Anyone Else Quietly Optimistic About The Future?

[Impose]

I was shocked when Boogie ditched us, scratched my head over Rondo a bit too. Randle and Payton are steps down on a talent level right now but also still not near their primes. They've both proven they can have big games against NBA competition. Both are triple double threats, both love to attack the rim. These are really underrated signings by Dell and are still super young. This is the reload, the youth movement, the new formula that needs time to gel.

I'm a little glad the West got tougher. I wouldnt even mind a year we miss the playoffs, get a pick around the #10 mark, play Payton and Jackson a tonne and trust one of them will prove they got it. There will be a serviceable SF at #10 in next years draft. That might be the missing piece. Think about someone like Jaylen Hoard:



Jrue had an amazing playoffs and really showed he is a legit #2 option and obviously a top 5 2-way player on the wing. He and Davis also have the intangible of being super unselfish and team oriented. What better position could you be in as Randle and Payton. Playing with 2 superstars who are into the system and play the game the right way on both ends. I legit feel like Jrue will bring it this year with a 25ppg, 4reb, 7ast type year, hes officially in his prime years and he is a special player.

AD has the chance this offseason to get his 3pt shot improved too. He can probably push it up to 38% over the next 2 years in my opinion his stroke is so pure. Davis will miss Rondo. Payton is similar but it's a whole new chemistry to build, I think AD will be posting up more and probably lurking on the 3pt line while Randle gets some burn attacking the paint and drawing the D away.

I also really hope Diallo flourishes this year. I think he has the potential to be as good as Randle or Miro, while being a completely different skillset. It gives us great flexibility and a real trade asset if one of them becomes expendable and worth a real rotation wing player.

Dell deserves a little flack over losing Rondo and Boogie, but he has sneakily kept us afloat while getting young and signing players that make sense on many levels. Can't wait to watch this team next year. I'd say it was a salvaged offseason, as smooth of a transition as we could hope.

[DroopyDawg]

We're gonna find a way to lose our first rounder, so I don't even get excited about draft prospects anymore.

[shanesy]

Also losing is not in the best interest for AD's future here. Need to show improvement to keep winning consistently.

[Eman5805]

We're gonna find a way to lose our first rounder, so I don't even get excited about draft prospects anymore.

Even if we draft one, we’ll just trade him.

[DaPelFromHell]

I’m quite optimistic for this year cause we will be a better team without Boogie due to his injury. I may be in the minority, but I think we upgraded with Payton over Rondo. I liked having Rondo with Boogie, but not without him. I just think Payton gives us more offense & defense without a threat of injury & fatigue with Rondo’s age. We may lose Rondo’s playmaking ability, but having Jrue with Payton is well good enough IMO. Yes it would be nice to have a 1st round pick to get a decent 3, cause that is the only way to get one without slightly overpaying a decent one in free agency. If we do trade it, we better be getting rid of Hill, Ajinca, and getting back a solid 3 that we need badly.

But after this year if we can’t get a player close to his stature I’ll be bummed. Mainly cause we lost a big piece that could help us possibly get over some of the top teams in the West, someone to help keep AD long term, and a player that could get us a decent trade haul if Boogie wouldn’t help us over those top teams in the West.

[pelicanchamp]

https://youtu.be/0xysmKbg2w8

Payton is in a perfect position to have his best season. He’s never had this many weapons around him who are team players and can score/shoot. He’ll have Niko, Moore, Miller, Jrue, AD, Randle.... we will run so fast that teams while be exhausted by us. I’m really high on Elfrid. I always thought he had potential. I think he’ll have multiple triple doubles. He’s gonna have great teammates and he will be playing at home. He must be the most excited about this year. I bet he proves he’s elite this year. Bye Rondo. I’m done with Rondo and Boogie. Both prima donnas. Rondo is old and we are going to wear him out when we play the lakers. This is my guy:

https://youtu.be/0xysmKbg2w8


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[PELICANSFAN]

I bet he proves he’s elite this year.

Elite? He needs to start with "good" first. He has not had a great career. I think he can show improvement here, but elite?

[PolishFan]

What if Hill actually becomes the player the organization was hoping for ? I mean it’s not impossible

[fullcourtpress]

It is PROBABLE Elfrid will be an upgrade over Rondo. Rondo did give our squad some gifts as a mentor, but if any of our players are even near champions they will take those gifts and pass them on.

Elfrid will probably be one of the most improved players in the league this year. It's really a perfect storm for him.

Randle is a great fit too.

Both players are upgrades in the future considering durability/salary and so forth. But Cousin's talent is undeniable

Give us one more lengthy perimiter player and we could very well come in 2nd lol

[Impose]

Also losing is not in the best interest for AD's future here. Need to show improvement to keep winning consistently.

We'll be competitive later in the year, but I would imagine some growing pains with fitting Randle and Payton into the system. I think one lottery year is something AD can accept if we have a draft pick.

[Impose]

We're gonna find a way to lose our first rounder, so I don't even get excited about draft prospects anymore.

No, we'll keep it, it looks like a weak draft :P

[pelicanchamp]

Elite? He needs to start with "good" first. He has not had a great career. I think he can show improvement here, but elite?

rondo has always had much better players around him his entire career. Butler, Ray Allen, Garnett, Wade, Paul Pierce, Dirk, AD..... list goes on and on.

Payton hasn’t been in the league that long and he was very solid in his rookie year. He was one of the candidates for ROY at one point. Who has Payton had as a teammate? Put him on that Celtics team Rondo had. He’s already good. He can do a lot to make this team better and I will say elite because he’s got the ability to be elite. He can actually score 15-16ppg and he will probably get 6-7rpg and 8-10apg. I bet you he will have 9-10 assists per game this year in Gentry’s system. He’s got experienced weapons which he didn’t gave in PHX or Orlando. He’s going to make a name of himself this year. He’s taller, more athletic, faster, and a much better scorer than Rondo. I’ve seen enough footage and looked at enough stats to believe that he will make a major jump to possible star level point guard. This is based on the fact that he’s already good but not playing with great offensive players who shoot well. He’s not the leader rondo is but he will be better than Rondo this season. Elite may be too strong of a word but very confident he’s going to be much better than he’s been on previous teams.


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[Mythrol]

I'm in a current state of a huge ????? About our future. I've been saying Cousins not coming back was probably a sign of the end of AD's era but the way Cousins handled it made me think maybe AD will be a bit more forgiving.

I will say this, I'm glad we passed on Cousins now because he showed his true colors this free agency. He could have worked with the team, gotten a bigger pay day, joined a playoff team, and we could have gotten some assets for him. Instead he was so spiteful that he even harmed himself by giving up his Birds Rights just to try to hurt the team. I don't care how talented he is, he will always be a distraction until he matures and eats some humble pie.

I was surprised we were able to get Randle but until he or Niko or both are locked up long term I'm still skeptical of our future.

I would say I'm cautiously pessimistic about our future right now. Depending what moves we make over the course of this season and next free agency will really determine long term how the team will be. If we are able to swing a trade for someone like Harrison Barnes, lock up our front court, make the 2nd round of the playoffs again, then I think AD might sign the supermax and we will be set for awhile.

[kinglio21093]

We're gonna find a way to lose our first rounder, so I don't even get excited about draft prospects anymore.

Lmao facts.

I'm excited for the regular season that's for sure. The playoffs are a different animal. I don't trust this league anymore due to their big market desire, but that's a different discussion for another time.

The season should be fun. I'm excited to see how Randle pans out with AD, although the loss of Rondo hurts more than we know as he was a critical part to the locker room. So it'll be interesting to see who takes on that role.

[Thepeelsessions]

The loss of Rondo hurts more than we know as he was a critical part to the locker room. So it'll be interesting to see who takes on that role.

E'Twaun? He's only 29, but he just screams "grizzled vet".

[Impose]

E'Twaun? He's only 29, but he just screams "grizzled vet".

Its Jrue's time to stand up and be the leader.

[luckyman]

Chiek might go too fast sometimes, but he doesn't look clumsy to me at all. Very nice touch around the rim.

[msusousaphone]

I'm optimistic because of the ownership.

Ever since Benson bought the team there has always been hope. Always something brewing. I'm confident Gayle will go in the same direction. It's an ownership, and Dell, that doesn't just settle but continues to try to reach the top. One plan falls through and all the doom and gloom people come out saying there is no hope.....then we make a move to bring the hope back.

I'm optimistic it will click eventually.

[tdcreator]

Optimistic and this will be a fun team to watch, similar to the C-web led kings.

[Pelicanidae]

Cautiously confident. I'll have a better judgement probably closer to Christmas time, when we've actually seen how some of the team works on the court, see if any other moves get made, see if we do actually end up with Hood (or any other SF), etc etc, but I think we're in a decent spot.

25 year old MVP/DPOY candidate locked up, with the alluring prospect of the largest NBA contract ever looming + 27 year old Jrue Holiday returning to all-star form and having made the All Defensive team + an effective stretch 4 who can play inside at times and has surprisingly good defense in Niko + 2 <25 year old players with tons of upside that fit our system description down to a T = reasons to have some hope.

[DefensiveMind]

I haven’t been this excited about the future since we went up 2-0 on SA in 2008.

Dell has found his voice, a style of play, a coach, and he’s dangerously close to something he’s never had with AD... financial flexibility. How he handled the Cousins situation told me everything I needed to know about the stability of this organization. He doesn’t make that move if he’s working on borrowed time.

We are about to enter the first sustained Golden Age of New Orleans basketball. Enjoy!


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[msusousaphone]

I have a memory (I have six kids, now so those aren't the most reliable) of people on PR.com talking back when the Bensons bought the team that their money wasn't a lot for NFL standards but was upper tier for NBA owners. The conversation was all about how with them buying the team, they felt we would be perennial contenders and even when we had slumps, they we would be short lived because we had the means to hire the talent to make us better.

All speculation and off of memory. So no facts. And I understand AD has been here to help bolster NOLA throughout the Benson reign....but it certainly seems to be true, so far.

[da ThRONe]

It's crazy people were saying we had to keep Cousins even at the max. I remember people calling it a no-brainer. We don't offer Boogie a deal after free agency opened up resulting in him leaving and now it's no big deal. This place is so wishy washy.

[Tinman]

It's crazy people were saying we had to keep Cousins even at the max. I remember people calling it a no-brainer. We don't offer Boogie a deal after free agency opened up resulting in him leaving and now it's no big deal. This place is so wishy washy.

Ohhh YEAH ! A whole Bunch .

[DefensiveMind]

Who knew 22 posts would be considered a consensus opinion. 🤷🏽**♂️🤷🏽**♂️


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