Jimmy Smith (Times Pic) bringing the heat on Demps

Steamer's a mistake, but Smith's got a hair up his arse for the wrong reasons here.


From most accounts, Steamer's contract is up and he's not going to be able to play the next two games, so he's being replaced with Ely.

It's not like we have Bird rights on Steamer anyway, given that we only had him for a season as a FA signee.

I want Monty gone but frick this

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Just playing devil's advocate, there are a couple of folks out there with Louisiana, and New Orleans, connections who might be available for hire this summer: Joe Dumars and Avery Johnson.

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This is some ignorant crap.

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Late-season release of Greg Stiemsma an embarrassment for New Orleans Pelicans

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lol no

Bring it down a few notches Jimmy. He's obviously been pissed off a while and this insignificant Stiemsma move was just a way to let it out.

He's raging over meaningless hit and miss, end-of-the-bench signings(made because of injuries) that every team makes.

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Josh Childress and Lou Amundson..."These were both meaningless moves that at the time reeked of desperation as the team struggled with a slow start."

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wtf? Roster fillers that every team brings in when/if guys get hurt. They weren't brought in to turn things around

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Signed forward Luke Babbitt on Feb. 4. Babbitt has not been a difference-maker and cannot play defense. This was a pointless move.

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Really, shitting on Babbitt?

Also mentions Alexis Ajinca, Southerland, then Ely. In total, six roster fillers brought in because of injuries

Ajinca MIGHT be the only one of these guys that would be here if we had stayed relatively healthy.

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only one conclusion can be drawn: Someone made a serious miscalculation last summer.

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Amazingly, it apparently took the New Orleans Pelicans 80 games to realize their embarrassing mistake.

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I don't get why he's saying it's a "serious miscalculation" or "embarrassing mistake." Everyone thought Steamer was at best a just below league average center (something he didn't live up to in the least) and that J. Smith was getting the bulk of the Center minutes early on anyway (which he did). I don't believe for one second anybody seriously thought we were gonna trot GS out there 40 minutes a night; the dude was a filler at best, he's on a minimum contract or MLE i'm fairly sure, Pels didn't get Oden, and they took what was left that had a believable marginal benefit at the time (didn't happen).

And I think we can all agree Steamer didn't do well for the Pels and I guess, in essence, was a "miscalculation." But not a serious one, a minor one if anything; and if Ryan Anderson had played 70+ games, GS role would've been nearly nonexistent. Were the Pels supposed to trot out Withey in October? The rookie, who's not strong, marginally tough, and got posterized on in his 3rd ever game? I get Withey's 24, but in NBA years the guy was every bit a rookie as I've ever seen.

This Smith guys mental. Shameless attempt at click bait if I've ever seen one.

I don't agree with any of his reasoning. But if he's gonna lead the charge that lands us a new coach (not named Avery Johnson), if all for it. If it happens to take down Demps with it( although I'm not there yet), so be it.

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- Acquired Jrue Holiday from the Philadelphia 76ers for two first-round draft choices on July 12. The jury remains in deliberation on that one because of Holiday's injury, though sacrificing a pair of lottery picks may prove to be excessive.

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A center coming off a torn acl and probably the 12th pick(bench player)?

I'd say it's worth it.

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--Signed free-agent Anthony Morrow on July 18. Once Morrow got consistent minutes, he became a valuable asset and has unquestionably enhanced his prospects for a better contract should he opt out of the last year of his deal with the Pelicans. He's due to earn $1.15 million.

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He'll probably be back

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--Signed free agents Josh Childress and Lou Amundson on Nov. 12, two players who were available to anyone in the league – including the Pelicans – three months earlier. Childress was waived a month later, Amundson after seven weeks. These were both meaningless moves that at the time reeked of desperation as the team struggled with a slow start.

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Those were no more than depth signings. Both were journeymen not legit players.

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--Signed forward Luke Babbitt on Feb. 4. Babbitt has not been a difference-maker and cannot play defense. This was a pointless move.

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Shooting 39% from 3 and is a decent to good rebounder. His defense is not that bad either,Hardly pointless when he'll be a solid guy off the bench next year making 500K.

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-Waived Stiemsma and signed Ely on Monday, with an official explanation later in the day that Stiemsma's knees have been bothering him (he was not on the injury list on Monday morning and, according to his statistics page, hadn't missed a game with injury since Dec. 28 when he was still recovering from a left medial collateral ligament strain.

Stiemsma had his fifth DNP-coach's decision on Saturday night in Houston.

If, 80 games into a season, a team cuts an offseason free-agent signee and replaces him with a nomadic journeyman who has compiled an undistinguished NBA resume over the last 12 years, only one conclusion can be drawn: Someone made a serious miscalculation last summer.

It also plainly illustrates the need for a fresh, additional voice in personnel matters.

Just playing devil's advocate, there are a couple of folks out there with Louisiana, and New Orleans, connections who might be available for hire this summer: Joe Dumars and Avery Johnson.

Dumars, the former McNeese State guard who is close with Saints/Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis, stepped down as the Pistons' president of basketball operations on Monday.

While Dumars has greatly struggled recently in Detroit, he did build a team that won the NBA title in 2003-04 then lost in the Finals the next year to the San Antonio Spurs. Dumars also won back-to-back championships with the Pistons as a player.

In 2006, Dumas was brought in as a motivational speaker for the Saints during training camp in Jackson, Miss.

Because of Johnson's ties to the Saints – he was given a Super Bowl ring in 2010 – Loomis also has a friendly relationship the St. Aug and Southern graduate who won a title as a player and coached the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2005-06.

Johnson could be an option as a basketball ops hire; he probably does not want to coach.

Admitting a miscalculation, at this juncture, on an important a signing as Stiemsma, is embarrassing.

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So cutting a guy that won't even play the rest of the year is an "embarassing move"?

He was losing minutes to better players in withey/ajinca. It's obvious to anyone that watched him he blows.

This whole "article" was a long winded troll post

And

at dumars/johnson

I think Demps has done a better job as GM than Smith did with that piece.

Pining over Vasquez and Lopez? Come on. Stiesma? Yikes!

I think Demps has made a lot of mistakes, but most of his stuff in this article is silly.