Where New Orleans Made the Biggest Mental Leap Entering 2026

The final buzzer of 2025 has sounded for New Orleans Pelicans with a known score. A loss to the Chicago Bulls dismissed the interim coach James Borrego‘s crowd to a terrifying 8-27 entering 2026. However, the easy narrative of a last-place team, of a season slipping away, would not be accurate. Within the walls of the Smoothie King Center is a true belief that Zion Williamson– led the dressing room turned.

Speaking after the latest defeat in 2025, Borrego pointed to a fundamental change in the team’s collective psyche. The the most pronounced jump is how the Pelicans now approach every game.

“Both sides of the ball, we jumped up. We’re moving the needle defensively, transition defense, taking care of the paint,” Borrego noted. “Obviously during our streak we were a lot better. Then we hit a little lull, but I think we moved the needle defensively with more physicality. I would say we have more of a mentality as a physical, aggressive team, as a competitive team.”

That change in mentality may be the most important development for a franchise struggling to find consistency during a disastrous season. The Pelicans went 5-9 in December, showing flashes of competitiveness while still falling often. Still, Borrego’s emphasis on physicality and aggression is a clear departure from the team’s previous identity, or lack thereof.

The return of Sion Williamson on December 14 provided a significant boost. Over the last nine games, Williamson is averaging 23.4 points, six rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 60.7% from the field. His presence in the paint was central to the offensive improvements Borrego described.

“Offensively, we’ve moved this thing up a notch as far as tempo, ball movement, sharing and full-court play,” Borrego explained. “We’re dominating the paint, winning and cutting turnovers. Those are all good things. Then in the fourth quarter, we had our ups and downs. We’re working on closing games, fourth quarters. We’ve had some success; we’ve had some downs.”

That fourth quarter inconsistency might have been the most frustrating aspect of the Pelican. Several games that seemed winnable slipped away down the stretch, leaving New Orleans with moral victories but not actual victories. Borrego acknowledged the pain of those losses, but framed them as necessary growing experiences for a team still learning how to compete under his system.

“Misery is what helps you grow and become better,” Borrego said. “There’s no magic play here that’s going to bring us home. As I step back and look at endgame (scenarios), I think we’ve got to be better defensively as well. Bottom line, we own that, but I’m proud of the group for how they’ve grown over the month. There’s clarity in who we’re trying to become and who we’re becoming there. Every day we have some steps forward.”

Mentioning the clarity of speech. For a team that looked directionless in the first weeks of the season, simply establishing an identity is progress. Whether that identity can translate into enough wins to save the season remains to be seen. But as the calendar turns to 2026, the Pelicans at least seem to know what they’re trying to be. The question now is whether they can do it consistently enough to make a difference in the NBA Play-In conversation.