After months of ominous rumors, medical (non)updates and a basketball product that’s teetered between irrelevant and sad, the Pelicans suddenly have reason to feel optimistic about their short-term future. Just one month ago, on Feb. 3, FiveThirtyEight’s forecast gave them only an 8% chance to make the playoffs. Today, they’re at 24%, lingering in 10th place as a threat to make noise in the play-in.
That probability isn’t cause to plan a parade, but it’s also not nothing, especially since it was calculated without knowing Zion Williamson’s status. The 21-year-old phenom remains out indefinitely but will “gradually progress to full weight-bearing exercise and basketball activities” after a report Wednesday revealed “improved bone healing” in his right foot.
Even without their franchise player, though, this team has been good. Since Feb. 1 the Pelicans rank fifth in NET rating with the NBA’s fourth-best offense and fourth-best defense. CJ McCollum has been a blowtorch in his first eight games, averaging 26.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists with the highest usage rate and true shooting percentage of his career. (Since the trade deadline, only Luka Dončić, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum and DeMar DeRozan have scored more points than McCollum.)
