The New Orleans Pelicans front office, led by Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver, has been ranked second-worst in the NBA. This ranking comes after a disappointing season, with the team losing their last 4 games, including a 132-126 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on 2026-04-13.
What happened?
The Pelicans brought in Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver to run things last year, moving on from the David Griffin regime. The early results have not been great, though it's still too early to make a final decision. The Pelicans came in towards the end of the ranking at No. 29, the same ranking that they had back in February during the last version of the list.
Why it matters for New Orleans Pelicans
The only front office ranked below, both then and now, is the Sacramento Kings and GM Scott Perry, who was hired around the same time as Dumars. Both teams are among the bottom of the totem pole in the league, and haven't really done anything to change that this offseason. New Orleans is in a little bit better of a spot, given that a lot of their failures over the past two years can be chalked up to poor health. Still, when healthy, they aren't viewed as real contenders across the league.
What comes next?
The obvious top move mentioned by Sam Quinn, of CBS Sports, in dogging on the Pelicans' front office was the Derik Queen trade. Given that the Atlanta Hawks only ended up with the No. 8 pick, which they used to select point guard Kingston Flemings. The fear was that the lottery would send the Pelicans' pick into the top four and gift the Hawks a top talent. If Dumars and Weaver were given an option between Fleming and Queen, though, the front office would pick Queen every time, even just as prospects. So, really, the trade ended up mostly being a bad idea rather than a horrible mistake. It's probably not even the worst deal that they made. There is also the trade of CJ McCollum to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Jordan Poole and Saddiq Bey. While Bey has been awesome, Poole has not been a fit. Now, that's a $34 million contract on the books for someone who has not been in the rotation and has kept them from making moves they wanted to make this offseason. As mentioned before, though, they have only been running things for a year and a half. They took over the team in a state that has made it difficult to manage rebuilding while also keeping the core together, because of Zion Williamson's odd trade value. Fans will hope for things to get better soon. The team's recent form, with 1 win and 4 losses in their last 5 games, is a cause for concern. The Pelicans will look to turn things around and improve their standings in the league.
