The New Orleans Pelicans expected to take a step forward in the 2025-26 season, as evidenced by trading their unprotected 2026 draft pick to the Atlants Hawks so they could select Derik Queen with the No. 10 pick in June.
Two weeks into the season, nothing has gone according to plan for the Pelicans, who are one of the last two winless teams in the NBA at 0-6. Adding to the dreadful vibes of a winless start is Tuesday’s news that Zion Williamson will miss at least 7-10 days with a Grade 1 hamstring strain. Given Williamson’s injury history, there’s plenty of concern that a hamstring strain could linger or get aggravated again later, creating additional stress for Pelicans fans.
New Orleans’ 0-6 start has featured three losses by 30-plus points, resulting in the league’s worst net rating at a staggering -18.3. That performance has led to rumblings that coach Willie Green has lost the locker room and his seat gets hotter with each loss.
Losing Williamson — the team’s leader in points, rebounds, assists and blocks per game — won’t add much optimism that they’ll suddenly turn things around.
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Brad Botkin
Why Zion Williamson is so important to Pelicans
Williamson is the most important player on a New Orleans roster that has plenty of issues, namely a frontcourt that was already thin on size and heavily reliant on Wililamson. Kevon Looney made his debut in a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, providing some help for Yves Missi and Queen, but both of the Pelicans’ young centers are light on size (especially Queen).
Given their lack of bulk in the paint, it comes as little surprise New Orleans has been one of the league’s worst rebounding teams and ranks last in defensive rating.
Without Williamson, Green will likely have to see what Queen can do in extended minutes. The rookie has only played 17.5 minutes per game in the first six contests off the bench, but his ability to score is something none of their other frontcourt options provide. Elsewhere, the Pelicans will need Trey Murphy III to shake out of his early slump to play like a star-level talent and Jordan Poole figures to take on an even bigger role in the offense.
How long could Pelicans’ winless streak last?
None of that provides an awful lot of encouragement and with Williamson missing at least the next four games, if not more, it’s fair to wonder when the Pelicans’ first win will arrive. Tuesday night figures to be their best chance against a Charlotte Hornets team that will be without LaMelo Ball (ankle) and Brandon Miller (shoulder). But with Williamson now absent, New Orleans is only a short favorite (-2.5 at FanDuel).
If they don’t win against the Hornets, a three-game road trip awaits before Zion could potentially return.
If they cannot win one of those five games, with Dallas, Phoenix and Portland all looking beatable in the early going this season, then the Pelicans’ losing streak could stretch on for a very long time even once Williamson returns. The rest of their November schedule is pretty brutal and filled with West contenders. Their most winnable games the rest of the month will be against Atlanta, Dallas (again) and the Memphis Grizzlies.
If they somehow can’t get any of those games, Dec. 6 against the league’s other winless squad, the Brooklyn Nets, could be a titanic battle of basketball inferiority. The key difference being the Nets are actively tanking after trading to get their draft picks back, while the Pelicans are trying their hardest to win because they have no incentive to lose with their pick belonging to the Hawks.
