New Orleans Pelicans 2025-26 NBA Betting Lines
It was bad enough that the New Orleans Pelicans missed the NBA playoffs for the fifth time in the last seven years. But the 2025 season continued to be the parable about being careful for what you wish for. Zion Williamson is the biggest draft bust in the history of the NBA. Williamson was the number one overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft. It was heralded as the next generation of an NBA superstar who would transform the New Orleans Pelicans into an elite franchise. Videos of Pelicans employees going berserk when New Orleans won the lottery to take Williamson went viral. However, Williamson has struggled to stay in the lineup by eating himself out of the league. Williamson’s lack of discipline and accountability has destroyed the dreams of Pelican fans and turned gamblers away in droves. New Orleans remains one of the worst values on the board. Now, after a summer that produced one of the worst offseasons in the NBA, the future could not look more bleak for the 2025-26 campaign.
NBA Betting Lines
Team Overview
The New Orleans Pelicans' final regular season record was 21-61 straight up, 33-46-3 against the spread, and 44-36 over/under the total. New Orleans was 14th in the Western Conference playoff standings and 47 games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoff race.
New Orleans's NBA metrics were 24th for scoring offense, 24th for field goal percentage, 24th for 3-point field goal percentage, 27th for free throw percentage, and 19th for offensive rebounding. On defense, the Pelicans' metrics were 26th for scoring defense, 29th for field goal percentage permitted, 21st for 3-point field goal percentage allowed, and 28th for defensive rebounding.
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Off-Season Moves for 2025-26
Key additions: Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey, Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen, Kevon Looney
Key subtractions: CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk, Brandon Boston Jr., Elfrid Payton
It is unclear what the Pelicans' strategy was for this summer, other than the fact that they really liked Derik Queen, for whose draft rights they traded their unprotected first-round pick in 2026. It was a wild gamble that essentially demands New Orleans make the playoffs this season or lose a lottery pick.
In the absence of injured point guard Dejounte Murray, they traded CJ McCollum for Jordan Poole, giving the keys to their offense to one of the most inefficient high-usage players in the league, who also happens to have one more year than McCollum on the end of his deal. None of it makes any sense, whether or not Zion Williamson can remain healthy for an entire season.
The Hawks-Pelicans draft-night swap was seemingly the most lopsided transaction of the summer. It could pay off for New Orleans, but it was far too risky to be sensible -- particularly in the context of the Pelicans' other moves. New Orleans is betting on Poole being a playoff-caliber starting point guard and has overloaded its depth chart at center by drafting Queen and signing veteran Kevon Looney. Just three West teams have longer odds of winning the conference, and the Pelicans traded away their safety net now that they no longer control their 2026 first-round pick.
Key Players
PF Zion Williamson led New Orleans with 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game in 2024-25. Williamson has missed roughly half of his career starts, much of it due to a weight issue. Williamson was the first overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft out of Duke by the Pelicans. He is a 2-time NBA All-Star and was on the 2020 NBA All-Rookie First Team. This past year, Williamson played in only 30 of the 82 games of the season as he continues to eat himself out of the league.
Head Coach
Head coach Willie Green is a former journeyman NBA player who played in New Orleans from 2010-2011. He has been the head coach of the Pels since 2021-22 and has a career record of 148-180.
Season-by-Season Record (Last 7)
| SEASON |
GAMES |
WINS |
LOSSES |
FINISH |
PLAYOFFS |
| 2024–25 |
82 |
21 |
61 |
5th, Southwest |
Did Not Qualify |
| 2023–24 |
82 |
49 |
33 |
2nd, Southwest |
Lost in First Round, 0–4 (Thunder) |
| 2022–23 |
82 |
42 |
40 |
2nd, Southwest |
Did Not Qualify |
| 2021–22 |
82 |
36 |
46 |
3rd, Southwest |
Lost in First Round, 2–4 (Suns) |
| 2020–21 |
72 |
31 |
41 |
4th, Southwest |
Did Not Qualify |
| 2019–20 |
72 |
30 |
42 |
5th, Southwest |
Did Not Qualify |
| 2018–19 |
82 |
33 |
49 |
4th, Southwest |
Did Not Qualify |
New Orleans Pelicans History
The New Orleans Pelicans are one of the newest teams in the NBA. The league granted former owner George Shinn an expansion franchise, and he transferred over to the Charlotte Hornets to play in the Big Easy. They were known as the Hornets from 2002 to 2013, when they changed their name to the New Orleans Pelicans.
This team immediately succeeded, making the postseason in its first two seasons. However, Hurricane Katrina left the franchise without a home for two years, leading to the team playing games in Oklahoma City during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. That whetted the appetite for basketball in OKC, leading to the Seattle Supersonics moving to become the Oklahoma City Thunder a short time later.
Upon this team’s return to New Orleans, the franchise won its first playoff series. The 2007-08 Hornets went 56-26, beating the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. Chris Paul, David West, and Peja Stojakovic were the stars of that team, and they took the San Antonio Spurs to seven games before falling.
New Orleans would not win a playoff series for another decade. The Pelicans swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs, as Anthony Davis took his game to another level with the help of DeMarcus Cousins and Jrue Holiday.
NBA Teams
Eastern Conference - Atlantic
Eastern Conference - Central
Eastern Conference - Southeast
Western Conference - Northwest
Western Conference - Pacific
Western Conference - Southwest
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