The New Orleans Pelicans are entering the 2025-26 season as an incredibly slept-on team, mainly because of the hate they received for trading away a future first-round pick to draft Derik Queen. The decision to trade for Queen has been made. In my opinion, the entire NBA media has decided to neglect all the good Joe Dumars did this offseason because they didn't like the move he made on draft night.
But for me, Dumars' work this offseason goes beyond the addition of Jordan Poole, Kevon Looney, Saddiq Bey, and the three rookies he added. For me, the best thing he did was put the Pelicans in a position to address any shortcomings during the course of this season.