TBW: Tobias Harris the answer?

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Sometime between now and the draft I hope the Pelicans work out the above mentioned trade. With the 24th pick I would select Virginia swingman Justin Anderson. I already professed my desire for Anderson at the end of May and nothing has come up to change that opinion. In my opinion he projects as a bigger 3&D option along with Quincy Pondexter; one who can more credibly defend small forwards while Pondexter chases the Kyle Korver's and Klay Thompson's of the league.

Two prominent mock drafts, for CBS Sports (Sam Vecenie on 6/18) and Draft Express (6/19 version), have the Pelicans selecting Wyoming forward Larry Nance Jr. with the 56th pick. Nance, the son of Larry Nance who won the NBA's first dunk contest, is a long and wiry power forward with a nose for defense. Draft Express notes that he was selected as co-Defensive Player of the Year and 1st Team All-Defense in the Mountain West Conference this year. What jumps out to me is his proficiency at the foul line (a career 77% free throw shooter) in addition to those physical tools; 7'1.5" wingspan and a 37.5" vertical leap.

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Brendan Haywood's contract comes into play heavily at this point. Utilizing it as a trade chip in a sign-and-trade for restricted free agent Tobias Harris allows the Pelicans to maintain all of their valuable exceptions to bring in other players while maintaining restricted rights to Jeff Withey and Norris Cole. Harris would immediately slot into the starting small forward spot. Essentially the Pelicans trade Tyreke Evans, who is a poor fit at small forward, for a project 3&D player (Justin Anderson) and a starting caliber small forward with small ball four potential in Harris.

What does Harris bring? He's a finisher more than a distributor. He averaged just more than a pass per minute in Orlando last season according to NBA Stats, right around the same number that Ryan Anderson did. Harris is a bigger body at 6'8" and 223 pounds at the NBA Combine (in 2011) according to Draft Express. He is an excellent rebounder at the small forward spot and is a threat to make open 3-pointers, as this video demonstrates.

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Notice that every 3-pointer Harris makes is in the corner where he spaces the floor beautifully. Tobias was deadly from the corners this season, posting an impressive 66.3% eFG% there on 104 attempts. His release is compact and quick, and he does well getting his feet under him before the ball arrives.

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Despite committing so much money to Anthony Davis, Tobias Harris, and Omer Asik this summer the Pelicans would still have oodles of cap space next summer. All while actually having a solid group of rotation players to build around the new arrival. Creating max level space, for a player such as Kevin Durant, would require a significant trade or two to slough off some salary but could be done.

The depth chart next year would be chock full of long 6'5" to 6'8" athletes who can actually shoot the basketball behind the three point line. Rookies Justin Anderson and Larry Nance Jr. would not be asked to lift a heavy load; but instead would push players in practice while player development coaches refined their skills. Small ball lineups would have a great deal of flexibility. Want to really open the lane for AD to go to work? Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Harris, Ryan Anderson, and Davis fit the bill. Need to lock down defensively? Holiday, McDaniels, Pondexter, Harris, and Davis will do nicely.

Ultimately it is that flexibility that I hoped to build with this roster. Now we wait for Dell Demps to do something else entirely in the next couple weeks.

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