After their first postseason trip in four years, the New Orleans Pelicans decided to run back the roster last summer, re-signing four of their own free agents. In hindsight, that decision turned out to be a grave mistake. Even when the team was momentarily healthy in December, the Pelicans only managed to post average results under new head coach Alvin Gentry.
In the middle of January, Dell Demps expressed his disappointment with the team's performance and that included the members of the core. However, the general manager promised that he wouldn't make any trades for the sake of making changes if they didn't improve the team.