Pelicans insist that their roster continuity will be key to a successful 2023/24 campaign

We’ve grown accustomed in the modern NBA to witness teams go off and change almost their entire rosters during the trade markets, changing superstars for blockbuster packages and starting all over again with fresh squads. So nowadays, if a team actually trusts their process and gives their players a chance, it becomes newsworthy.

A contrast to these franchises always busy during transfer windows is New Orleans, a team who tied last season with the second-most roster continuity, a statistic that implies how many players they’ve maintained inside the squad in between seasons.

This 2023/24 campaign, they are headed in the same direction, as all 10 players who logged 900-plus minutes during the past tournament have returned to training for preseason. The Pelicans are convinced that this is one of their biggest advantages and should be key to a successful year ahead of them.

“We have a lot of continuity,” Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon said last week. “Having our core group back, you can hit the ground running quicker. Not only to implement schemes offensively and defensively, but the players know each other and where they want the ball on the court. So hopefully we’ll be ahead of the pack (early in the season).”

The New Orleans camp expects to have an injury-free season starting this month, as continuity is a strategy that potentially works if a roster remains as healthy as possible. Last campaign, when club stars Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson fell to recurrent injuries, the Pelicans’ performances also dropped.

“Long story short, we like what we have,” Zion said during training camp. “Even though we didn’t finish (last) season the way we wanted, when we had all of our guys on the court, we were a top-two, top-three team in the West. And the West is a gauntlet.”

Big man Jonas Valanciunas recognized the team personnel’s capacity and explains why a healthy roster can lead them beyond the playoffs

Center Jonas Valanciunas recalled how well the team was playing last season before their main star players suffered health issues throughout the campaign. Nevertheless, the 31-year-old recognizes the Pelicans have all the personnel they need to thrive this year.

“We showed last year that we are really capable, and we are good with what we’ve got,” he said. “Only problem was the injuries, not knowing who’s going to play, who’s going to be in and out. Unfortunately with long injuries… We (had to) change the game plan because one guy couldn’t (play) today or tomorrow. There was a lot of game-plan changing throughout the season. But we are capable, we know we have good pieces. We really look good when we play together on the court.”

While other NBA teams make splash moves, the Pelicans believe continuity will help the franchise soar to new heights.

Can the Big 3 of CJ, Zion and BI stay healthy and productive? pic.twitter.com/hosebKi021

— Kendall Duncan (@kendallduncanTV) October 3, 2023

Despite Ingram missing most games through last November and December, the Pelicans were 23-14 and one of the strongest NBA teams on both ends of the floor. Then Zion fell to injury for the rest of the competition, and they went 19-26 in their final 45 matches without him.

“That’s the beauty in bringing a team back that is pretty much the same team,” New Orleans head coach Willie Green acknowledged. “We had a few players we added, a few staff we added, but for the most part, the core group is together. It should give us a head start.”