2024 Offseason Thread

[RaisingTheBar]

Ingram almost carried us to a victory over the Suns in Willie Green’s rookie year as a coach. He is not the problem. I do think somebody needs to be moved since Willie is being kept. We need to build a functioning team and Zion is the better option with contract and other things taken into account. We also have Trey Murphy who could replace Ingram. Zion doesn’t have a replacement. It makes sense to move on from Ingram due to his contract. CJ puts us in a bit of a tough spot because we can’t move him. Build a team that can win with and without Zion on the court. Bring in depth that can deal with the regular season and let Zion handle the postseason. That should be the play.

I agree with this. I think Trey needs to take some accountability and take a huge step forward. He needs to become someone who can score consistently other than taking 7 30ft 3s a game and also create for others. I think he has all the tools needed offensively.

[13 - 3]

No someone said they would be a nice fit. I seriously doubt Willie would give him 30 minutes a game.

Fixed it for you

[Pelicanidae]

“Luka believes Dort, Jrue and Herb Jones are the Top 3 perimeter defenders in the league.” ������ pic.twitter.com/QcnbPnq1Ap

— Boot Krewe Media (@BootKreweMedia) May 11, 2024

[Pelicanidae]

I agree with this. I think Trey needs to take some accountability and take a huge step forward. He needs to become someone who can score consistently other than taking 7 30ft 3s a game and also create for others. I think he has all the tools needed offensively.

I think that's pretty unfair. Hard to ''take a huge step forward'' when you have random games where you play sub-20 minutes coming off the bench this deep into your career. At some point if you want to see how far a player can go, you have to see how much burden they can take before it crumbles, and we've rarely done that with Trey. He's been second fiddle at his position almost his entire career and we're seeing the effects of that. The growth he started showing at the end of last season was positive, but it was done during an injury-plagued time and it stopped when BI came back into the lineup and he returned to the bench. That's just how it's been.

[Pelicanidae]

Ingram almost carried us to a victory over the Suns in Willie Green?s rookie year as a coach.

I actually re-watched that Suns series recently and man, people massively over-credit BI for that.

He had two excellent games. We won one of them, lost the other. His other four games were incredibly mid. He didn't ''almost carry us to a victory over the Suns'' - we lost in 6 and he was bad in all of the losses bar one.

That's not me bagging on him either, he was asked to carry a burden he's not meant to carry because he's not that guy and we all know it. He did a great showing as a #2 that just didn't have a #1 there. But can we not revisionist history that series, please.

Edit: just want to be clear, I am not blaming Ingram for that. He did what he could, and in a couple of games, that was a lot, but he was being asked to do more than was reasonable for his level and role on the team. No blame on him for us losing that series either, it's not his fault at all.

[RaisingTheBar]

Fixed it for you

Willie is the only coach who’s ever given him 30mpg…..so thanks for incorrecting me.

[RaisingTheBar]

I think that's pretty unfair. Hard to ''take a huge step forward'' when you have random games where you play sub-20 minutes coming off the bench this deep into your career. At some point if you want to see how far a player can go, you have to see how much burden they can take before it crumbles, and we've rarely done that with Trey. He's been second fiddle at his position almost his entire career and we're seeing the effects of that. The growth he started showing at the end of last season was positive, but it was done during an injury-plagued time and it stopped when BI came back into the lineup and he returned to the bench. That's just how it's been.

This literally happened a whopping 2 times this season. Most games were 28+ and the last time he saw less than 28 was 2/12.

[Pelicanidae]

This literally happened a whopping 2 times this season. Most games were 28+ and the last time he saw less than 28 was 2/12.

My bad, I should have known not to put a number on it. That is just inviting pedantry.

The point stands, however. We have done nothing to push him to the peak and see how far he can goes. While you set the cutoff at 28 minutes for some bizarre reason, he played under 30 minutes in the majority of games played this season. In fact, he's played under 30 minutes in more than half of his career games, and has come off the bench in well over half of them as well.

The point that this team has done very little to see how far the limits of his play goes, and that he's been relegated to a back-up bench piece behind BI stands. That's a failure in coaching and teambuilding. But well done on finding a small factual inaccuracy and using it to completely duck the entire point.

[PELICANSFAN]

I think that's pretty unfair. Hard to ''take a huge step forward'' when you have random games where you play sub-20 minutes coming off the bench this deep into your career. At some point if you want to see how far a player can go, you have to see how much burden they can take before it crumbles, and we've rarely done that with Trey. He's been second fiddle at his position almost his entire career and we're seeing the effects of that. The growth he started showing at the end of last season was positive, but it was done during an injury-plagued time and it stopped when BI came back into the lineup and he returned to the bench. That's just how it's been.

In all fairness though, he has had some great games and has completely disappeared in others. He needs to be more aggressive in getting the ball and making something happen. He spends too much time hanging out at the 3 point line and not even moving. Maybe that is coaching, but it can be frustrating because we know he has talent.

[PELICANSFAN]

Willie is the only coach who’s ever given him 30mpg…..so thanks for incorrecting me.

One season though. The other two, he played below his career average with some of his lower mpg in his career.

[Pelicanidae]

One season though. The other two, he played below his career average with some of his lower mpg in his career.

And it's not just raw minutes either, it's when.

Jonas routinely gets benched in the closing minutes of games even when he's been a driving force in us even being in a position to win. Whether he plays closing minutes or not seems entirely independent to how well he's played. That's got to be irritating.

Especially when he's been a solid FT shooter, an excellent rebounder, and generally efficient - and not very turnover prone either. You'd think if you do all those things and you're a key part of the game being close, you might get to close the game out. Nope. WG benches him regularly.

If I'm him, I'm trying to end my career somewhere that actually appreciates me a little more.

[RaisingTheBar]

One season though. The other two, he played below his career average with some of his lower mpg in his career.

Correct and what was significant about that one season? Zion didn’t play a game. The past two years Zion has played in more games than the season before and Jona’ minute has dropped. That’s telling.

[RaisingTheBar]

My bad, I should have known not to put a number on it. That is just inviting pedantry.

The point stands, however. We have done nothing to push him to the peak and see how far he can goes. While you set the cutoff at 28 minutes for some bizarre reason, he played under 30 minutes in the majority of games played this season. In fact, he's played under 30 minutes in more than half of his career games, and has come off the bench in well over half of them as well.

The point that this team has done very little to see how far the limits of his play goes, and that he's been relegated to a back-up bench piece behind BI stands. That's a failure in coaching and teambuilding. But well done on finding a small factual inaccuracy and using it to completely duck the entire point.

It’s not minor enough to just ignore you made a statement that was completely off base. He has month after month been given increased minutes (remember he came off of a meniscus) and has proven to be inconsistent especially in the playoffs. When he’s on he’s amazing, however someone suggested he can replace BI. I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to say in order for him to do that he’s got to completely elevate his game, and not just scoring as well.

[WhyHornetsWhy]

Herb may be one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, but that goes out the window when Bookers drops 50 on you every game

[RaisingTheBar]

Herb may be one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, but that goes out the window when Bookers drops 50 on you every game

To be fair that is the only player he’s consistently have issues with. Might just be this specific player that’s herb’s kryptonite.

[Nichols]

We get it you hate the coach, but statements like this are just incredibly inaccurate. Jonas has only been here 3 out of his 13 year career and Willie has played him the same if not more than any other coach that came before us. His first year here he played more mpg than he has anywhere else his entire career. What JV is now is a product of being a 2000s big with an old school skill set who hasn?t addapted to the new NBA.

I?ll reiterate there are matchups where he?s a huge favorite and offense should run through him. However more often than not he?s too slow to defend his counterpart and is most affective within 12 feet of the rim. That doesn?t mix well when 1 of your star players operates almost exclusively in the paint and another almost exclusively in the mid range.

We were talking about Ingram boss. And I don't hate Green, I don't think he's a good coach though.

[RaisingTheBar]

We were talking about Ingram boss. And I don't hate Green, I don't think he's a good coach though.

lol yea completely my fault. I only saw the shorter post that was quoted and bolded and not the entire thing. My bad.

[WhyHornetsWhy]

There?s no reason for the Timberwolves to do this but if we can somehow trade a combination of CJ, BI, Herb, 3-4 1st round picks and net a starting roster of:

PG: Dejounte Murray OR Trae Young
SG: Malik Monk OR Klay Thompson in free agency
SF: Trey Murphy
PF: Z
C: KAT

[NOEngineer]

What we need is a point guard with high assist/turnover ratio, in other words a true point guard. CJ and Dyson are below 3, while Jose is at 3.0 (40th in NBA). Jose's numbers are fine for his backup role as defensive dog, but CJ isn't achieving point guard results and his defense is average at best. Trey is best on the team at 3.1, but I don't see him displaying point guard leadership qualities. PG should be our offseason focus.

[Nichols]

lol yea completely my fault. I only saw the shorter post that was quoted and bolded and not the entire thing. My bad.

Lol.. It's all good.

[hornetsrebirth]

What we need is a point guard with high assist/turnover ratio, in other words a true point guard. CJ and Dyson are below 3, while Jose is at 3.0 (40th in NBA). Jose's numbers are fine for his backup role as defensive dog, but CJ isn't achieving point guard results and his defense is average at best. Trey is best on the team at 3.1, but I don't see him displaying point guard leadership qualities. PG should be our offseason focus.

The best Pelicans have looked is with Zion running the point.

[Pelicanidae]

Marc Stein reports there's a growing belief league wide the Pelicans will aggressively explore the trade market for Brandon Ingram

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) May 12, 2024

Posting this via Shamit rather than just posting Stein directly because the Stein Line is paywalled and this is the point that actually matters most for us.

There is currently an entire forest fire's worth of smoke about this.

Does it mean we absolutely will trade BI? No. An intention to aggressively explore trades doesn't mean one will actually come up that Griff will find acceptable. But the pieces are clearly on the table. Stein is a big name. Him and Windhorst both have reported this now.

[markid]

I'm not looking forward to this. We had some gradual improvement over the last few years. Hopefully this means we continue to improve.

[Pelicanidae]

I'm not looking forward to this. We had some gradual improvement over the last few years. Hopefully this means we continue to improve.

In terms of regular season wins, we saw some gradual improvement. In terms of post-season success, we're actually in a worse position this year than three years ago. And the team's only about to become vastly more expensive for the same product so, in terms of salary cap we're in a much worse position too.

And there's an argument that while we did improve in terms of regular season wins, so did most of the West - all that means is that there were more bottom feeders to beat up on this year than last, and next year probably won't be the same. In terms of the quality of play, we arguably didn't improve in the regular season either.

[Pelicanidae]

REPORT: The Pelicans are interested in moving into the top of this year’s draft, per @ScoopB.

“Pelicans believe that there are a few guys at the top of this draft they can pair with Zion Williamson to elevate them to the next level.” pic.twitter.com/KQyBdCaE9z

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 12, 2024

Feels very Trade BI, future picks, and salary to the Hawks for Trae Young and the right to draft Alexandre Sarr to me.

Edit: it is Scoop B so y'know, grains of salt folks, but still.