New Orleans Pelicans: Five things you need to know

• New Orleans drafted Dyson Daniels eighth overall in 2022 and traded him two seasons later.
• The Pelicans are one of only two NBA teams never to reach a conference finals.
• Jamahl Mosley takes over a 26-56 roster built around Zion Williamson and three young guards.

For two seasons, the most interesting Australian prospect in the NBA played in New Orleans.

The Pelicans took Dyson Daniels with the eighth pick of the 2022 draft, a 19-year-old from Bendigo who had come through the NBA G League Ignite program. They traded him to Atlanta in 2024.

What happened next is the reason Australian fans still watch this franchise with a particular expression. Daniels became the first Australian to win the NBA Most Improved Player award, made the All-Defensive First Team and earned the nickname the Great Barrier Thief. New Orleans finished 26-56.

That is the Pelicans in one sentence. The talent has never been the problem.

Australians who have played for the New Orleans Pelicans

No Australian has mattered more to this franchise than Dyson Daniels.

Born in Bendigo, Victoria in March 2003, Daniels was selected eighth overall in the 2022 draft and signed his rookie-scale contract with New Orleans that July. He spent two seasons in Louisiana, developing the defensive habits that would later define him, without ever settling into a permanent starting role.

In 2024 the Pelicans sent him to Atlanta, along with Larry Nance Jr and two first-round picks, in exchange for Dejounte Murray.

Daniels answered in the loudest way available. In 2025 he became the first Australian to win the NBA Most Improved Player award, led the league in steals, set a new single-season record for deflections and was named to the All-Defensive First Team. He has since signed a four-year contract extension.

Murray, meanwhile, remains on the New Orleans roster. He played 14 games last season.

For Australian readers, that trade is the franchise's defining recent decision, and it has not aged kindly.

2026-27 team snapshot

New Orleans enters the season under a new head coach and with a core that has got significantly younger.

Jamahl Mosley arrives from Orlando, ending a caretaker period that began when Willie Green was sacked after a 2-10 start. James Borrego held the job on an interim basis for 70 games.

Zion Williamson, 26, remains the headline. He played 62 games last season, his healthiest in years, averaging 21.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 60.0% from the field, seventh best in the league.

Trey Murphy III actually led the team in scoring at 21.5 points across 66 games. Saddiq Bey added 17.7.

The genuine interest is younger. Jeremiah Fears played all 82 games as a teenager and averaged 14.3 points. Derik Queen, 21, appeared in 81 games for 11.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Yves Missi, 22, is the incumbent centre.

Herb Jones remains the defensive conscience. Dejounte Murray, 29, is the great unknown after a season limited to 14 games.

DeAndre Jordan re-signed on a one-year deal at 37. Kevon Looney left for the Lakers.

Why the Pelicans matter

Every NBA franchise has a story.

The Boston Celtics built a dynasty. The Los Angeles Lakers became basketball's glamour club. The San Antonio Spurs defined sustained excellence.

New Orleans has never got out of the second round.

In 24 seasons the franchise has a regular-season record of 878-1054, nine playoff appearances, no championships and no conference titles. It shares with the Charlotte Hornets the distinction of being one of only two NBA teams never to have played in a conference finals.

It has had the players. Chris Paul, Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson have all worn the uniform. So did the Australian who now sits on an All-Defensive First Team.

Holding onto them has been the harder part.

[IMAGE: Pelicans By The Numbers graphic]

The Chris Paul era

The franchise arrived in New Orleans in 2002 when George Shinn relocated the Charlotte Hornets, keeping the name.

Everything changed in 2005 with two events, one of them catastrophic.

The Hornets drafted Chris Paul fourth overall and he won Rookie of the Year. Then Hurricane Katrina forced the club out of the city entirely, and for two seasons it played as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets.

Paul made the team must-watch when it returned. New Orleans won its division in 2008, the only division title in franchise history, and Paul's teams reached the playoffs three times before he was traded in 2011.

The Anthony Davis era

The first pick of the 2012 draft was supposed to change everything.

Anthony Davis became one of the best big men of his generation, and in 2013 the franchise rebranded as the Pelicans. The wins came slowly. New Orleans made the playoffs in 2015 as an eighth seed and were swept by Golden State.

The high point arrived in 2018, when the Pelicans reached the second round before Golden State ended it again.

Davis asked out and was traded to the Lakers in 2019, where he won a championship the following year.

Zion Williamson and the waiting

The Davis trade came with a consolation prize that looked like a jackpot.

New Orleans won the 2019 draft lottery and took Zion Williamson first overall, the most anticipated prospect since LeBron James. Seven seasons on, he has never played a full 82-game season and the Pelicans have never won a playoff series with him.

Last season was the closest thing to an answer. Williamson played 62 games and shot 60.0% from the field. The team still lost 56.

The 2026 reset

Two wins from the first 12 games ended Willie Green's tenure.

Borrego steadied it enough that the front office considered making him permanent, before Joe Dumars went outside and hired Jamahl Mosley, who had spent five seasons building Orlando into a defensive team with a young core.

The brief is not complicated. New Orleans has a former first overall pick, two lottery guards under 22 and a franchise that has never reached a conference finals.

The greatest Pelicans of all time

Chris Paul is the standard. Rookie of the Year, a division title and the closest this club has come to sustained relevance.

Anthony Davis was the most talented player to wear the uniform, and the reason the franchise had a No.1 pick to spend on Zion Williamson.

Williamson himself remains the most compelling what-if in the league.

Herb Jones has been the constant, a second-round pick who became one of the NBA's better perimeter defenders.

And Dyson Daniels is the one they will keep being asked about.

[PHOTO: Zion Williamson. Caption: "Zion Williamson drives during a New Orleans Pelicans game at Smoothie King Center. Selected first overall in the 2019 draft, Williamson played 62 games last season, his healthiest return in years, but the Pelicans finished 26-56 and missed the playoffs. Photo: [agency]/Getty Images."]

Five Fast Facts

1. New Orleans drafted Dyson Daniels eighth overall in 2022 and traded him to Atlanta two seasons later.

2. The Pelicans and the Charlotte Hornets are the only NBA franchises never to reach a conference finals.

3. Hurricane Katrina forced the club to play as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets from 2005 to 2007.

4. The franchise has one division title, won in 2008 under Chris Paul.

5. New Orleans has held the first overall pick once, taking Zion Williamson in 2019.

Historical Timeline

• 2002: Franchise relocates from Charlotte and becomes the New Orleans Hornets.
• 2005: Draft Chris Paul fourth overall. Hurricane Katrina forces relocation to Oklahoma City.
• 2007: Return to New Orleans.
• 2008: Win the only division title in franchise history.
• 2011: Trade Chris Paul.
• 2012: Draft Anthony Davis first overall.
• 2013: Rebrand as the New Orleans Pelicans.
• 2018: Reach the second round of the playoffs.
• 2019: Trade Anthony Davis to the Lakers and draft Zion Williamson first overall.
• 2022: Draft Dyson Daniels eighth overall.
• 2024: Trade Daniels to Atlanta for Dejounte Murray.
• 2025: Daniels becomes the first Australian to win NBA Most Improved Player, with Atlanta.
• 2026: Sack Willie Green, finish 26-56 and hire Jamahl Mosley.

Looking ahead

The Pelicans have spent 24 seasons collecting talent and losing it.

Chris Paul, Anthony Davis and Dyson Daniels all left. Zion Williamson has stayed and has still never won a playoff series in New Orleans. That is the pattern Jamahl Mosley has been hired to break, with a roster whose best long-term assets are a 19-year-old guard who played every game last season and a 21-year-old centre who nearly did.

For Australian viewers the pull here is complicated. There is no Australian on the roster. There is, instead, the memory of one, and the annual reminder every time Dyson Daniels picks an opposing guard's pocket in an Atlanta uniform.

Some franchises are defined by what they built. New Orleans is still defined by what it let go.