3 New Orleans Pelicans who definitely won't be back next season

The New Orleans Pelicans were in fifth place in the Western Conference standings on Mar. 30.

After losing four of their last 12 regular season games, the Pelicans found themselves relegated to Play-In Tournament status, losing star forward Zion Williamson in the closing stages of their loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the No. 7-8 matchup. They slipped past the Sacramento Kings to take the No. 8 seed but couldn't win a game against the Thunder and were swept out of the first round of the playoffs.

New Orleans has a lot of questions to answer this offseason following a rocky end to the 2023-24 campaign, starting with these three players, who should be playing elsewhere next year.

3. Naji Marshall

Naji Marshall has been a constant in head coach Willie Green’s rotation in recent seasons, looking the part of a capable 3-and-D swingman. However, his looming departure has more to do with the players ahead of him on the depth chart than his production.

Between Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Trey Murphy, and Herb Jones, the Pelicans are littered with talented young wings, making Marshall the odd man out in a crowded group.

Entering unrestricted free agency this offseason ahead of his age-27 campaign, Marshall exploring other opportunities to carve out a more considerable role will be in his best interest. After shooting a career-high 38.7 percent on 2.3 nightly 3-point attempts this season, someone else will covet him for his improved shooting combined with his defensive versatility as someone who can guard multiple positions.

Marshall only started one game for the Pels this year but did so 21 times in 2022-23, and he averaged 14.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.0 steals in 33.3 minutes per game, proving he is someone who can be relied upon to log a heavy workload.

2. Jonas Valanciunas

Following his strong start to the 2023-24 campaign, center Jonas Valanciunas experienced his role diminishing after the All-Star break, seeing his minutes per game fall from 25.5 across the first 55 games to 19.3 in the following 27 contests.

Valanciunas is a defensive liability and the Pelicans have leaned on veteran backup Larry Nance Jr. to operate as their big man because of the versatility he offers on that end of the floor.

Moreover, the offensive fit between Valanciunas and Williamson has proven to be clunky. New Orleans does not value the post skills of the former as much when the latter functions as a small-ball 5, a model the team has leaned on and found success with.

Valanciunas will shed roughly $15 million off the Pelicans payroll by hitting unrestricted free agency this offseason, giving them additional financial flexibility to revamp the roster around their franchise player, parting ways with a rotational piece that has not meshed well with the nucleus of the roster in the process.

A nightly double-double threat who can also stretch the floor, Valanciunas will have suitors on the open market. But the Pelicans will not be one of them.

1. Brandon Ingram

After betting on himself and bypassing long-term extension talks with the Pelicans this past offseason in hopes of making an All-NBA team in 2023-24 and qualifying for a supermax contract with an opportunity to earn as much as $334 million over five seasons, things did not go how Brandon Ingram may have hoped. And now, he is on the verge of finding himself with a new team because of it.

Albeit a talented and dynamic duo, Ingram and Williamson have proven to be an odd pairing. So, after five seasons, it feels like time to cut bait with one of the two players in.

Howard Beck of The Ringer previously reported that New Orleans must make a choice "between Zion [Williamson] or [Brandon] Ingram," based on a conversation he had with an Eastern Conference executive.

With one year remaining on his current contract, now is an opportune time to recoup assets for Ingram via trade before possibly facing the decision to extend him or potentially risk losing him for nothing through free agency next offseason. 

A former All-Star, Ingram has proven to be one of the more consistent scorers in the NBA, averaging at least 20 points per game in all five years in New Orleans.

Albert Einstein once said: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." How many times can the Pelicans run it back and anticipate bearing the fruits of their labor?