quote:
I think they’ve been better on 70-foot shots.

No, more seriously, I think some things were bound to turn around for them in terms of shot-making and close-game luck, but they also worked out a few kinks on their own. They lost all seven games without Brandon Ingram earlier this season but got him back (well, for a while). They got Jonas Valanciunas cooking, and they kinda, sorta straightened out the mess in the backcourt, at least to the point where the guards aren’t just flinging early contested shots on every trip. Herb Jones has come along nicely and looks like a long-term keeper, and even Jaxson Hayes is doing some stuff. Baby steps — they still lost to the Thunder and Rockets — but you can at least talk yourself into this team being pretty good with Zion Williamson.

On Herb

quote:
I like Jones because he’s one of the few Pelicans who has a really high ceiling on defense. He has long arms, good hands, good quickness and a good motor. He took a ton of charges at Alabama, too. I think he can be an elite on-ball defender, and he’s shown signs of that already. Off ball, I should point out that he still has a lot of work to do; he’ll get lost on the weak side pretty regularly. But the Pels having somebody they can line up against elite perimeter players is huge, especially since he has the length to “rear-view contest” on dribblers if they want to play a deep drop with Valanciunas or Williamson.

The tricky part comes with his offensive role. The Pelicans already don’t have a lot of shooting once Zion comes back; how does Jones fit with that group? Can he make enough shots to be a plausible starting 3, or does he have to come off the bench behind Zion? (And yes, I know his percentage is decent, but he has 15 makes all year and was pretty much a non-shooter at Alabama, even though all that team did was drive and kick for 3s.) Long-term, I’m willing to bet on Fred Vinson getting his shot up to snuff, but how long of a project are we talking about?

Nonetheless, all of this files under “good problem to have.” The Pelicans appear to have gotten a rotation-caliber forward with the 35th pick, one who is on a minimum deal for two more seasons, and with luck he might be a long-term starter.

On Ingram

quote:
What struck me was just how easily and confidently he was taking guys into his office — like, the second he got somebody in the midrange he could shoot over, they were dead. The other thing is the progress he’s made as a passer. He’s had to fill that role a bit more with no Lonzo Ball and no Zion this year; he’s not John Stockton or anything, but he’s definitely getting smarter with his reads as he gets more attention. The Pels have to hope this Achilles issue doesn’t keep him out too long, because there just isn’t a lot of offense left on the roster.

On Green

quote:
It’s a tough thing to get right, and what’s more is that the “right” part can change. That’s one of the trickiest things I realized on the team side: There are so many levels on which a coach has to hit the right notes. It’s one of the reasons the job is so volatile. Your coach can be the right guy for this year’s team and the absolute wrong guy for next year’s. Or he can have a short shelf life. Or he can be totally fine until he loses the trust of a key player, and then things start going sideways.

As for Green, the thing that really worried me at the outset was that the guards were constantly taking terrible shots, and the defense wasn’t fixed. Both those things seem to be better of late. Offensively, the Pelicans have been more disciplined about hitting Valanciunas on the block and not letting Nickeil Alexander-Walker just throw up whatever. I also give Green credit for quickly promoting Jones over Trey Murphy III, even though Murphy was drafted higher.

A critic would point out that the defense is still bad, and that’s even without the worst defender (Zion). But it’s getting better; the Pels have been pretty good at keeping opponents away from the rim and are second in defensive rebounding. The problem is their drop coverages are so soft that opponents feast on pull-up jumpers against them… but when your bigs are Valanciunas and Guillermo Hernangómez, I’m not sure what the alternative is supposed to be.

And, of course, the bigger-picture thing is the team didn’t let go of the rope when it had this brutal start. The Pels aren’t putting great lineups out there some nights, but they are competing.

On Zion

quote:
I am somewhat confident he will suit up, but not totally confident. I think it is more likely than not that he plays, but as more time passes without complete healing, I do worry he’ll have to have another foot surgery, which obviously would push his timeline into next year. (This wouldn’t be unprecedented, by the way.)

If he’s healthy enough to play, I think the team needs to see him play. As you said, there’s a massive financial decision in the immediate future, and the Pels need to make an informed decision. Williamson will surely be on a minutes restriction and likely won’t be in peak shape at the outset, so I don’t necessarily foresee massive implications on the Pelicans’ position in the standings when he returns.

Bigger picture, I think Williamson’s extended absence and unhappiness is a much greater concern than the specific injury. There are two elements: his health and his relationship with the team. On the latter point, the Pelicans have clearly lost control of the situation, from the initial injury and surgery, to the rehab and timeline for his return, to his conditioning (or lack thereof) while he works his way back. I’m not sure how they put that genie back in the bottle, and one wonders if it will take a different voice on the management side to get on the same page with Williamson.

And then, obviously, the general injury questions aren’t going to go away either. Can Williamson’s knees, feet and ankles handle the loads and stress he puts on them with his unique power and size? Can he manage his weight so that load is minimized? Can he still be as explosive in the wake of those adjustments? Those are very real questions that other people in the league ask.

On a Max Deal for Ziom

[quote] I don’t think the nuclear option is very realistic, especially in Williamson’s case, when there are so many injury questions. He’d have to prove quite a bit on the court, both this year and next, to make that gamble pay off.

Besides, the game NBA players and agents have learned to play is to get the bag first, then figure out if they want to stay. Asking for a trade with five years left on his deal might not be a great leverage play (just ask Ben Simmons), but in a case like Williamson’s I would make darn sure I secured my financial future before I started mulling over different team options.

This post was edited on 1/1/22 at 10:43 am