The Zion Williamson experiment has been a failure. The Pelicans need

to move on.

While navigating this, both analytically and emotionally, is challenging, it's important to know when to move on as a team. Holding onto the past in hopes of a final Hail Mary from your outdated core is what leaves teams with nothing when your players eventually leave on their own.

After numerous disappointing and injury-plagued seasons, the Pelicans finally need to move on from the Zion Williamson experiment.

And their failures have not been due to a lack of effort. They have given up several 1st-round picks, young, promising players, and even other winning players like CJ McCollum, in hopes of finally having their breakout season.

They have even grown internally, with development from players like Trey Murphy and Herb Jones giving New Orleans even more hope for a successful season.

But none of this was enough; in fact, it wasn't even close.

Their best season over the past 7 years, the entirety of Zion's career, was the 23-24 season, in which they were the 7th seed in the West and lost in the first round of the Playoffs.

The ceiling isn't high for this Pelicans team, and there are many reasons behind this, and it all starts with their "star" player: Zion Williamson.

Zion Williamson, in his 7-year career, has missed more games than he has played.

His issues with conditioning have long plagued his reputation across the league and contributed to his injury history.

And when he finally locked in on his conditioning and became more athletic, rather than helping his level of play improve, it actually limited his number one strength, which is his rim finishing. His shooting percentage at the rim took a notable dip, which gave doubt as to whether he would ever be an elite scorer again.

In combination with his rim scoring, his playmaking has seen a significant hit as the Pelicans have stopped using him as a point-forward type of player.

Zion Williamson is a conundrum; When he is healthy and fit, he plays worse, but when he isn't fit and is playing better, he is injury-prone.

And the same can be said about the Pelicans as a whole.

They have 3 main issues as an organization, those being:

1: Constantly injured roster

2: Poor roster construction (lack of shooting, etc)

3: Bad front office and management

The fix for these issues?

A total reset.

It may not seem fun, but it is necessary. The Pelicans need to fire Joe Dumars and enter a rebuild, focusing on getting draft capital and saving money.

The hardest rebuilds aren't the ones where the answer is obvious. They're the ones where you're forced to admit that your franchise player simply isn't your franchise anymore. The Pelicans can keep betting on Zion's upside, or they can cash in what's left of his value before the league completely loses faith.

So should they do this?

What they should do:

Trade 1:

Los Angeles Lakers receive: (F) Herb Jones

New Orleans Pelicans receive: (F) Jarred Vanderbilt, (G) Dalton Knecht, 2031 1st-round pick, 2032 2nd-round pick

Trade 2:

Phoenix Suns receive: (F) Zion Williamson, (C) Yves Missi

New Orleans Pelicans receive: (G) Jalen Green, 2027 1st-round pick, 2029 1st-round pick (via HOU), 2029 2nd-round pick, 2032 2nd-round pick

Trade 3:

Brooklyn Nets receive: (F) Saddiq Bey

New Orleans Pelicans receive: 2027 2nd-round pick (via LAL), 2028 2nd-round pick (via MEM)

Free Agency:

Sign (F) Trendon Watford to a 3-year, $14 million contract ($4.66 mil AAV)

Sign (C) Nick Richards to a 4-year, $26.4 million contract ($6.66 mil AAV)

Why this works:

This is a good start.

Going down the list, let's start with the Herb Jones trade.

This trade is one I would expect to happen in real life. Moving off of Herb Jones now lets New Orleans capitalize on what should be his prime years, and in return get draft picks and soon-to-be-expiring salary.

Moving on, up next we have Zion Williamson and Yves Missi going to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Jalen Green and draft picks. This trade is what marks the rebuild, as you're not getting a true franchise player back, instead receiving future draft capital and a development piece in Jalen Green. This trade allows New Orleans to gamble on the uncertain future of the Suns and Rockets.

The final trade the Pelicans make in this hypothetical is sending Saddiq Bey to the Nets in exchange for 2 2nd-round picks.

This return may seem disappointing to a casual fan, as Saddiq Bey just had a great season, but in reality it makes plenty of sense. With Bey's recent surge in production, he is due for a hefty payday, and paying a role player tens of millions of dollars doesn't really match what New Orleans is trying to do now.

They finish the off-season by signing Trendon Watford and Nick Richards to complete their roster and fill some positional holes.

Overall, these moves allow the Pelicans to clear up salary, build up future draft capital, and finally have some direction.

These moves aren't a fix-all solution, however.

The Pelicans' situation is very nuanced, and they need a lot more than just a few trades to get out of it. The next several years in their organization will be used to navigate this major shift in direction.

It isn't enough to simply hope that things end up working out.

The Pelicans have failed to capitalize on this era.

So it's time to build for the next one.

New Orleans Pelicans potential 2026-27 starting lineup + bench:

PG: Dejounte Murray SG: Jalen Green SF: Trey Murphy PF: Trendon Watford C: Derik Queen

G: Jeremiah Fears, Jordan Poole F: Dalton Knecht, Jarred Vanderbilt C: Nick Richards