Houston Rockets vs. New Orleans Pelicans game preview

SB Nation

Thanks to a fun twist of fate, I’m in New Orleans and will be at tonight’s game. So if the Houston Rockets lose, you’ll know exactly who to blame.

The New Orleans Pelicans are 5-22 and dead last in the

Western Conference. They’ve already traded their first round pick in next year’s draft for Derik Queen (who’s been good!), a deal that will probably haunt them this summer. Their other pick in that draft, Jeremiah Fears, has been fun but is still a rookie and needs time.

Basically, every Pelican outside of those rookies is on the trade block. Trey Murphy III and Herbert Jones both have three years left on their deals, so any team that can snag them for a single first round pick and filler would probably feel like they got a steal. Saddiq Bey has been playing well and is much cheaper.

Lurking, of course, is the spectre of Zion Williamson, who has only played 11 games this season. The Pelicans are 2-9 in those games, with both of those wins coming against the Chicago Bulls. Just an interesting tidbit.

New Orleans is 28th in eFG% but grab offensive rebounds at a high rate (seventh in the league). Meanwhile, they allow the most efficient shooting to their opponents and don’t defensively rebound particularly well. Houston isn’t getting to the line as often as they did in the early season, but some regression was to be expected.