Anthony Davis: Pelicans would have contended for title if DeMarcus Cousins not hurt

ESPN - As New Orleans star Anthony Davis prepares for the second half of the season with the Pelicans holding on to the eighth seed in the Western Conference, he still thinks about what could have been this year had teammate DeMarcus Cousins not ruptured his Achilles.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...marcus-cousins

I don't really agree, but what Davis and Cousins think is far more important to the long-term of this franchise.

It is actually quite a big thing if Davis truly believes this team with Cousins heathy is a contender.

It was only a few months ago people were trying to read the tea leaves about what Davis's compliments toward the Celtics depth and strengths signaled in terms of his true opinion on his current team.

I think Davis is doing everything he is for 2 reasons. Including wearing Cousins Jersey at the ASG.

1: He is actually really good friends with Cousins.

2: He is actively recruiting Cousins to resign here.

God I wish we could see what boogie and 3kola looked like together

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I love this!

Yea I think we can feel good about this core going forward. This is another 'growth' year, and most of next season may be, too, with the focus being on Cousins' returning to form off his injury. But they're a fun group with top talent that gelled a lot, we found out who the keepers are to solidify the core (AD/DMC/Jrue/Darius/Rondo/Moore?/and now Nikola!). We're pretty lucky for the team we follow to be have a clear top core that can get even better.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

I think Davis is doing everything he is for 2 reasons. Including wearing Cousins Jersey at the ASG.

1: He is actually really good friends with Cousins.

2: He is actively recruiting Cousins to resign here.

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I wish there was a 3rd component where it was also to impress other all-stars that they're a duo that will be together for a while. I mean 80% of player surveyed by ESPN says they think Cousins will re-sign here.

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

I wish there was a 3rd component where it was also to impress other all-stars that they're a duo that will be together for a while. I mean 80% of player surveyed by ESPN says they think Cousins will re-sign here.

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Yes maybe that is part of it too but we really don't have a ton of space to bring in another All Star.

Still it sends a good message to other players and maybe the non all star players that typically go to the Rockets or Warriors might take a chance here.

Don't know if we woulda got nicola if boogie hadn't gone down. I agree that next season jrue, 3twan, solo, ad, and boogie is really impressive as a starting 5 with nico and miller off the bench AD May be right. Next season. I'll be psyched if we get the 8th seed this year.

No one expects us to do well this year now so if we can sneak into 6th spot thats an accomplishment. Then you look at adding Boogie back and hopefully Frank Jackson will be a player. Get rid of Ajinca, few role players and who knows.

But it does start with AD playing like an all pro every night. beat who you should beat, split the rest. Really need Hill back this year.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

I think Davis is doing everything he is for 2 reasons. Including wearing Cousins Jersey at the ASG.

1: He is actually really good friends with Cousins.

2: He is actively recruiting Cousins to resign here.

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It became obvious when AD got tossed vs minny. Boogie got between AD and the ref and was laughing the whole time.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Yes maybe that is part of it too but we really don't have a ton of space to bring in another All Star.

Still it sends a good message to other players and maybe the non all star players that typically go to the Rockets or Warriors might take a chance here.

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If there is one positive that has came out of this season so far, it is that a lot of our players that we have have either improved their value, or been moved for players that have much better value(I.E. Asik for Mirotic).

Unlike the post Gordon, Jrue, Evans acquisitions, a healthy career year Jrue, Etwaun, Diallo, and Mirotic are all moveable contracts now without having to give up an arm and leg or taking back someone's toxic assets if you can catch a bigger fish to put next to the Boogie/AD core. I think in our situation that is about the most you can ask other than hitting on a Malcolm Brogdon in the second round. It is the sort of positioning you saw franchises like OKC and Houston in that allowed them to land their next building block piece, or pick up the pieces of a major blow in OKC's case.

No guarantee the Pels ever make that happen, but at least it isn't complete fantasy realm for the franchise anymore.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Yes maybe that is part of it too but we really don't have a ton of space to bring in another All Star.

Still it sends a good message to other players and maybe the non all star players that typically go to the Rockets or Warriors might take a chance here.

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You don't contend for a championship without being in the luxury tax threshold. Hopefully we can get Benson to acknowledge that. Obviously, the cap isn't so simple we can just sign whomever we want, I'm sure. But we gotta be ready to pay that money when the time comes or we'll always dance around where we are.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Yes maybe that is part of it too but we really don't have a ton of space to bring in another All Star.

Still it sends a good message to other players and maybe the non all star players that typically go to the Rockets or Warriors might take a chance here.

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We could take on another guy making a good chunk of change. It would require us trading Moore,Hill, and Ajinca (roughly 25 million between the 3), but it's definitely possible

The fact that Davis believes this is huge

I like the part where he says Rondo was like, “ I got this B”. Would we have gotten Playoff Rondo?

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Originally Posted by Eman5805

You don't contend for a championship without being in the luxury tax threshold. Hopefully we can get Benson to acknowledge that. Obviously, the cap isn't so simple we can just sign whomever we want, I'm sure. But we gotta be ready to pay that money when the time comes or we'll always dance around where we are.

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I wonder what next years cap will be???

Edit:estimated 101 mil

The thing that frustrates me about jrue is guy could be am elite scorer and defender we've seen it this year alone if he had that killer instinct of kobe or Westbrook every night just wow. I just wish we had some way of him actually seeing you can score at will if you really wanted too lol

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Did anyone realise AD was this T H I C C now?

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos...re-id920165880

Looking broad as hell. Dat neck too. Dude looking like a bodybuilder

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Originally Posted by bahmamamba

The thing that frustrates me about jrue is guy could be am elite scorer and defender we've seen it this year alone if he had that killer instinct of kobe or Westbrook every night just wow. I just wish we had some way of him actually seeing you can score at will if you really wanted too lol

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Jrue's defense is much better than Westbrook or Kobe. I think it's extremely hard to be an elite two way player. It's just that people don't give as much credit to the defensive end that Jrue is elite on.

Outside of Jimmy Butler and Paul George I can't think of another truly elite two way player (probably Kwahi if he's healthy and returns to form). I would rank Jrue just below them offensively and defensively but he also happens to be a guard instead of a SF. Jrue is right now probably the best guard defender in the league. His offensive game just need to go up 1 more level and he would truly be elite on both ends.

I however doubt it ever happens, nor do I need it to. Jrue has earned his pay this year. Hopefully he keeps up at this level.

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Originally Posted by soggymoss

We could take on another guy making a good chunk of change. It would require us trading Moore,Hill, and Ajinca (roughly 25 million between the 3), but it's definitely possible

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Possible absolutely. But would still be a hard move and gut a good bit of our depth.

I probably make that move for a SF though since he would fill that hole. Then Jrue and Rondo can still start.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Jrue's defense is much better than Westbrook or Kobe. I think it's extremely hard to be an elite two way player. It's just that people don't give as much credit to the defensive end that Jrue is elite on.

Outside of Jimmy Butler and Paul George I can't think of another truly elite two way player (probably Kwahi if he's healthy and returns to form). I would rank Jrue just below them offensively and defensively but he also happens to be a guard instead of a SF. Jrue is right now probably the best guard defender in the league. His offensive game just need to go up 1 more level and he would truly be elite on both ends.

I however doubt it ever happens, nor do I need it to. Jrue has earned his pay this year. Hopefully he keeps up at this level.

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He has earned it in my opinion but I'm just saying we've see him at points this year where he just scores at will and defends just about anyone and of could get that even half the the nights he plays he'd be the perfect number 3

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Is it Friday yet?

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Originally Posted by soggymoss

We could take on another guy making a good chunk of change. It would require us trading Moore,Hill, and Ajinca (roughly 25 million between the 3), but it's definitely possible

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I like it so hopefully they show some value the rest of the year. You have to figure we’ll be in the luxury tax next year so a player for 18-25 mill would almost setup the starters. Fill the rest with MLE. Hopefully Henzonja and Payton could use the whole thing each getting 4-5 million. If not I’m sure we’ll be able to swing something that good. Still holding out for Kemba. Imagine
Kemba, Elfrid, jackson
Jrue,
Henzonja, Miller
Davis, Mirotic
Cousins

A good backup SG would have us with a great rotation

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Originally Posted by R Pelly

I like the part where he says Rondo was like, “ I got this B”. Would we have gotten Playoff Rondo?

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Are we getting playoff Rondo right now? He seems to have responded to both his "benching" and Boogie going down in a positive manner.

Also, his taking IT completely out of the game might have been his best defensive performance of the year, lol. I hope he comes out of all star break as a guy that can consistently drop something close to a triple double if given the minutes.

I don’t think you can overlook the part of the interview where Davis says he’s been thinking about how it’s possible to wait too long before asking for a trade to a winning franchise. Maybe the Boston stuff wasn’t coming out of nowhere after all...

If Hill and Cousins and Frank Jackson were all healthy I wonder if it would have helped us beat teams like minny and gsw.

I really think we can win the last 4 games of this month. Having Niko is like a Ryan Anderson with higher bbiq and very good defense. Way better than Anderson. Niko has not hit his prime imo and he’s still adjusting to our team.

I think we can really surprise the league if the following happens:
1. We get okafor signed for the rest of the year. He continues to stabilize the team.

2. Rondo steps up and plays more consistently like triple double rondo. If Gentry uses Rondo effectively it can make a huge difference.

3. Diallo emerges as a contributor off the bench. He has the ability to play at a higher level. He’s only improving and could really be big for us if he can give us energy and hustle.

4. Niko plays well and gives us lots of 3s and irritating defense. He is a decent rebounder too. I think he will do well and is a perfect fit.

5. Jrue and AD step up and play at the highest level. We know AD can do this. But can Jrue be more clutch? If he can continue playing well but just start to be slightly more aggressive I think it will change everything. I’m a big Jrue fan and I think his confidence is going up. He’s got the ability to play like a borderline superstar. Seriously. They need to work on clutch situations in practice so he can deliver and close out games. If this improves I think we will get in the playoffs at the 5th or 6th seed and win the first round. Getting Hill back and improving our defense will be a huge game changer as well. Our defense has to get better. It can and it will.


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Originally Posted by new city champ

I don’t think you can overlook the part of the interview where Davis says he’s been thinking about how it’s possible to wait too long before asking for a trade to a winning franchise. Maybe the Boston stuff wasn’t coming out of nowhere after all...

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True, but that was evoked by a leading question on the part of Rachel Nichols, who basically brought up KG’s quote to clearly fish for a headline.

I like her show and her interviews, but that was a straight up baiting question and frankly AD answered it in about the best way he possibly could.

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Originally Posted by N.O.Bronco

True, but that was evoked by a leading question on the part of Rachel Nichols, who basically brought up KG’s quote to clearly fish for a headline.

I like her show and her interviews, but that was a straight up baiting question and frankly AD answered it in about the best way he possibly could.

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Yeah, how exactly are supposed to answer that comment? Lol anything you really say would be headline

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Originally Posted by tdcreator

I like it so hopefully they show some value the rest of the year. You have to figure we’ll be in the luxury tax next year so a player for 18-25 mill would almost setup the starters. Fill the rest with MLE. Hopefully Henzonja and Payton could use the whole thing each getting 4-5 million. If not I’m sure we’ll be able to swing something that good. Still holding out for Kemba. Imagine
Kemba, Elfrid, jackson
Jrue,
Henzonja, Miller
Davis, Mirotic
Cousins

A good backup SG would have us with a great rotation

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I was thinking something like this (with a first rounder or 2 thrown in, whatever it takes)
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=y7cmez59

We could have a team of
Walker
Holiday
Kidd-G
Davis
Cousins

And for our second unit have
Rondo
Jackson
Miller
Niko
Diallo

That would be a very good team, and very hard to beat

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Originally Posted by soggymoss

I was thinking something like this (with a first rounder or 2 thrown in, whatever it takes)
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=y7cmez59

We could have a team of
Walker
Holiday
Kidd-G
Davis
Cousins

And for our second unit have
Rondo
Jackson
Miller
Niko
Diallo

That would be a very good team, and very hard to beat

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Im with you on that pipe dream

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Originally Posted by wnelson

Don't know if we woulda got nicola if boogie hadn't gone down.

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Why wouldn't we? The key was dumping Asik and this was the best deal they could get and still accomplish that.

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Originally Posted by soggymoss

I was thinking something like this (with a first rounder or 2 thrown in, whatever it takes)
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=y7cmez59

We could have a team of
Walker
Holiday
Kidd-G
Davis
Cousins

And for our second unit have
Rondo
Jackson
Miller
Niko
Diallo

That would be a very good team, and very hard to beat

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Now put yourselves in the shoes of a CHA Hornets fan. Would you be happy with that trade? Why would Hornets do that amongst other offers they would get? MKG and Hill are at about the same salary for the same number of years, MKG is younger and the more promising player. Hill is coming off an injury that forced him to miss most (if not all) of the season. Moore has an extra year of 8.5 mil than Walker's expiring 12 mil. Moore is the kind of role-player that helps a playoff team, not the rebuilding one that CHA will be. Ajinca will be on an expiring contract, but also offers not much in way of playing value or future potential.

Also, one the main rumored interests they were needing to trade Walker is to help unload long, undesirable contracts to shed salary. This trade would have them adding future salary.

So it would all have to come down to those first round picks. The 2019 pick wouldn't be that valuable since Pels would seem a clear lock for playoffs and even a high seed after adding Kemba to the core. Then they could trade the 2021 1st, which could be valuable with Anthony Davis being a free agent that season. But with CHA helping Pels add a core piece like Kemba to go along with Boogie and Jrue, they would be reducing the chance he signs elsewhere. And is Michael Jordan going to wait that long to get real value in the form of a draft pic, in return for his star player?

For the slim chance they were able to do this trade, since Walker is on an expiring deal next season, Benson would have to give the green light to pay the lux tax to be able to sign Walker beyond next season, and even then they might have to trade away Niko to clear some lux tax salary space since they'd have 4 players making about $25mil each.

It could happen. But not likely

The only thing that bothered me, was the last part of the article. How he wonders if NOLA offers him the best chance and that sometimes it's hard to block the noise. Scares the life out of me when I see that he says stuff like that.

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Originally Posted by Rheem654

Now put yourselves in the shoes of a CHA Hornets fan. Would you be happy with that trade? Why would Hornets do that amongst other offers they would get? MKG and Hill are at about the same salary for the same number of years, MKG is younger and the more promising player. Hill is coming off an injury that forced him to miss most (if not all) of the season. Moore has an extra year of 8.5 mil than Walker's expiring 12 mil. Moore is the kind of role-player that helps a playoff team, not the rebuilding one that CHA will be. Ajinca will be on an expiring contract, but also offers not much in way of playing value or future potential.

Also, one the main rumored interests they were needing to trade Walker is to help unload long, undesirable contracts to shed salary. This trade would have them adding future salary.

So it would all have to come down to those first round picks. The 2019 pick wouldn't be that valuable since Pels would seem a clear lock for playoffs and even a high seed after adding Kemba to the core. Then they could trade the 2021 1st, which could be valuable with Anthony Davis being a free agent that season. But with CHA helping Pels add a core piece like Kemba to go along with Boogie and Jrue, they would be reducing the chance he signs elsewhere. And is Michael Jordan going to wait that long to get real value in the form of a draft pic, in return for his star player?

For the slim chance they were able to do this trade, since Walker is on an expiring deal next season, Benson would have to give the green light to pay the lux tax to be able to sign Walker beyond next season, and even then they might have to trade away Niko to clear some lux tax salary space since they'd have 4 players making about $25mil each.

It could happen. But not likely

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If Charlotte has no intentions of re-signing Kemba, then it'll probably be the best offer they could find. Hill and Moore could be flipped for another pick later in the year, (Moore and Hill could be valuable pieces for teams around the trade deadline), and Ajinca wouldn't be anything but a stretch candidate. If they are serious about wanting to win a championship, something like this would have to happen, and Benson would have to be willing to pay the LT.. They would make the money back when they start winning, and from all the revenue of the playoff and finals games

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Originally Posted by soggymoss

If Charlotte has no intentions of re-signing Kemba, then it'll probably be the best offer they could find. Hill and Moore could be flipped for another pick later in the year, (Moore and Hill could be valuable pieces for teams around the trade deadline), and Ajinca wouldn't be anything but a stretch candidate. If they are serious about wanting to win a championship, something like this would have to happen, and Benson would have to be willing to pay the LT.. They would make the money back when they start winning, and from all the revenue of the playoff and finals games

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I hear you, I was just trying to analyze the potential trade further from the other team’s point of view. I think they could get a better offer than that from another team, or if not, think they’d take their chances on re-signing him an re-shuffling the roster around him.

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

Why wouldn't we? The key was dumping Asik and this was the best deal they could get and still accomplish that.

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Yes Scott Kushner said the deal had been in discussion since well before the Cousins injury.

We have always needed 1 more big to be able to play next to either Cousins or AD. Mirotic for Asik +1st has made a lot of sense for awhile. Plus we dumped 2 contracts and got a 2nd back. Such a good deal for us.

The GS games,,we played hard and played good against them but klay was the ex-factor in those games...he got hot in certain times of those games and we had no answer for him...

the houston games,,we played good and everyone showed up and came to play...3pt shots was falling,,,defense was good at times....cp3 was the ex-factor in those games but harden didnt go crazy so in a 7 games series,,,i think we take them.....the one thing that made me mad was when harden switch to guard AD in the paint and AD didnt punish him in that one game but i guess it did take something out of harden because cp3 had to take over and kept that game close but we pulled it out after boogie went down......

The spurs i think we take in a 7 game series...

the t-wolves just seem to have our number....

if we could have avoided GS and the t-wolves then we could have made it to the conference game.....

im glad that AD talked about the KG comment and i hope that nba talking heads bring it up alot....maybe our GM can get benson to agree to going into luxury tax out of fear of AD leaving....i think we need one more big time player to have a chance to make it to the title game

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Originally Posted by 6warddude

The GS games,,we played hard and played good against them but klay was the ex-factor in those games...he got hot in certain times of those games and we had no answer for him...

the houston games,,we played good and everyone showed up and came to play...3pt shots was falling,,,defense was good at times....cp3 was the ex-factor in those games but harden didnt go crazy so in a 7 games series,,,i think we take them.....the one thing that made me mad was when harden switch to guard AD in the paint and AD didnt punish him in that one game but i guess it did take something out of harden because cp3 had to take over and kept that game close but we pulled it out after boogie went down......

The spurs i think we take in a 7 game series...

the t-wolves just seem to have our number....

if we could have avoided GS and the t-wolves then we could have made it to the conference game.....

im glad that AD talked about the KG comment and i hope that nba talking heads bring it up alot....maybe our GM can get benson to agree to going into luxury tax out of fear of AD leaving....i think we need one more big time player to have a chance to make it to the title game

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If we keep playing like we did the last 3 games before the break, I think we will pass SA and end up with the 3rd or 4th seed.. Unfortunately, I think if that happens it saves Gentrys job for another year, even though the real reason we got that seed was due to SA injuries

I started thinking about the offseason today and realized we aren't in a bad situation going into next year. We won't be world-beaters but we are on the right path in a lot of ways. Assuming Boogie re-signs, the only hole would be PG. We could bring Rondo back or use the MLE which is 5-8 million (depending on if we're paying the tax or not) on another average point guard.

FA or Rondo/Jackson
Jrue/Moore/Liggins
Hill/Miller
AD/Mirotic
Boogie/Diallo/Ajinca

Also, Dell does Dell and snags a backup big while we bring Boogie back slowly. He could even find a backup PG if the coaching staff doesn't think Jackson should play meaningful minutes. The team would all have training camp together minus Boogie but he appears to want to be pretty active with the team. That team is a around the 6 seed and we never know what trades and signing will open to effect the West during free agency.

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Originally Posted by neitzelbaby12

I started thinking about the offseason today and realized we aren't in a bad situation going into next year. We won't be world-beaters but we are on the right path in a lot of ways. Assuming Boogie re-signs, the only hole would be PG. We could bring Rondo back or use the MLE which is 5-8 million (depending on if we're paying the tax or not) on another average point guard.

FA or Rondo/Jackson
Jrue/Moore/Liggins
Hill/Miller
AD/Mirotic
Boogie/Diallo/Ajinca

Also, Dell does Dell and snags a backup big while we bring Boogie back slowly. He could even find a backup PG if the coaching staff doesn't think Jackson should play meaningful minutes. The team would all have training camp together minus Boogie but he appears to want to be pretty active with the team. That team is a around the 6 seed and we never know what trades and signing will open to effect the West during free agency.

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We have a backup big, his name is Emeka Oakafor

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Originally Posted by neitzelbaby12

I started thinking about the offseason today and realized we aren't in a bad situation going into next year. We won't be world-beaters but we are on the right path in a lot of ways. Assuming Boogie re-signs, the only hole would be PG. We could bring Rondo back or use the MLE which is 5-8 million (depending on if we're paying the tax or not) on another average point guard.

FA or Rondo/Jackson
Jrue/Moore/Liggins
Hill/Miller
AD/Mirotic
Boogie/Diallo/Ajinca

Also, Dell does Dell and snags a backup big while we bring Boogie back slowly. He could even find a backup PG if the coaching staff doesn't think Jackson should play meaningful minutes. The team would all have training camp together minus Boogie but he appears to want to be pretty active with the team. That team is a around the 6 seed and we never know what trades and signing will open to effect the West during free agency.

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More like:


Dump Ajinca using to 2 second rounders to create space
Pay part of the MLE for Rondo and a backup PG
Sign Boogie to his 2+1 max
Sign Okafor after his 2nd 10 day for a non-guaranteed contract.

Rondo/vet PG/Jackson
Holiday/Moore/Liggins
Hill/Miller/vet min
Davis/Mirotic/Diallo*
Cousins/Okafor/Diallo*

*Diallo gets minutes at both spots, which allows them to keep a roster spot open

It may be smart to wait with Ajinca trade till the 2019 trade deadline. He will be expiring and You wont need 2 picks to move him.
Pels will be a tax /hard cap team almost from the start of the season. Based on conditions and Benson they may go both ways.

As to MLE. Dont count on it a ton.
Unless Dell will move other pieces.