists, field goals made, and efficiency. He continued his dominance into the post season, and even got better during the playoffs.
But enough of the regular season, the reason why this season was considered such a success in many circles around the CSL was because of the Pelicans' playoff run, where they upset two impressive 1st-time playoff participants(with their current core) and lost to another dominant Western Conference superstar scorer. After a shaky regular season which saw the Pelicans finish the season with the same record as both the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Phoenix Suns(and 1 game ahead of the Golden State Warriors), they slotted 6th in their division, facing off against the young upstart Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies, who nobody expected to be such a good team headed into the season, breezed their way through the regular season and finished with a 51-31 record, and clear favourites headed into the series. CSL pundits had the series heavily in the Grizzlies favor, with various well-known names predicting the series would end with the Grizzlies winning in 5 games. Jarrett Culver had become a full time superstar and carried the team on his back, as he averaged 25/6.5 throughout the season, an impressive upgrade from last season's 19/5. Nobody expected superstar rookie Sekou "Doom" Doumbouya to be as effective as he was from the start though, but Doom put his fingerprints all over this Memphis squad. Averaging an incredible 19/4/3/2/1 for his rookie campaign, Doom was the backbone to this team, both on the offensive end and the defensive end. On offense, his sheer versatility kept him and his team afloat, and he wasn't horribly inefficient at that either. On defense, Doom was immediately one of the best players in the league, as he walked his way nearly averaging >3 steals+blocks for his rookie season. And Bruno Fernando continued his development into one of the best two-way bigs in the league. This Memphis team was expected to be good, but not this good this soon. After breezing their way through the regular season(literally and figuratively), they headed into the post season with confidence. Similar to how they played the regular season, many pundits believed that the young Memphis upstarts would just out-run the matchup-based playoff veteran Pelicans. Instead, the Pelicans upset the higher seeded Grizzlies, in a showing of true playoff experience and overwhelming defensive pressure. Their stars, Culver and Doumbouya, just did not show up this series. Doumbouya was kept in check by Justin Anderson, and limited his touches and shooting percentages; the main event was watching Nassir Little cover Jarret Culver, as Little stopped Culver from playing comfortably all series long, harrassing him into 7 turnovers per game in a 6 game series and 10 turnovers alone in game 2. New Orleans would end up taking the series in 6 games, with Markkanen and Fultz closing out the series in the pivotal 6.
Next series involved another young team, this time the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves had just majorly upset the Houston Rockets in 5 games, with a dominant showcase of Dzanan Musa and Cameron Johnson's abilities to play consistently, and were riding off their high headed into the Semi-Conference Finals. Although an impressive player, I felt that Musa's addition to Minnesota earlier this season screwed with their chemistry, and they only returned to their former early-season glory during the playoffs. Minnesota had a rollercoaster of a regular season, with some very impressive win streaks, and some even more impressive loss streaks. All in all, I felt like Minnesota were playing at a 50+ win pace before the trade, and following the trade they played at a 42 win pace. Of course, this is just a gut feeling and I could 100% be wrong, so feel free to correct me if anybody else wants to check. This isn't to take away from Musa's dominance though, he's an elite player and someone I heavily considered acquiring at multiple different points throughout my time in the CSL. Enough rambling though, I should talk about this playoff matchup. The key matchup in this series was the matchup between Justin Anderson and Dzanan Musa. To start the series, although both Minnesota and New Orleans shared the same record, because of seeding, New Orleans had home court advantage. Of course, that didn't stop Musa and the Timberwolves from taking both games 1 and 2, with the usual expected dominant showing from Musa. At that point, New Orleans made the concerted change to put Anderson directly on Musa for the rest of the series, and that would lead to Musa shooting 26-96 in the next 4 games combined, good for 27% from the field and 18% from behind the arc. To put it bluntly, Dzanan Musa was shut down after the first two games. This is precisely why I was so grateful to acquire Justin Anderson from Atlanta at the deadline, for matchups like this. New Orleans would end up taking the series, yet again, in 6 games, with Markkanen and Fultz yet again closing out the series in the pivotal game 6. The Pelicans' magical playoff run would finally come to an end in the next round, as they faced off against the juggernaut known as the Luka Mavericks.
This season's Western Conference, although lacking in top-end talent, was closely packed during the regular season. Not only did the 6th, 7th, and 8th seeded teams all finish with the exact same record, but so did the 3rd and 4th seeded teams. The Memphis Grizzlies and the Dallas Mavericks both finished with a 51-31 record. And now, one of the 45-37 record teams will face off against one of the 51-31 record teams for a chance to play in the CSL Finals. This series did not disappoint, as both teams pulled out all the stops. New Orleans battled hard but it wasn't enough, as Luka Doncic stormed his way through the West. All of the Pelicans' defensive options weren't enough, as Luka Doncic individually wrecked the entire team. Not to discredit Dallas though, they did a fantastic job building a team to maximize Doncic's strengths, and these playoffs were proof of just that. Dallas would end up taking the series in 6 games, with Luka Doncic dropping 61 in the final game 6.
Playoff Stats:
Markelle Fultz
18 Games Played | 18 Games Started | 34.9 Minutes per game
17.9 PPG | 2.4 RPG | 6.9 APG | 1.1 SPG | 0.3 BPG | 2.4 TO | 1.4 Fouls
6.4-14 FG 45.6% | 3.4-8.3 3FG 40.7% | 1.7-2.3 FT 73.8%
Cameron Reddish
18 Games Played | 3 Games Started | 25.6 Minutes per game
9.6 PPG | 3.8 RPG | 2.9 APG | 0.9 SPG | 1.1 BPG | 1.7 TO | 3.8 Fouls
3.4-8.3 FG 41.6% | 1.8-4.6 3FG 40.2% | 0.8-1.2 FT 68.2%
Justin Anderson
15 Games Played | 15 Games Started | 27.4 Minutes per game
8.4 PPG | 2.9 RPG | 1.5 APG | 1.3 SPG | 0.9 BPG | 1.3 TO | 2.5 Fouls
2.9-6.2 FG 47.3% | 1.3-2.9 3FG 44.2% | 1.3-1.4 FT 90.5%
Nassir Little
18 Games Played | 18 Games Started | 32.4 Minutes per game
11.8 PPG | 6.9 RPG | 6.7 APG | 1.9 SPG | 2.3 BPG | 2.2 TO | 3.1 Fouls
4.8-11.9 FG 40.5% | 0.6-1.8 3FG 30.3% | 1.6-3.3 FT 49.2%
Lauri Markkanen
18 Games Played | 18 Games Started | 36.4 Minutes per game
22.8 PPG | 8.6 RPG | 1.3 APG | 0.6 SPG | 0.4 BPG | 2.8 TO | 2.3 Fouls
8.9-20.4 FG 43.9% | 0.8-2.8 3FG 30% | 4.1-4.9 FT 83.1%
Mohamed Bamba
18 Games Played | 18 Games Started | 33.5 Minutes per game
14.6 PPG | 12.9 RPG | 1.3 APG | 1.2 SPG | 2.3 BPG | 2.7 TO | 3.9 Fouls
6.3-11.1 FG 57% | N/A 3FG | 1.9-3.6 FT 52.3%
TJ McConnell, Victor Oladipo, Richard Solomon, and Julius Randle all contributed loads throughout the playoff run as well, and their contributions can't be understated.
After a long regular season, what's the plan? Well, New Orleans have to resign Nassir Little this free agency, and they have a max-salary salary slot to play with in addition to Little's upcoming extension. They also need to sign another batch of bench unit players, ones who can emulate the success of the previous season's success. More importantly, they need to prepare for another engine change, and any potential changes in the offense and defense functionality of this team. The team is built on Bamba and Little anchoring the defense, while relying on one-way Markkanen and Fultz for a lot of offense. Let's pray the transition won't spell disaster for this core, after their most successful season to date.
2028
