Originally Posted by
Pelicanidae
Jrue's kind of like the heart of this team, to be honest. He's been through a lot in his personal life since coming to New Orleans, and the franchise has been through a lot as well, and there's been a lot of mutual support here. Last season, when we made that playoff run and swept Portland, he was the motor behind a lot of that. This season, when AD demanded the trade, Jrue is the guy who basically became the face of the franchise, and along with Gentry, it was Jrue who faced the music and the media for a lot of it while AD skulked around in the back.
And Jrue's on court impact is absurd. One of the numbers I've loved using to show just how much he has meant to this team is his on-off statistic. When Jrue is on the court, the Pelicans are a net +14.5 better than when he's off the court. For comparison, that's about the same as Lillard, and is higher than Lebron, Harden, Giannis, and Kawhi all were last season (they all sit between +5 and +10). When he's on the court, the Pelicans are good. When he sits, we suck. It's that simple.
Combine those two things, the personal love and the incredibly high standard of play, and Jrue is a guy who I (and I think a lot of other Pels fans) want to be on our team until he retires, and to possibly end up with a jersey in the rafters.