Who should become the first person to be drafted to the pelicans?

Anyone check out that guy Leon Sandcastle?

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Originally Posted by NOLa.

Watched all 3 that he played against UNC (watch every game) and I stick with what I said. Unimpressive for a 7'1 C going against a SF who he outweighs by 40+. The numbers look good but UnC is a poor rebounding team which he did average against. I pass.

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If u have TRULY watched every game then u wouldn't be saying what ur saying. U can't say "he can't outperform mcadoo at the c pos." then turn around n say "oh hes a sf n weighs 40 lbs less" to downplay the fact that Len did in fact outperform him when ur the one who decided to make the comparison between the 2 and yes Len did outperform him. Mcadoo is 6'9 230 and Len is 7'1 255...so not what ur trying to make it but nice try bro lol...also if u truly did watch many games of Len then u would also know the guard play is horrible and they don't give him the ball nearly enough with this last game just shining the spotlight on that matter...5-7 shooting 20 pts...he has the ability to dominate if given the opportunity. He has a nice back to the basket offensive game that is lacking in the nba right now.

He won't make an ounce of impact in the NBA. Can't get mad ecause someone has an opinion on someone who truly isn't any good. The only thing he has is size but he'll get dominated.

Len those other 2 games vs UNC I watched and WHY I'm unimpressed.

10 pts 5 rebs
8 pts 7 rebs

So he had 1 good game. Yeah he's going to be excellent.

Shabazz would be great here but it's still time to see how he performs in the tournament without the kid who got hurt. His scoring potential is just great and we need some pure scoring.

Porter would definitely be a great pick too but will the chemistry work with him? He seems to be almost too much of a role player, a jack of all trades with no exact specialty. Do we really need this on this young team with not much of a offensive or defensive identity?

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Originally Posted by wuggie

Shabazz would be great here but it's still time to see how he performs in the tournament without the kid who got hurt. His scoring potential is just great and we need some pure scoring.

Porter would definitely be a great pick too but will the chemistry work with him? He seems to be almost too much of a role player, a jack of all trades with no exact specialty. Do we really need this on this young team with not much of a offensive or defensive identity? Would he get lost into this mess right now? Some solid ground and direction ground and direction is needed.

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Yeah I think I'm at the point where I just want the best available scorer.

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Originally Posted by wuggie

Shabazz would be great here but it's still time to see how he performs in the tournament without the kid who got hurt. His scoring potential is just great and we need some pure scoring.

Porter would definitely be a great pick too but will the chemistry work with him? He seems to be almost too much of a role player, a jack of all trades with no exact specialty. Do we really need this on this young team with not much of a offensive or defensive identity?

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In the draft you pick the best player available regardless of short term fit. ESPECIALLY in this one-and-done age. The draft is for long term prospects only. Like buying stock. Short term fits are addressed in free agency.

we would have to trade back or secure another pretty early pick somehow, but I will say this.....if you liked Lillard last year, you should be liking McCollum this year....

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Originally Posted by wuggie

Shabazz would be great here but it's still time to see how he performs in the tournament without the kid who got hurt. His scoring potential is just great and we need some pure scoring.

Porter would definitely be a great pick too but will the chemistry work with him? He seems to be almost too much of a role player, a jack of all trades with no exact specialty. Do we really need this on this young team with not much of a offensive or defensive identity?

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This is a great post, that's the same way I feel about Porter a jack of all trades a master of non. That why I want Shabazz the dude can flat out score.

I'm kind of starting to like Noel a little. He reminds me of Larry Sanders, but better, and I think that would be very scary to pair with Davis.

Sanders (Junior in college) - ORtg of 116, DRtg of 90.8, TS% of .563 TRB% of 19.0, BLK % of 9.1
Noel (Freshman in college) - ORtg of 112.8, DRtg of 81.8, TS% of .583 TRB% of 16.6, BLK% of 13.1

So as you can see, Noel fares favorably to Sanders, and he is 2 years younger at that point.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

In the draft you pick the best player available regardless of short term fit. ESPECIALLY in this one-and-done age. The draft is for long term prospects only. Like buying stock. Short term fits are addressed in free agency.

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Great post. I agree with your analogy 100 percent.

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Originally Posted by nolaslim213

I'm kind of starting to like Noel a little. He reminds me of Larry Sanders, but better, and I think that would be very scary to pair with Davis.

Sanders (Junior in college) - ORtg of 116, DRtg of 90.8, TS% of .563 TRB% of 19.0, BLK % of 9.1
Noel (Freshman in college) - ORtg of 112.8, DRtg of 81.8, TS% of .583 TRB% of 16.6, BLK% of 13.1

So as you can see, Noel fares favorably to Sanders, and he is 2 years younger at that point.

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I don't think Noel is ready "skillset wise" to enter the league now. With that, his recent injury and the abysmal season UK had, he might just stay another year.

Noel will come out because he will be a top 5 pick, probably top 3.

Noel, Davis front line could be great especially with ryno and smith coming off bench.

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Originally Posted by Nsingh93

I don't think Noel is ready "skillset wise" to enter the league now. With that, his recent injury and the abysmal season UK had, he might just stay another year.

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He's not but he's top 5 and as Barnes learned, you have to come out when you're top 5. He will be hard to keep off the floor with his shot blocking even without a skillset on the offensive end. He'll be like a deandre Jordan coming straight into the league.

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Originally Posted by nolaslim213

I'm kind of starting to like Noel a little. He reminds me of Larry Sanders, but better, and I think that would be very scary to pair with Davis.

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I'm not sure how I feel about that pairing. On the one hand that's a lot of skinny for opponents to push around, on the other hand they've come up with a new defensive stat based on Larry Sanders awesome help defense, so maybe if you have Davis and Noel helping each other them being physically bullied won't be that big of a deal.

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Originally Posted by Nsingh93

I don't think Noel is ready "skillset wise" to enter the league now. With that, his recent injury and the abysmal season UK had, he might just stay another year.

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No way he passes up guaranteed millions to play for UK.

Been saying this for awhile, AD and Noel would be an awesome pairing! Davis is a better off ball help defender but i think noel is a better on ball rim defender than davis honestly, they would create the best frontcourt defensive duo in the league, u dont need noel to score a bunch of points, Davis post and mid range game will be awesome in a couple years, do u really need ur center to have 20-10 games when ur PF is as well? thats just not realistic, if we cant get McLemore Noel is the guy I want, then find a way to trade for wilson chandler and sign al jefferson and DJ augustine

Rivers/Augustin
Gordon/whoever
Chandler/Miller
AD/Ryno
Jefferson/Noel

What about a Bennett/Davis front court?

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Originally Posted by AD23forMVP

What about a Bennett/Davis front court?

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way too small, we already have too many power forwards

is derek williams a free agent? he can shoot rebound and finish, i know he is a tweener but i think he is quick enough to defend the perimeter good enough, if not u have anthony davis and possibly noel behind him anyway, i think he would be a nice person to get for our SF spot maybeeeee

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

is derek williams a free agent? he can shoot rebound and finish, i know he is a tweener but i think he is quick enough to defend the perimeter good enough, if not u have anthony davis and possibly noel behind him anyway, i think he would be a nice person to get for our SF spot maybeeeee

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I don't think he can be a full-time SF. Perimeter skills aren't good enough.

With AD and Noel. We'll block all the shots. And still lose cuz we can't consistently score in the clutch.

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

With AD and Noel. We'll block all the shots. And still lose cuz we can't consistently score in the clutch.

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I can't really think of too many Centers who are your "go-to" guys in the clutch. The position is dying in that regard, and it's evolving into an athletic rim protector who can run the PnR and get out on the break. Noel checks all of those boxes, and he also has a great passion for the game (reportedly).

By the way, I think Davis can/will certainly develop into a closer for us, paired with Gordon (and maybe Rivers).

Does Aldridge get the last shots for Portland? I'm not talking about the last shot, just down the stretch.

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Originally Posted by Nsingh93

I don't think Noel is ready "skillset wise" to enter the league now. With that, his recent injury and the abysmal season UK had, he might just stay another year.

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Assuming he comes out...

If we wind up in slot #2 and McLemore is the first pick, then I think the no-brainer is selecting Nerlens. I'll probably wind up posting this a trillion times before draft day, but Noel and McLemore are just so much more athletic than everyone else in this class. The others have question marks to the point where you have to wonder how they'll contribute in the NBA. But with McLemore and Nerlens, you know you're getting someone who won't be in over his head physically. Porter is a skilled swingman, Shabazz can score, but Nerlens is a freak athlete big man and that's just rare. The opportunity to pair Davis & Noel I think far, far outweighs any other option on the board. The NBA has evolved into a league where the big man's game is played above the rim; and if we can pair 2 guys who can run and jump like freaks, then I think we've set ourselves up for a situation where we enter every game with a distinct advantage. Hell, the Saints could even trot them out for hail mary situations.

Look back at last year's draft and look how those rookies are doing. The only 2 you can flat out say are future heavyweights in the NBA are Lillard and Davis. A big freak athlete and an athletic as all hell PG. No one foresaw Robinson's struggles, MKG's struggles, or Beal's struggles. Waiters is playing well, but there's no telling how he'll finish. I'm not saying those guys aren't any good, but just that if you redraft, Davis and Lillard are 1 & 2.

Davis and Lillard have the following in common; they were the 2 rookies who athletically were freakish. They possessed explosion + great feet.

So IMO, when in doubt, go with the blockbuster athletes who show good feet. It won't always work out well; if you look at the 2011 draft, you'd say go with the guys who come in skill-ready (Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson). But I standby my original point: Put Davis & Noel on the floor together and you give yourself at least the strength of entering every game with 2 of the most athletic big men to ever walk the earth.

New Orleans = Swat City