The New Orleans Pelicans have been stuck in mediocre for years and seem to have no way out.
Over the years, the NBA has grown in popularity, and of course led to conversations about the potential for the league to expand.
Adding new teams is exciting, but the NBA needs to make sure the current franchise is on track. Unfortunately, one franchise hardly fits that description, and it’s nothing more than a New Orleans Pelican.
Despite access to multiple top notch players, the Pelicans were not able to reach playoff time. Currently, NBA analyst Bill Simmons believes NOLA fans have similar concerns about the future.
The Pelican is in the Western Conference, but has one of the smallest stadiums in the league, as the smoothie king centre has a capacity of just 17,791.
Due to lack of success in the league, it has also not been fulfilled in recent years to its full capacity. Adding salt to the wound is something Simmons pointed out on his podcast.
“Specifically, we’re talking about New Orleans right now, so we don’t want to panic about basketball in New Orleans, but I don’t know if it’ll grow a bigger fan base that bothers me, but the Smoothie King Center lease ends in 2029.
“New Orleans is an experiment that hasn’t worked out in professional basketball for over 50 years. I don’t know that the value of that team is in the current situation,” Simmons said.
Because of context, the Pelicans have made just four postseason appearances since the 2014-15 NBA season. Even on these runs, they face three first round exits and one second exit.
Many really believe the franchise is cursed as star rookie Derrick Queen is already injured.
Usually, as the league expands, it just adds more teams to the NBA. However, another option is that some people may purchase an existing franchise and move to another location.
Simmons believes the Pelican lease at the Smoothie King Center, which will expire in 2029, could move to a market like Seattle.
“If someone buys them and moves to Seattle and pays everyone’s relocation fees, there’s no need to split media rights.
He concluded: “I’m going to say that. I think the topic is beginning to be that this could be a solution to this situation in New Orleans.”
It certainly isn’t good news for Pelican fans, as if what Simmons claims turns out to be true, they could soon lose the NBA franchise.