Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin would have preferred not to be standing in front of microphones and media members Tuesday in the team's practice facility.
The season, one filled with such lofty expectations, wasn't supposed to be over this soon. The Pelicans figured they'd be spending this weekend playing in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
That would have been enough to call this season a success.
Instead, the second round of the Western Conference playoffs started without the Pelicans, which has been the case for much of the franchise’s history since arriving in New Orleans back in 2002.
The Pelicans have advanced past the first round twice (2008 after beating the Dallas Mavericks and 2018 after sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers).
This year was supposed to be different considering the Pels won 49 games, tied for the second most in franchise history.
Perhaps they’d still be playing if Zion Williamson hadn’t injured his hamstring in the play-in tournament against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Truth be told, they wouldn’t have had to take the play-in tournament route if the Western Conference wasn’t so rugged this season.
Last season, 49 wins would have earned a No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. But it was only good enough for the seventh spot this season, which turned into a No. 8 seed after that loss to the Lakers. The Pelicans responded by beating the Sacramento Kings in a do-or-die game, then got swept by No. 1 seed Oklahoma City.
“The big picture is we had a successful season but fell short of our expectations,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said.
Here's the good news: The Pelicans are trending in the right direction, having increased their win total (36, 42 and 49) in each of Green’s three seasons as head coach.
The bad news is the entire Western Conference is trending in the right direction, too. As good as this season was for the Pelicans, they’ll need to continue to improve to keep up with the rest of the conference.
During the regular season, the Pelicans went 6-8 against the four teams remaining in the Western Conference playoffs: (1-2 against Denver and OKC, and 2-2 against Minnesota and Dallas). That dips to 6-12 if you count the four playoff losses to the Thunder. The Pels went just 1-4 against the Lakers (who ended up being the No. 7 seed) and 1-2 against the No. 6 seed Suns. The only winning record against a Western Conference playoff team was their 3-1 mark against the Clippers.
Griffin knows there is work to do. It's why he vowed on Tuesday that this upcoming offseason won’t be one of complacency.
“It’s a very competitive conference,” Griffin said. “And so I think where as in the past we would veer on the side of continuity and our takeaway has been, 'Let’s see this group healthy.' I think we’ve seen it enough.
"We had some really good opportunity to see Zion play a career-high in games. We saw it for segments of time well enough to understand that we have got a lot of work to do.”
What changes Griffin will make remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Williamson will be the cornerstone of the franchise, and deservedly so after the commitment and productivity he displayed throughout this season.
He can’t just be really good, though. He’ll need to be great like he was in the final game against the Lakers when he scored 40 points in order for the Pelicans to reach the next level. All four teams remaining in the Western Conference playoffs have a player who will make first- or second-team All-NBA: Luka Doncic (Mavs), Nikola Jokic (Nuggets), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) and Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves). Jokic, Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander are the three finalists for this year’s MVP. Williamson will have to hit that level of play for the Pelicans to make deep playoffs runs.
It's up to Griffin to put the right pieces around Williamson, and it's up to Green and his staff to make sure those pieces fit together.
“It’s a tough conference to be in,” Green said. “That’s the way the cards are dealt. We were right there in the mix of everything. We had a chance to be sixth or fifth. We didn’t get there. We are going to take steps to get there.”
For now, the Pelicans can only sit and watch as the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Thunder and Mavericks slug it out in their quest to represent the West.
The Pelicans were perhaps a hamstring injury away from being in that mix.
We’ll never know.
But what we do know is this: The West won’t be any easier next season, so the Pelicans have some work to do.