Things could not have gotten off to a worse start this season for the New Orleans Pelicans , who recently dropped to 0-4 in a road loss to the Denver Nuggets , a game in which DeAndre Jordan started in the year 2025. The Pelicans have managed to stay relatively healthy through the first week of the year but still look nowhere close to a competitive team, let alone a contending one, in the West.

At least the team could theoretically bottom out and tank for a top pick in next year's draft, right?

Wrong, thanks to a series of disastrous decisions made by general manager Joe Dumars over the offseason, including trading the Indiana Pacers' 2026 first round pick back to them in exchange for the number 23 pick in this year's draft, before trading that pick and an unprotected 2026 pick swa

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