This is worse than the treadmill of mediocrity. The New Orleans Pelicans are on their way to another season without the playoffs despite Anthony Davis. Logging seasons on the treadmill assumes a team is typically in the hunt most years for the brass ring that is the eighth and final seed in the playoffs well into the season. Sometimes that team scratches their way in for a short stay, other seasons the wheels fall off after the All-Star Break and it is simply too late to tank for a good draft pick.
New Orleans is not on the treadmill of mediocrity.