Entering this season, some thought the New Orleans Pelicans had a "too many guys" problem. Now, as a result of a seemingly never-ending series of injuries -- or perhaps some sort of curse -- they can barely field a team.
When they face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, they will be without their seven best players, as Brandon Ingram (bilateral ankle sprain) and Trey Murphy III (right hamstring injury management) were added to the injury report in the morning and Zion Williamson (strained left hamstring strain), Herb Jones (strained right shoulder), Dejounte Murray (fractured left hand), CJ McCollum (strained right adductor) and Jose Alvarado (strained left hamstring) were already sidelined.
The Pelicans might be without their eight or even nine best players, depending on how you rate their reserves. Second-year guard Jordan Hawkins, who has averaged 16.3 points on 56.2% true shooting this season, will also be out with a strained lower back. Rookie center Yves Missi is questionable because of left shoulder soreness, as of Wednesday afternoon.
New Orleans is 4-11, and this is not its first season in recent memory to be derailed by injuries to core players. The predicament it's in now is extreme, though, even in comparison to the darkest days of the Anthony Davis era.
Early on, when only Murphy and McCollum were out, one could easily see a silver lining to the situation: It was always going to be tough to distribute minutes and touches at full strength, so being shorthanded made things a bit simpler. With each subsequent injury, though, figuring out a viable rotation became increasingly complicated. The low point came on Tuesday in Dallas: a 132-91 loss in an NBA Cup game.
"I've never seen a team get so many injuries at once to so many guys who are important to a team," McCollum said earlier this week, via NOLA.com's Christian Clark. "Usually, it's one or two and you have to figure it out. And that's difficult. But you're talking seven guys, eight guys who are in the rotation."
Against Cleveland on the second night of a back-to-back, all of the Pelicans' available players will be on rookie deals or minimum contracts. This includes 30-year-old guard Elfrid Payton, who signed with the team on Wednesday. Payton, the No. 10 pick in the 2014 draft, was with the team for part of this year's training camp, but was cut on Oct. 16 and started the season with the Birmingham Squadron, the Pelicans' G League team.
The addition of Payton, however, does not make the roster any deeper. In order to sign him, New Orleans waived guard Jaylen Nowell. Just four days ago, Nowell logged 35 minutes in a 104-99 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Through 15 games, Ingram has a career-high 31.4% usage rate, a reflection of how heavily the Pelicans have relied on him to create offense. Encouragingly, he has attempted 3s more frequently than ever before -- 9.9 per 100 possessions -- and made 37% of them. New Orleans hasn't been efficient offensively, though, and its defense has been equally poor. Only the Washington Wizards have a worse net rating.
In a cruel bit of irony, after months of discussion about the center position, that is the only spot in which the Pelicans have been relatively steady. That could change Wednesday, though, if Missi, who has started their last 10 games, ends up sitting because of the shoulder issue.
If Missi is out, expect Trey Jemison or Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to take his place in the starting lineup next to Brandon Boston Jr., Javonte Green and ... I mean, who knows? Payton? Jamal Cain? Antonio Reeves? Karlo Matkovic? Regardless of how Willie Green's coaching staff manages this shortened rotation, expect Boston -- who joined the team on Oct. 21 when New Orleans claimed his two-way contract off waivers and is second to Ingram in total points scored -- to have a neon green light.
Cleveland, by the way, is pretty banged-up, too. After a horrible shooting night in the Cavs' first loss of the season against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, Darius Garland is out against the Pelicans with a sore left groin, along with Caris LeVert (left knee inflammation), Sam Merrill (left ankle injury management), Isaac Okoro (strained left ankle), Dean Wade (sprained left ankle) and Max Strus (sprained right ankle). That's a solid group of players, but it's nothing compared to the amount of talent sitting out for New Orleans.