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The Pelicans Take Flight
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:20 pm
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:20 pm
New Zach Lowe article. Good article but he's still trying to make Pellies happen 
LINK
A lot more at the link.
quote:
Two weeks ago, the New Orleans Pelicans were a funky team with some very good young players, a killer new mascot, another lottery pick, a coach with the most diverse sideline wardrobe in the NBA, and an intriguing upside that seemed years away. And then, bam: They surprised everyone by trading two first-round picks, including the pick that turned out to be Nerlens Noel, in exchange for Jrue Holiday — a deal with serious Kawhi Leonard–George Hill potential in terms of long-term "Who won?" curiousity. They followed that up by immediately throwing a monster contract at Tyreke Evans, one of the league's five best restricted free agents, at the start of a free-agency period in which there has been almost zero buzz around the other four.1
Once the Evans deal is complete, the Pellies2 will have six players locked up through 2015-16, tied with the Celtics for the largest number (excluding 2013-14 rookies) of any team in the league. Those six guys, plus draft picks and charges for empty roster spots, would take the Pelicans very close to the projected salary cap in the summers of 2014 and 2015. In other words, this six-man group could be the team: Evans, Holiday, Anthony Davis, Austin Rivers, Ryan Anderson, and Eric Gordon. To acquire that core, the Pelicans have sacrificed both future cap flexibility and a pick in next June's loaded draft, the key asset that swung the Noel-Holiday deal. Outside of Boston, which has quickly become Valhalla for any NBA front-office geek interested in a monster rebuild project, the Pelicans have had the league's most interesting offseason — a series of high-risk, high-reward gambles that have divided rival executives and gone against the grain of larger trends in NBA team-building strategy.
And the gamble starts right away, at the behest of owner Tom Benson, who pushed the front office to end the slow game and accelerate the rebuild now, per several sources around the league. Dell Demps and his staff have tried to find a middle path by acquiring two productive players — Holiday and Evans — that are both just 23 years old, with upside still to realize. The Sixers are counting on the experiment being a failure this season. If it is, Philly could end up with the no. 6 or no. 7 pick in addition to its own, which appears a sure thing to fall among the top five.3 The Pelicans believe this group can chase one of the last two playoff spots in the Western Conference, and that even if they fail, they might still win enough games to slot their pick somewhere in the no. 12-14 range.
LINK
A lot more at the link.
6
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:21 pm to TigerinATL
quote:
the Pellies2 will have six players locked up through 2015-16, tied with the Celtics for the largest number (excluding 2013-14 rookies) of any team in the league.
For a team rebuilding in the Celtics, that is pretty surprising.
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:33 pm to mm2316
quote:I think 4 of the 6 are on team options though.
For a team rebuilding in the Celtics, that is pretty surprising.
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:41 pm to TigerinATL
It's hard to gauge how good/bad he thinks the Pelicans will be, but I guess we're a difficult team to predict right now.
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:42 pm to TigerinATL
Zach Lowe today:
Me last week:
quote:
And smart teams will attack the Anderson-Davis combo by running pick-and-rolls with Davis's man as the screener, knowing that if they can get by Davis, the Pelicans have zero capable rim protection behind the play.
Me last week:
quote:
The main problem I see with that lineup is there is no rim protection besides AD. If teams involve AD in any action at the top of the floor, you're left with Ryno as the backline of your defense, and I don't see that ending well.
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:43 pm to PKTiger
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:46 pm to tgr4ever
We got ourselves a magic moron over here.
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:51 pm to PKTiger
Hey Zach
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:52 pm to RonFNSwanson
Ronson!?! You made your way back over here
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:54 pm to PKTiger
quote:
If teams involve AD in any action at the top of the floor, you're left with Ryno as the backline of your defense, and I don't see that ending well.
Well we're not beating the Rockets then.
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:57 pm to c on z
quote:
Well we're not beating the Rockets then.
It depends on if Houston decides to play Dwight and Asik together. If they do, I'd just pack the paint because there's no way they could have enough shooting on the floor between them two and Lin.
Posted on 7/9/13 at 1:59 pm to TigerinATL
MM calling for fans to encourage Zach Lowe to do a podcast.
His tweetbook handle is @ZachLowe_NBA
quote:
Michael McNamara ?@McNamara247 2m
Hey guys- do your part. Tweet Zach Lowe, telling him you need him on the BSS podcast. 100-200 of you do it, he will get the message. Go!!!!
His tweetbook handle is @ZachLowe_NBA
This post was edited on 7/9/13 at 2:01 pm
Posted on 7/9/13 at 2:05 pm to TigerinATL
I don't think people have been talking about Davis enough, nationally.
He's the franchise changer here. Gordon, Holiday and Evans could all be all star level players, but won't be as good as Davis will be, and think thats been getting overlooked.
That guy will be a superstar in a few years, leaving someone like Evans or Anderson to be our 4th or 5th best player. Thats the exciting part of all this. If Evans or Anderson is the 5th best player on your team, you're in great shape.
And thats what I think has been overlooked. It seems, nationally, people are looking at our lineup and judging by what Davis was as a rookie(which was still very good), not by what it/he will become. Thats not even taking into account that all the pieces around Davis are also young and improving as well.
Its was a great article from Lowe, as usual. But no, our ultimate success won't come from how well Evans adapts or how well our 3 perimeter players mesh. We'll ultimately go as far as Davis takes us.
He's the franchise changer here. Gordon, Holiday and Evans could all be all star level players, but won't be as good as Davis will be, and think thats been getting overlooked.
That guy will be a superstar in a few years, leaving someone like Evans or Anderson to be our 4th or 5th best player. Thats the exciting part of all this. If Evans or Anderson is the 5th best player on your team, you're in great shape.
And thats what I think has been overlooked. It seems, nationally, people are looking at our lineup and judging by what Davis was as a rookie(which was still very good), not by what it/he will become. Thats not even taking into account that all the pieces around Davis are also young and improving as well.
Its was a great article from Lowe, as usual. But no, our ultimate success won't come from how well Evans adapts or how well our 3 perimeter players mesh. We'll ultimately go as far as Davis takes us.
Posted on 7/9/13 at 2:18 pm to eyeran
quote:
Its was a great article from Lowe, as usual. But no, our ultimate success won't come from how well Evans adapts or how well our 3 perimeter players mesh. We'll ultimately go as far as Davis takes us.
+1
Posted on 7/9/13 at 2:27 pm to drake20
It was a fantastic column, and I agree with 99% of it. I tried to ask him why he thinks that teams will have so much success playing small ball against us, but I couldn't really get an answer out of him, unfortunately.
This post was edited on 7/9/13 at 2:31 pm
Posted on 7/9/13 at 2:30 pm to GeauxHornets
quote:
Mason Ginsberg ?@MasonGinsberg 47m
.@ZachLowe_NBA loved the column, Zach. One Q - why do you think the Pellies will have so much trouble defending shooting small-ball lineups?
Not you too Mason
And giving him questions he doesn't want to answer is no way to get him on the podcast
This post was edited on 7/9/13 at 2:31 pm
Posted on 7/9/13 at 2:33 pm to TigerinATL
quote:
Not you too Mason
First time I've used it, I promise! hah, thought doing so may make Lowe more inclined to answer me...
Posted on 7/9/13 at 2:40 pm to PKTiger
quote:
And smart teams will attack the Anderson-Davis combo by running pick-and-rolls with Davis's man as the screener, knowing that if they can get by Davis, the Pelicans have zero capable rim protection behind the play.
This is why Ryno is our most tradeable asset. Teams want him, and he doesn't really fit with AD. I've been saying this since last season - trade Ryan Anderson. You can't have him and AD on the court together.
Posted on 7/9/13 at 3:53 pm to ScoopAndScore
Yea but Anderson fits very well with our perimeter players offensively, since none of them are knock down shooters
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