Why can't we ever get it right?

It’s a never ending hell

Pels thought it was a great idea to trade the fourth pick. Incredibly stupid thing to do and biggest mistake, this isn't the NFL where trading down makes a lot of sense.

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Why can't we ever get it right?

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One mistake literally costed us a high end starter.

2018: Memphis got JJJ with 4th overall
- Future DPOY-caliber PF

2019: NOLA - Zion, Hayes, NAW; Memphis - Ja, Clark
- 4th overall could have gotten Darius Garland (net positive PG). Instead we got NAW (trash), Hayes (trash rotation)
- Memphis also got a bench big

2020: NOLA - Lewis; Memphis - Bane, Tillman
- Solid starting SG and a bench player

2021: NOLA - Murphy, Herb, Alvarado; Memphis - Williams, Aldama
- Clearly we won with a DPOY caliber defender and 2 solid role players while memphis got one.

2022: NOLA - Dyson; Memphis - laravia
- we landed a solid rookie guard, they got meh

All in all, 5 drafts:
New Orleans:
1. Zion Williamson
2. Jaxson Hayes
3. NAW
4. Kira Lewis
5. Trey Murphy
6. Herb Jones
7. Jose Alvarado
8. Dyson Daniels

Memphis:
1. Ja Morant
2. Jaren Jackson Jr
3. Desmond Bane
4. Brandon Clarke
5. Xavier Tillman
6. Santi Aldama
7. Ziaire Williams
8. Jake LaRavia

if Ja = Zion
JJJ, Bane >>>>> anything else we drafted. Swap NAW + Hayes for Garland and we're actually pretty damn set

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Pels thought it was a great idea to trade the fourth pick. Incredibly stupid thing to do and biggest mistake, this isn't the NFL where trading down makes a lot of sense.

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I was actually gonna make a thread about this. I wasn’t really tuned in back then, but I seem to remember people thinking it was a 3 player draft with a big gap between 3 and 4. But I am literally listening to a Bill Simmons/Ryen Rusillo podcast from June 17th, 2019 (how this got suggested to me on YouTube is another story). But it’s a really interesting pod, and the 1st hour they talk about the AD trade (both thought Griffin absolutely fleeced Pelinka) and the Pels winning the lottery and getting Zion.

But it was 3 days before the draft, and Rusillo was convinced that it was a 4-player draft—he was really high on Garland. Said “frick fit,” take the best player and figure it out later. Simmons wasn’t as convinced, but said with the fleecing and all the assets we got, the Pelicans were in the best roster situation in the entire NBA and could be the most interesting and fun franchise for the next decade. That trade—which I remember at least not being poo-poo-ed at the time if not even being somewhat lauded—completely changed the direction of the franchise. But I think it looks worse in hindsight, so it’s hard to really shite on Griffin for it now.

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htran90

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Excellent synopsis. Good job on this if you are including Alvarado on this list then you should include Naji for 2020 for us and Konchair for 2019 for them as undrafted players and also add David Roddy for Memphis for 2022 as the 23rd draft pick he has been more useful than LaRavia for them. If he was 6’8” like LaRavia instead of 6’5” people would be talking about him more. Of course if he was 6’8” he wouldn’t have went 23rd he might have been pushing top 10.

I don’t think any of that changes the needle on your assessment at this point but just for accuracy sake.

And what sucks the most is that Ja was the move. But no one on Gods green earth was gonna pick him #1. Pels needed to be #2.

Griffin has git to be on the hot seat soon, right?

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The neuroticism this board has for David Griffin is hilarious. Dude sucks and people white knight for him more often than not. He's drafted pretty horribly for the most part.

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Lol. I’m one of the few on here that has blasted most of his moves the last few years and have been correct in retrospect on the moves. He’s made a couple decent late picks/udfa and moves that dug him out of the large holes he created for himself much to the satisfaction of the board.

To me, he’s done less with more than any GM I can think of.