{"id":169452,"date":"2025-09-26T02:54:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T02:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/169452\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T02:54:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T02:54:08","slug":"taking-flight-pelicans-ready-for-aussie-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/169452\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Flight: Pelicans ready for Aussie test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zion leads a revamped Pelicans roster into Melbourne for the NBAxNBL Series this October.<\/p>\n

The New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> arrive in Melbourne next week to take on Melbourne United<\/a> and South East Melbourne Phoenix<\/a> in the NBAxNBL Series, with the mood around the franchise a mix of anticipation and uncertainty.<\/p>\n

When the series was first agreed to three years ago, the Pelicans roster included rising Australian guard Dyson Daniels, and the front office was led by David Griffin and Swin Cash.<\/p>\n

Both have since departed, with NBA great Joe Dumars now overseeing basketball operations. Daniels, meanwhile, is a star in the back court of the Atlanta Hawks.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Basketball.com.au<\/a>, Shamit Dua<\/a>, Pelicans beat writer and host of the In The NO Podcast<\/a>, who attended the team\u2019s media day this week, said the theme from the team was accountability, with Dumars making it clear that competing hard every night would be the standard.<\/p>\n

Zion Williamson, long the focal point in New Orleans for media attention, has now been formally anointed as the franchise player. With a trimmed-down physique, Williamson was the talking point of media day.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone understands this is the guy. This is the best player on the team; he\u2019s also the main attraction,\u201d Dua said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are the franchise player now. You have to act like it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\/Trey Murphy III #25, Zion Williamson #1 and Herbert Jones #2 of the New Orleans Pelicans poses for a portrait during Media Day in Metairie, Louisiana on September 23, 2025. Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr\/NBAE via Getty Images.<\/p>\n

That responsibility only increases after a turbulent start to 2025. Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum were traded, leaving Williamson as the sole star. ESPN recently labelled the Pelicans\u2019 off-season the worst in the league<\/a>, but players have chosen to use that criticism as motivation. <\/p>\n

\u201cTrey Murphy made it a point to say he keeps a list of every single slight,\u201d Dua said.<\/p>\n

\u201cZion\u2019s message was \u2018when we start succeeding, don\u2019t just hop on the bandwagon\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The roster has been reshaped with the additions of Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney and Sadiq Bey. Dua said all three bring valuable experience and hunger.<\/p>\n

According to Dua, all three bring both experience and hunger.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoole is genuinely appreciative of the game\u2026 he brings perspective from winning a championship and also being on a team with no aspirations. Looney seemed excited to have more certainty in his role (in New Orleans), and Bey is eager to return from injury after missing a full season with a torn ACL.\u201d<\/p>\n

Depth will be the biggest question. Dumars wants a rotation that runs 11 or 12 players deep, but Dua said a lower number was more realistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a handful of wild cards that may surprise people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Pelicans get significant improvement from even one of those younger guys like Jordan Hawkins or Yve Missi, it could solidify them. Otherwise, the most likely outcome of this season is just outside the playoff picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the Australian trip itself, Dua said there is genuine excitement among the group, even if plans changed along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was supposed to be a longer tour with more time to explore the local scene, but now (with a new front office) it\u2019s become more about playing the games and team bonding. Overall, it\u2019s positive, players are looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NBAxNBL Series will be the first opportunity for Australian fans to see this revamped Pelicans side, with Zion fully stepping into the role the franchise has finally asked him to embrace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zion leads a revamped Pelicans roster into Melbourne for the NBAxNBL Series this October. The New Orleans Pelicans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-169452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}