re: General NBA Links

I think his best option is to try and turn some of these young guys into a star via a trade, like the Harden deal.

Imo, there's zero chance a bunch of 21-22 year olds turn the franchise around. Especially when they've been conditioned to have no expectations.

quote:

---

Where would this franchise be if they didn't get lucky in 2012? One ping pong ball away from being the Kings?

---

I guess it depends on if Dell still would have tried to use the young vets strategy, or build more through the draft.

Assuming he went with the same strategy, for the sake of argument, take AD off and replace him with MKG. I think our roster is still pretty decent. Who knows, maybe if they dont have Davis they actually take Noel. Its obviously tough to know how the roster would have looked though, but I don't think we'd be Sacramento. The front office is too aggressive to sit back and watch rookies fall on their faces. My guess is we would've made an extremely aggressive push at being a 41 win team lol. A team similar to the original CP3 trade.

quote:

---

I love what Hinkie is doing. He has dismantled a broken team and laid the foundation in only 2 seasons. The Sixers were in the playoffs in 2012 and were in shambles when Hinkie took over in 2013. He gutted it. The team is loaded with prospects, draft picks and has no bad contracts. They won't win anything this season, but they are being honest with their fans and promising something great down the road (He basically got the 2 best players in the past two drafts). Most fans can see what's going on and respect it. That's why Hinkie isn't getting any heat for what he is doing.

---

The problem is:

He's basically saying we'll suck for the next 2 years at least. The sixers have been mediocre for 10+ years,fans(and the owners) will want wins. They have no real star and hoping to tank(and quite blantantly) for one is a HUGE gamble(look at this year.


Has the slow build ever really worked?

quote:

---

Btw, that team will be loaded in 2015. They'll have close to 50M to sign free agents.

---

I don't see why they'd want to go to a team that's sucked for 3 years. Money? They'd have to overpay and it would contradict what they're doing. I doubt a star would go there.

quote:

---

They'll add another high lottery pick. Plus they can facilitate tons of other moves with all the young guys they have stashed. But I doubt he'll spend the money and just keep growing it slow. If both Noel and Embid are what most scouts were predicting they would be, then that team will be something special.

---

Banking on Noel/Embiid/2015 pick becoming stars is a longshot at best. The former 2 are injury prone and haven't proven anything quite yet(though I like embiid) and I mentioned the 2015 pick above.

They could package assets for a run at a top 2 pick but those are almost never traded these days.

We'll differ on this I know:

I like what dell is doing,he's surrounding a (super)star with young proven talent and adding end of bench guys/projects from late in the draft/UDFA(Smith/Young).

People whine about lack of assets(draft picks mainly) but they'll have nearly 35-40 million in cap space in 2016.

That's with Holiday/Evans/Davis/Asik(assuming he gets 11 Mil)/Smith/Young/2016 Pick.

When davis becomes a top 3-5 player,that'll give us a strong shot at a big name.

quote:

---

take AD off and replace him with MKG

---

Would they have fallen to 2? I cant remember. If it's later, Lillard/Drummond become possibilities. Hell, maybe they draft them at 2 over MKG. Aminu was only 20 and they wanted him to be the 3.

This is a fun hypo. They probably still get Anderson and Rolo. But are still terrible w/o Gordon. Don't know if the Holiday trade happens- making a playoff push bet after rookie year MKG would not have been smart. But still have a pg hole.

quote:

---

, but I don't think we'd be Sacramento

---

quote:

---

would've made an extremely aggressive push at being a 41 win team lol

---

Isn't that what Sacramento is doing under new ownership?

Interesting read on the worth of offensive rebounds.

LINK

quote:

---

This may surprise you, but last season, offensive rebounding had no significant impact on offensive efficiency across the league.

---

Pels are the 2nd point on the graph- a trend breaker.

quote:

---

Teams that shoot more threes have better offenses, but it would seem that teams get no benefit from going after offensive rebounds. Or rather, having players that crash the offensive glass. While there were a handful of good offenses that were good offensive rebounding teams, those teams generally had superior offensive talent, a huge confounding variable. Teams like the Rockets and Blazers would have had good offenses pretty much regardless of their strategy.

---

quote:

---

Many coaches have found interesting ways to play two traditional big men together, and I’m certainly not saying it’s impossible to build a good offense around two great offensive rebounders. After all, the trendline is neutral, not negative. All I’m saying is that when you get solid offensive rebounding, you give up something else. While pulling down an individual offensive rebound is good, the reason why a player was in position to grab that rebound is something worth thinking about.

---

The good thing is Asik should let us do both, have good offensive rebounding and set up more 3s because anyone but Aminu.

quote:

---

The good thing is Asik should let us do both, have good offensive rebounding and set up more 3s because anyone but Aminu.

---

That was an interesting point in Mason's article on BSS-do they want to take advantage of the ability to create open 3s? Aminu averaged 25MPG; it's not like he was on the court all the time and dictating basic schematic design due to his weaknesses. They still got to the rim a ton and outside of Davis, they didn't finish well there. Finding those 3s either hasn't been a priority or it hasn't been executed by the players.

Bleacher Report: Pelicans finish 11th in West (37-45)

LINK

quote:

---

Sort of a shitty season preview. BR has some better hoops writers since Turner bought it, but that's just lazy.

---

I guess everybody is just getting out their predictions and projections. I'm hoping Simmons and Rose does their video predictions for each team this year. Last years was a lot of fun.

A read on the Jazz from the new Basketball Breakdown. It's not terribly interesting in and of itself but this blurb caught my eye

quote:

---

at 27, most NBA players trend towards their decline and not ascension. Wages of Wins examined this issue and found that once an NBA player reaches the age of 26, their production will usually start to decline.

---

From Wages of Wins

quote:

---

The concept of veteran leadership or presence is oft quoted in the NBA. The salary structure of the NBA also makes older players with more experience much more expensive. However, as their skills may be close to declining, they are a very risky prospect

---

Don't think veteran leadership is a mmyth or unnecessary, but this is something I found interesting as we think about the next few years for the Pelicans.