There are still 23 games remaining in the 2018-19 regular season for New Orleans, but over the next seven weeks, the Pelicans will also be preparing for the next 82 they’ll play.
During a session with local media Thursday, interim New Orleans GM Danny Ferry said the approach over the remainder of this season will be one in which “our focus is to create the best foundation for future success. We’re going to be more purposeful with a going-forward focus.”
This has already begun to an extent in recent weeks, but the Pelicans will prioritize the development of some of their young players, who started to log greater minutes as a result of multiple injuries.
“That means guys like Frank (Jackson), Cheick (Diallo) and Kenrich (Williams) will play good minutes,” Ferry said of a pair of rookies and the 22-year-old Diallo.
Ferry added that New Orleans also will be in evaluation mode for several Pelicans who are potentially headed into free agency this summer, such as Julius Randle, Elfrid Payton, Darius Miller and Stanley Johnson.
New Orleans is six games out of eighth place in the Western Conference and will emphasize trying to be as competitive as possible, which has frequently been the case throughout ’18-19, even amid a wide array of circumstances. An extremely short-handed group won at Houston in late January and played evenly vs. top West teams such as Denver and San Antonio.
“I’ve really enjoyed the effort of the young guys,” Ferry said. “Many of these games recently, we won a couple big games, but we lost a couple games where we really competed. That’s really what’s going to be emphasized right now, competing and trying to make sure we do that every game. For the younger guys and the team in general, we’re in a critical period of development and evaluation. There is a plan, and everyone is on board with that. We’re evaluating the veterans and making sure they fit in to how we want to play and possible leadership roles going forward.”
Ferry noted that Anthony Davis will continue to play for the Pelicans, but will log reduced minutes. Third in the NBA in minutes, Jrue Holiday also will see a reduction, but it won’t be as dramatic of a change as that of Davis.
“The league rules made it clear that Anthony has to play,” Ferry said. “As we’ve done previously, we’ll continue to follow their lead, but we’ll also be focused on the future of the team. Therefore, you will see a reduction in Anthony’s minutes. You’ll probably also see some of Jrue’s minutes come down, because his minutes have been so high all year.”