Pelicans Notes: Green, Rotation, Potential Trades, Lakers Pick, McCollum, Hawkins

The Pelicans, a team that had hopes of reaching or passing 50 wins this season, are spiraling due to injuries. At 4-12, there’s been some outside speculation that head coach Willie Green’s job could be in jeopardy, William Guillory of The Athletic writes. However, Guillory doesn’t believe Green is in danger of losing his position as the team is currently starting games with Brandon Boston Jr., Javonte Green and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, the former two of which weren’t even on the team before prior to late August.

Even though those players have had some individually nice moments, it’s important to consider that all of Zion Williamson, Herb Jones, CJ McCollum and Dejounte Murray — most of the starting lineup — have missed extensive time. Key rotation pieces like Trey Murphy, Jordan Hawkins and Jose Alvarado have also suffered injuries.

While the injuries are a large part of the Pelicans’ slow start, Guillory opines that Green could still be making some improvements as the schedule wears on. New Orleans has faced some struggles in close games this year. However, Guillory doesn’t believe that any one person should be shouldering the blame, including the medical staff.

We have more from the Pelicans:

• Once the Pelicans get healthier, they’ll have some key rotation decisions to make. Rookie Yves Missi has been a bright spot this season and should be under consideration for the starting five spot when the team is healthy, Guillory writes in the same mailbag. Still, Green might opt to close some games with Robinson-Earl or Jones when healthy for spacing purposes. Guillory also sees Boston continuing to see some minutes when the team is healthy. He’s been impressive, averaging 12.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists on a two-way contract.
• While there still isn’t much smoke regarding a potential Brandon Ingram trade despite his pending unrestricted free agent status, Guillory expects any potential trade involving him to bring back a starting-caliber center. Still, Guillory writes that it doesn’t make much sense to move assets when the team is far from playoff contention at the moment.
• In light of Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht exploding for 37 points, it’s easy to wonder if the Pelicans regret giving up that pick. The Pelicans had the rights to Los Angeles’s No. 17 overall pick (used on Knecht), but chose to defer the selection to a 2025 unprotected first. Guillory points out that adding another first-round salary would’ve been difficult for the Pelicans’ current financial situation and that punting on the selection and hoping the Lakers would have a rough season seemed like a better idea than taking another swing in an uncertain class. The Lakers are 10-4 and third in the Western Conference, so it looks like that first-round pick will be a late one.
• McCollum was upgraded to doubtful on the Pelicans’ latest injury report, according to Guillory (Twitter link). Hawkins was also upgraded to questionable for Friday’s game. Staying true with recent reporting, it looks like both players will return from injury in the coming days.
• In case you missed it, Elfrid Payton, signed to a contract on Wednesday, played well in his debut with the Pelicans.