New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Players That Disappointed This Season
After having swept the Trailblazers in the first round of the postseason last season, the Pelicans couldn't even bag a playoff berth for themselves this year around. Obviously, Boogie Cousins' decision to join the Warriors left everyone including his close friend Anthony Davis in shock, and the franchise couldn't do enough to fill up the void in time.
New Orleans finished 13th on the Western Conference leaderboard(they were 6th last year) having won 15 lesser games than they did during their 2017-18 regular season campaign. Their unimpressive 33-49(0.402) win-loss record was the outcome of a chaotic team experience in terms of disloyalty, trade talks, injuries and more.
Possessing decent talent on paper, this team was unable to get past the hurdles every NBA season brings and fell on its face. Despite some considerable self-inflicted pain via prevalent AD trade talks, coach Alvin Gentry made sure the team was up and functioning to their best on any given night. However, it was fairly evident that the whole roster was affected by the things they heard and saw before the trade deadline passed.
Let's take a look at the three individuals who failed to step up during a season when their team needed them the most.
#1 E'Twaun Moore
E'Twaun Moore - being only one of two players on the Pelicans roster born out of the 90s - played 53 games for the Pelicans, of which he started in 36. He got an average of over 27 minutes of playtime during the regular season, but could only put together numbers like 11.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
Back in 2010 and 2011, he was a 2-time First-Team All Big Ten selection, which followed him being drafted by the Celtics as their 55th pick in round 2.
Having started 80 games for his team last season, Moore's scoring numbers this year showed no noticeable rise. Considering the fact that 29-year-old shooting guard is due $8.6 million, some are naming him as the most likely candidate to be packaged in a trade including other players.