Pelicans fighting with 5 teams for Cooper Flagg draft lottery odds
12/09/2024 03:47 PM
NBA contending tiers seem pretty clear-cut going into the last three weeks of 2024. The Boston Celtics (19-5) and Cleveland Cavaliers (21-4) are running away from the Eastern Conference pack. The Oklahoma City Thunder (18-5) and Memphis Grizzlies (17-8) are on course for a Western Conference Finals clash. Everyone else is playing for the upset. Well, except for teams like the injury-ravaged, market-limited New Orleans Pelicans (5-20). Fans of six franchises can start rooting for respectable losses while looking at Cooper Flagg-related NBA Draft Lottery odds.
EVP David Griffin’s game plan for success keeps getting interrupted by injuries to Zion Williamson (hamstring) and Brandon Ingram (ankle). Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, Jose Alvarado, and Jordan Hawkins have missed most of the season. Willie Green is getting most of the rotation back but Williamson and Ingram will be out “indefinitely” per the team. There should be no indecision as to a course of action over the next few months.
Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecombe, Egor Demin, Nolan Traore, and/or Boogie Fland would be huge additions to the young New Orleans core. The fight to the bottom is on in all respects but the schedule-makers did the Pelicans a favor. Capturing Cooper Flagg is looking easier with every loss.
Western Conference’s Cooper Flagg chaos
The Pelicans will push for wins but it’s hard to see many popping up in the standings until after New Year’s Day. Hosting the Sacramento Kings (12-13) on December 12 might be the best chance to give the fans a victory to celebrate. A trip to face the Indiana Pacers (10-15) on December 15 is the last matchup in 2024 against another team with a losing record.
Jimmy Butler’s Miami Heat are becoming a problem and the Pelicans will have to deal with that headache on New Year’s Day. New Orleans has the third most challenging schedule remaining, which should all but signal it is time to throw in the towel. The Pelicans have enough problems trying to extract value from a Brandon Ingram or CJ McCollum trade.
Seeds six through 12th are separated by two games. The 12th-placed Kings have 12 wins already with perhaps a 13th coming after visiting the Smoothie King Center. Being eight games behind 12th place before Christmas is about as clear a signal as an organization should need.
New Orleans has already lost two games versus the Portland Trail Blazers (8-16) and have a two-games-in-three-days home set against the Utah Jazz (5-18) in mid-January. Both have some tough days ahead but not quite like the Pelicans. It’s time to survey the battlefield and withdraw in hopes of fighting another day.
Pelicans eyeing Eastern Conference cellar
On the other end of the spectrum are the Washington Wizards (3-19) with the third-easiest schedule remaining. The Charlotte Hornets (7-17) are right behind (5th) the Wizards but the Scottie Barnes-led Toronto Raptors (7-17) are building a winning culture. The Pelicans have more talent than the Wizards or Hornets. Toronto and the rest of the Eastern Conference’s middle class will be looking to the lottery but someone has to win when they face each other.
Trajan Langon’s Detroit Pistons (10-15) and the Philadelphia 76ers (7-17) will rack up wins while chasing an NBA Play-In Tournament spot. Even if J.B. Bickerstaff’s easy-going Pistons do some strategic tanking with experimental lineups down the stretch, Detroit will be more than a handful of wins ahead of the Pelicans by then.
The 76ers are dealing with some internal issues but Philadelphia’s postseason path is far more manageable. The Brooklyn Nets (10-14), Indiana Pacers (10-15), and Chicago Bulls (10-15) are balled up on 10 wins, but only two games back in the win column out of fifth place. Making sense of how the Eastern Conference will shake out is near-impossible. One team will start to slide eventually. However, Las Vegas sportsbooks seem certain the Pelicans will finish with fewer wins than most in the Eastern Conference Play-In mix.
That’s the NBA Draft Lottery landscape when gauging the best odds at the first overall pick. Utah and Portland in the West, Washington, Toronto, and Charlotte in the East. The Pelicans have to plan accordingly. Adding a top-three or top-five talent to this core, regardless of what happens with Ingram or Williamson, would allow the Pelicans to sell fans on a new future.
It’s tough to hear for any competitor but winning games is not the priority given the circumstances. Developing chemistry, remaining upbeat, and keeping a competitive pride circulating through the locker room are more important. And if it helps the Pelicans add Cooper Flagg, there will be no complaints down in the Crescent City.
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