Locked On Pelicans - Daily Podcast On The New Orleans Pelicans · Locked On Podcast Network, Jake Madison

SHOOTING WOES: Why the New Orleans Pelicans' Offense COLLAPSES Without Reliable 3-Point Threats

March 5, 2026·27 min·2 clips

Why the Pelicans' offense collapses without reliable three-point shooting, as seen in their crunch-time loss to the Lakers.

Host Jake Madison opens by framing the episode around a simple problem with complex consequences: the Pelicans cannot shoot. He traces the shooting problem's downstream effects, arguing that spacing failures prevent referees from seeing contact on Zion drives, crowd the paint, and lead to late-game isolation ball and turnovers. He compares the situation to the Houston Rockets' Harden-era model, where perimeter shooters spread the floor to expose contact, and says Zion needs a similar environment to draw more fouls. Madison cites the Pelicans' league rankings: 26th in three-point attempts per game at 32.6 and 26th in three-point percentage — a combination he calls especially damaging since it allows defenses to ignore the perimeter entirely. He reviews the underwhelming shooting of Jordan Hawkins (below 30% from three, down from 37% his rookie year) and Jordan Pool (34%), and notes that Herb Jones, DeJounte Murray, and Sadiq Bey are also not considered credible threats. Trey Murphy is identified as the one reliable perimeter option. Madison argues the core problem is structural: having two non-shooting bigs in Zion Williamson and Derek Queen forces every other position to carry the entire perimeter load, which is nearly impossible given that elite defender-shooter combinations are rare. He says at least one of the two must develop a three-point shot for the current roster construction to work, and that the off-season must address this. Moving to lineup analysis, Madison reviews the small-ball five of DeJounte Murray, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Sadiq Bey, and Zion Williamson from the Lakers game. In 36 possessions, the unit generated a positive 13.3 net rating, held the Lakers to a 90 offensive rating, and forced turnovers on nearly 30% of possessions. However, the same lineup posted an offensive rating of 102.8 — which Madison says would rank dead last among all NBA lineups with significant sample sizes. He attributes the offensive failures to turnovers and an inability to get to the free-throw line, both symptoms of the spacing issues discussed earlier. Madison is encouraged by the defense but says the offense must improve before this can be considered a sustainable lineup. He also discusses hierarchy issues in crunch time: without a clear shot-taker, the team defaulted to isolation play. He suggests coach James Borrego may need to prioritize positioning near the offensive end in closing minutes to actively call plays rather than coaching defense. The episode closes with Madison reviewing the signing of Josh Aduro on a two-way contract, noting the six-foot-nine center from the Birmingham Squadron averaged 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds. He finds the signing puzzling given the Pelicans' existing center glut and says Aduro lacks shooting range, elite rebounding, or defensive size, though he does have a serviceable low-post and mid-range game.

As heard by us

A blunt look at New Orleans' shooting problem and how it surfaces when the game tightens.

New Orleans' shooting issue is the through line here. The episode keeps circling back to the same problem: when the game tightens, the offense runs out of room.

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Want the clearest reason New Orleans keeps running into the same wall on offense?

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