2024 Offseason Thread

The season is over for the New Orleans Pelicans, and we have a lot to discuss. Here's a place to discuss.

There's a lot of talk about a lot of things we should or could do. Priorities here, priorities there.

To kick off our off-season discussion, here's a question:

If you were David Griffin, what are the first three moves you want to make this offseason? Of course actually making those moves requires other teams to play ball, but what are you going for?

Could be trades, could be extensions, could be infrastructural changes (training staff, coaching staff, etc).

Talk to the coach, find the team he wants to build and get the guys. We have committed to Willie for better or worse. If everyone is not on the same page again we will have another letdown like this year. I think we are kinda screwed personally because I don’t think Willie is ready.

Jonas leaving is the immediate thing that needs to be addressed. We don't have a starting center on the roster any more.

And then there is the thing on everyone's minds, do we move on from BI. His playoff debacle has left a bad taste for sure. We can't resign him for a Max deal but we also shouldn't trade him for a bad return either. So it's a very delicate situation.

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Originally Posted by hornetsrebirth

Jonas leaving is the immediate thing that needs to be addressed. We don't have a starting center on the roster any more.

And then there is the thing on everyone's minds, do we move on from BI. His playoff debacle has left a bad taste for sure. We can't resign him for a Max deal but we also shouldn't trade him for a bad return either. So it's a very delicate situation.

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I think there's possibilities out there to deal with both issues in one move, which is nice. Depends on other teams of course, can't trade people without a trade partner, but it may be doable.

Griff "in the past we have erred on the side of continuity, we need to see this group healthy. I think we've seen it enough"

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) April 30, 2024

YES GRIFF

YES

NOW IS THE TIME

Very mixed interview so far from Griff.

He says that it's ''time to get better'' so it won't be a ''summer of complacency'' and also says that ''we've seen it enough'' when erring on the side of continuity.

But he also praises the coaching staff for doing a good job in a ''difficult situation'', says Willie Green is ''authentically himself'', and brushes off questions about CJ+Zion+BI producing losing minutes by saying it's the fault of the supporting cast (he phrased it more nicely, but that's what ''the pieces you put around them'' means).

He also says that ''you certainly don't come into this with the idea that we're going to build around one of them'', which of course, contradicts with the idea that we've seen enough to make a judgment and that we can't be complacent. That sounds a lot like standing pat with both of them. That said, he did saw ''when two of them were on the court together, certainly we won those minutes'' but that when all three were on court we ''tended to lose'' and he didn't say which two he was talking about, so maybe that's him politely hinting at moving one of the three. Presumably that would be BI.

Super mixed signals. Get the feeling that he hasn't really worked out what he wants to do yet, which I don't actually believe, so the result is that I think he's just not prepared well for this interview.

Edit: On the plus side, as I sit with those statements, if he's being even remotely honest it does sound like he knows what we know. Which is a good sign.

I think Griff is going to realize that if he doesn't shake things up he will start to lose the fan base.

I will give Griff some credit in that this is probably the first end of season interview he's given where it's felt like he's actually looking at problems instead of just giving platitudes.

Mentioned that we had moments of excellence this year but it was in ''fits and starts''. Said that we've seen the group healthy enough now, ''enough to know that we've got a lot of work to do'' because there are teams that ''are going to get radically better this off season and we need to do the same'' and repeated a need for urgency.

I agree completely with that.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VHCoB1mpdCY

Y’ all sure this was not last year’ s presser? He is pretty much saying the same thing. Sounds like he wants to keep Ingram too. Jesus

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Y’ all sure this was not last year’ s presser? He is pretty much saying the same thing. Sounds like he wants to keep Ingram too. Jesus

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Last season he said everything was pretty good and injuries were the main problem so we had to just stay the course because the sample size of the main guys wasnt sufficient.

This year he says we've seen enough of a sample size, admits that playing all three at once led to losing minutes, and says we need to improve urgently.

If you think those two pressers are identical then you have some bias so strong no truth could penetrate it.

Griff peddles platitudes and has done for years. This is the first time in a while where hes seemed even semi legitimate.

As long as we keep on making it to Play -In . Gayle and her board sees nothing wrong. Season a success. They don’t want it go to long because she is old and does not want to miss the debutante parties in May and June.

That is what our Front Office is thinking

Man... he said when 2 of the 3 are on the court together it was good, and with all 3 on the court together it was not good. That makes it sound like either CJ or BI will be gone.

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Originally Posted by hornetsrebirth

Man... he said when 2 of the 3 are on the court together it was good, and with all 3 on the court together it was not good. That makes it sound like either CJ or BI will be gone.

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And between the two, only keeping one of them is a long term hamstring to the franchise. CJ's earning a lot, but it's not top-of-the-league money and it's only a short contract. BI's extension is the albatross.

It does sound like he knows. Can't be sure, Griff's a used car salesman at the best of times, but it does look like it.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

And between the two, only keeping one of them is a long term hamstring to the franchise. CJ's earning a lot, but it's not top-of-the-league money and it's only a short contract. BI's extension is the albatross.

It does sound like he knows. Can't be sure, Griff's a used car salesman at the best of times, but it does look like it.

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Didn’t JJ Redick once call Griff a snake oil salesman?

Was it also Griff that got an extension or just the coaching staff?

I would think Griff feeling some security might make him willing to move big pieces and take the risks associated with that as opposed to standing pat and trying to maintain.

I could be totally wrong. I'm not going to execute the guy yet. He's gotten the team in a much better position than it has been in many years. Can he get it to the next level though?

Interesting contrast of messages.

When asked if we need a pure point guard, Griff said not necessarily and that skill and intelligence across the team can make up for lacking a traditional point guard. His example was SGA, who is not a traditional pass first point but OKC never has issues getting into their offense or being creative.

When asked the same question, BI said that yes, he thinks getting a traditional PG would help him a lot. Cites that in his all-star season he benefited a lot from being fed by Lonzo and Jrue.

Crossed wires messaging there. Sounds like BI's opinion is at odds with the opinions of the power-brokers on the team. FO thinks wide-spread basketball IQ and versatile playmaking in the vein of OKC is the way to go, BI wants a classic PG to feed him shots.

It's worth noting that Zion is top 10 in the league in 3pt shots created this season, and that BI had plenty of 3pt c&s opportunities and just turned them down so he could dribble into a 2.

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Originally Posted by P_B_&_G

Was it also Griff that got an extension or just the coaching staff?

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I believe it was Griff as well, yes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Didn?t JJ Redick once call Griff a snake oil salesman?

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That was bogus... Reddick's performance tanked and we had to move him, but he couldn't get traded to the teams he wanted because they didn't want him on account of him being overpaid and not playing well. Griff traded him to the highest bidder because that's what was in the Pelicans best interest. And Reddick threw a fit because he didn't go where he wanted. Griff did what he was supposed to do.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Last season he said everything was pretty good and injuries were the main problem so we had to just stay the course because the sample size of the main guys wasnt sufficient.

This year he says we've seen enough of a sample size, admits that playing all three at once led to losing minutes, and says we need to improve urgently.

If you think those two pressers are identical then you have some bias so strong no truth could penetrate it.

Griff peddles platitudes and has done for years. This is the first time in a while where hes seemed even semi legitimate.

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Last Year: “If I’m a fan and David Griffin comes back up here next year and says ‘yea , we just gotta get better’ I’m gunna be pissed off… We are not good enough right now and we know it.”

Today: “This is not gonna be a summer of complacency. It's time to get better." pic.twitter.com/bs8FGrPGpb

— Pro Pels Talk (@ProPelsTalk) April 30, 2024

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Last Year: “If I’m a fan and David Griffin comes back up here next year and says ‘yea , we just gotta get better’ I’m gunna be pissed off… We are not good enough right now and we know it.”

Today: “This is not gonna be a summer of complacency. It's time to get better." pic.twitter.com/bs8FGrPGpb

— Pro Pels Talk (@ProPelsTalk) April 30, 2024

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Watch the actual presser, not an out of context twitter clip.

Of course Griff isn't going to come out and say ''YEAH WE SUCK, WE TRADIN ALL THESE GUYS'' because that would look awful for him, make him massively unpopular among the players, and probably annoy the fanbase too because not all of them are as invested as people online.

But last season he was all about staying the course, hoping to get healthier and seeing how things go. This season he openly said that we have enough of a sample size to make moves, must do so urgently, and openly admitted that we lost the minutes when all three of the 'big three' were on the court.

If you think he said that, or anything even close to it, last year, you're misremembering.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Watch the actual presser, not an out of context twitter clip.

Of course Griff isn't going to come out and say ''YEAH WE SUCK, WE TRADIN ALL THESE GUYS'' because that would look awful for him, make him massively unpopular among the players, and probably annoy the fanbase too because not all of them are as invested as people online.

But last season he was all about staying the course, hoping to get healthier and seeing how things go. This season he openly said that we have enough of a sample size to make moves, must do so urgently, and openly admitted that we lost the minutes when all three of the 'big three' were on the court.

If you think he said that, or anything even close to it, last year, you're misremembering.

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Sure sounds like he has been shown the light that we do not have a "Big 3" currently.

Top 3 things to do if I were GM:

Get rid of Willie (Not gonna happen because they just signed him to an extension).

Get rid of B.I. (Overpaid for a midrange merchant who provides no spacing for our best player.)

Get a stretch big (Use some of those stockpiled picks to trade for somebody).

Below are some transcribed answer to DG questions. Close to verbatim, might be a few errors but it'll be close enough. Not transcribing all 18 minutes but just important questions.

Thoughts on the season overall:
''Yeah, so, obviously, disappointed to be doing this today. I think the 49 wins that you alluded to are part of several things that happened this year that would have lead you to believe we would be playing deep into the summer at times. There were times where, very large chunks of the season for months at a time, we had the 2nd best net rating in the league and were it not for Boston we would have looked like the best team for stretched, and I also think we had stretches where you could see a lot of room for growth and improvement we needed to make. Unfortunately we continued to have injury issues and certainly had a big one at the wrong time but there's so many positives we take out of the season. It's really unfortunate that the season ended the way it did, you'd like a season to crescendo into a moment that lets everybody know how good your season really was. We had the number one road record in the NBA, we were 6th in defensive rating and net rating. We had moments where we showed what we could be but I think we showed it in fits and starts, which is disappointing. We're in a historically good Western Conference - I read something the other day, it's the first time a conference has had 10 times above .500 at the same time. Our record would have been good for 3rd in the West last year, would have been good for 3rd in the East this year.

It's a very competitive conference and so I think whereas in the past we've always erred on the side of continuity and our takeaway has always been 'let's see this group healthy', I think we've seen it enough. We've had opportunity to see Zion play a career high in games. We saw it for segments of time well enough to understand that we have a lot of work to do and again because it's a historically good Western conference there're teams that didn't even make the playoffs that are going to get radically better this off-season and we need to do the same. I think you'll see a real sense of urgency from all of us to do that.''

Thoughts on Willie Green
''I think the coaching staff did a really good job with a really difficult situation. When you've got guys in and out of the lineup like we did that's harder than just having guys not play. The first part of the season we really performed well under adversity and that propelled us to some wins that probably got us further ahead towards the end. We went through a stretch where we lost Jose and BI at the wrong time and then we lost Z at the wrong time and throughout that Willie stayed very authentically himself and stayed in a place where guys knew what he was going to bring to the table everyday. But at the same time I think that Willie would be the first to tell you there's room for them to grow and get better as well and I expect that will happen as well.''

Sample size of CJ+Zion+BI, and how we lost those minutes
''Well the making more than 30 million means they're good players. If you look at the games that are still in the playoffs, they all have multiple players that make money that are really good and can carry the team forward. So you certainly don't come at it saying we're going to build around one of them. Certainly when two of the three were on the court, we won those minutes and when all three of them were on the court we tended not to. That's a lot to do with what we support that group with and giving them the ancillary pieces. I think knowing now, because we've seen the group and we know what those things are, we'll be able to address some of that and get better that way, but certainly we have to be open to a lot of different things.''

Do you think you need one or two more difference makers to win the West?
''I'd take 7 or 8 more difference makers. No, I mean, I don't know that it's difference makers as much as it is pieces that make the difference makers we have fit better. We've got the kind of players that everyone wants on good teams. I think one thing you did see is that our secondary players are, our ancillary pieces are very good and well thought of. There's going to be a lot of room for growth for them. There was a period of time where Jordan Hawkins was 2nd in ROTY balloting and people thought we had stolen something, and we're really excited about him moving forward. He's going to be a difference maker eventually. I think we have a lot of pieces like that. A couple of years ago we would have said the same thing about Trey and Herb, so I think we have a lot of pieces like that, and we have a lot of draft assets that we can leverage to get better and I think to your point, yes, you need more difference makers but what you need is more people who understand exactly what's being asked of them on a regular basis as well. We've got to do a better job of making that clear.''

On BI, extension talks, and his season:
''I saw his comments [about it being his worst season as a Pelicans] and I really appreciate Brandon because he takes personal responsibility and he cares so much. I also love the fact that he loves this franchise, he loves this city, and he wants to be here, and we're grateful we've built something that people want to be part of. I think Mrs Benson and her team should be proud of what they've built, that we have guys that want to be a part of this. At the same time, I think his willingness to take ownership of things makes you feel better about the human he is, that's the one thing I'm proud of. I think we've gotten the people part of things right to an enormous degree on this roster and I expect that that will carry us through the season.''

Do you see a world where BI might take less than the max?
''We've never talked about it and I haven't talked to him at all. I just, I had a great deal of appreciation for what he tried to do in light of the situation and playing through what he played through and coming back in the way he did. He was really thrown into a difficult situation. To be injured for a month and then to come back and play in the crucible of playoff basketball, that's not easy for anyone. You'd like to think it's plug and play but one of the things that BI and Z have had to do is carry the team when the other guy is out. It hasn't happened often that both were out. I think it was a really difficult end of the season for Brandon but I think it was difficult for everyone, I think CJ encapsulated that well last night in his 20 minutes.''

You keep talking about people being the right people, and I think we do see that positivity, but with regards to overall philosophy how do you balance that with the analytics, stats, wins and losses, that might say something else?
''Yeah, well, numbers don't say anything to be clear. Numbers prove a point or disprove a point but they don't give you any answers. The better you are with numbers, the better questions you ask. I'm not convinced we've asked the right questions yet, and we're going to continue to do that, but in terms of balancing what people think it looks like with what it should be, you're never going to pivot all the way from one side to the other. Even if we made changes, we would make changes with similarly high character human beings that are about the right things because that formula for us is solid. One of the things when you ask about the 49 wins, our foundation is really good and we're competing in a historically good Western Conference. You come out of a series where a really good team waylays you and makes you think you won 9 games and not 49 games, the reality is you won 49 games and did a lot of good things. To a fault, we've probably erred on the side of continuity because we hadn't seen it, and I don't think we have to do that, but I also don't think there's any subset of numbers that is the answer.''

Thoughts about trying to add another star-ish player
''Well, again, we just talked about and Christian just asked about the three guys playing together, those are 3 damned good basketball players, so you can go and get three random stars and put them together and that's not necessarily going to work. There's a second apron tax team that got swept out of the playoffs too. There's a second apron tax team that didn't make the playoffs. They got a lot of star power so it's not that. It's, you have to get the right fit and the right pieces at the right time and to some degree you have to get lucky. I think the thing OKC has done incredibly well is that those kids got to develop in an environment where winning didn't matter for a couple years and our team was consistently trying to win, so the development curve looks different. But if you look at what we've done, we went 36 wins, 42 wins, 49 wins, that's consistent year on year growth and that's exciting. The problem is that we can't look at that and say we're home, because the West is getting so much better so fast. I appreciate the question but at the same time I don't think it's more about the star quality, it's more about fit and the right pieces.

General thoughts on 3pt shooting, given the correlation between taking more and winning
''I mean, the right number of 3s to take is the number you have to take to make more than your opponent. There were games we got outscored by 30 from the 3pt line at times. That's not a formula for success. At the same time, we were 6th in defensive rating so we were taking away a lot of efficient shots, in theory. I think offensively it's, yes you wanna take more threes but you want an offense that efficiently creates those looks, and I think we saw that even in the OKC series. We had a lot of open threes, and guys who have made them all year missed a lot of threes, and then they had guys who missed threes all year make a lot. You want actions that yield good looks and I think we had that, and you need to have a better job of getting people to lean into that shot and understand that it's good for them. Again, the coaching staff worked tirelessly at it and I think they increased the number and quality of looks from 3, and we just have to get more of the pieces on the floor to make them.

Point guard?
''Yeah I think having a pure point guard is great, but just having more basketball IQ on the court in general, it's less the specific of a pure point guard and more about overall basketball intelligence and approach to th game. SGA is a score-first point guard and I don't know I'd call him a pure point, but they're getting the most efficient look on a regular basis with the way they're running their stuff. So it can be one individual but it can also be system and we've done both but yes, I would like more basketball IQ for sure.''

Is Zion on the verge of elite?
''I think he's been fully elite and run through the door of that at times. I think he's on the verge of being sustainably available as elite, and that's what's exciting.''

When get got Zion we were told it's Jrue Holiday's team, and then you spoke about BI being all-NBA potential. Is it time to lean into Zion being that guy and to say that the pieces around him at the most important thing?
''I don't think you lean into one person ever, doing that. I just don't think any team playing that intends to keep playing is going to say they're built around one person. Denver can say they're built around Jokic but Jamal Murray's making gamewinning shots. So I think if you look at it, it takes multiple star quality players to win and we've got to find the right fit of that.''

Some good answers, some very not good answers. I get the feeling that's he's being as honest as he can be without committing to anything, which is maybe sensible on paper but annoying as hell to read, specially when it comes to trying to dodge points about BI and the numbers.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I believe it was Griff as well, yes.

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In that case he may be more comfortable taking more risks to get to the next level.

What if BI just really wants to stay and is willing to take less than a max deal? What do you think that would look like in order to be team friendly and allow flexibility in adding a center with a better fit?

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

Sure sounds like he has been shown the light that we do not have a "Big 3" currently.

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He did say all three are very good basketball players, but he also conceded that fit is sometimes more important than stars and said that we need more basketball IQ lmao

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Originally Posted by P_B_&_G

In that case he may be more comfortable taking more risks to get to the next level.

What if BI just really wants to stay and is willing to take less than a max deal? What do you think that would look like in order to be team friendly and allow flexibility in adding a center with a better fit?

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I'd take BI on like, 3yrs $90m probably. Still making $30 but doesn't put us over the second apron because it's about what he's already making, and it's both long enough to provide value if we move him but short enough that he can still sign a big contract after IF he takes those leaps.

Wouldn't be my favourite move ever, but if he did that I'd get it and wouldn't think it was the end of the world.

The problem is, all it takes is one team somewhere offering him the real max, and I think he's going to get that.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I'd take BI on like, 3yrs $90m probably. Still making $30 but doesn't put us over the second apron because it's about what he's already making, and it's both long enough to provide value if we move him but short enough that he can still sign a big contract after IF he takes those leaps.

Wouldn't be my favourite move ever, but if he did that I'd get it and wouldn't think it was the end of the world.

The problem is, all it takes is one team somewhere offering him the real max, and I think he's going to get that.

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Agreed, I think someone would throw a bucket of money at him and he would split. But you never know!

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Originally Posted by P_B_&_G

Agreed, I think someone would throw a bucket of money at him and he would split. But you never know!

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And the problem is, that to find out whether that's true or not you'd have to wait until NEXT offseason. And then if someone does offer it, you can't move him. You either match it or lose him for nothing.

That's why you have to do it now. Can't risk losing him for nothing at all next year, can't bid against yourself and given him that painful contract now.

Do you believe Griff? He said this last year that he was going to be aggressive? Not much changed. I hope he will be aggressive. Change the coaching staff at least if won’t get rid of Willie.

Golly if he goes after Klay Thompson

That interview certainly suggests that Griff realizes that changes need to be made, and that the fit of our 3 "star" players is not ideal. Gives me more hope for the off season for sure.

Perhaps the Front Office finally told him to get a move on something better .

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Do you believe Griff? He said this last year that he was going to be aggressive? Not much changed. I hope he will be aggressive. Change the coaching staff at least if won’t get rid of Willie.

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Well, it's well documented that he went hard for Lowry. So he tried to be aggressive. I would bet he tries again this year. If it ends up being good moves or not will have to just play out.

Rewatching some of the other exit interviews now.

Zion talking about how frustrated he was with the injury because he'd spent more time this year working on his post-game recovery and treatment and it had been working, and he says he really thought we had that game if he had stayed in. Says he improved so much on defense through the year because he was watching ''Jose, Dyson, Naji, and of course 5'' and realised ''I had to get my **** together'' because ''I can't be the weak link''. Mentions the play in the Lakers game where he blocked Lebron - asked if he could have done that a year ago, he said ''athletically, yes, but that's was more IQ; on that play he had Jose guarding him or somebody, and looking at where his eyes were, if he was going to pass, that was more IQ. I've grown defensively with my IQ.''

Says he liked what he saw when he started taking more of his jumpers so it's something he's going to keep leaning on going forward.

His message to the fans is ''to the city, we appreciate the love and support and me and the guys are going to do what we need to do to bring the city what they deserve.''

JV's interview:

Can you talk about your future, would you like to be back?
''It's early and now I've got to wind down and spend some time with my family and see my kids. That's all the focus. Then we'll make a decision.''

Ups and downs with playing time
''I said it before, I'm a team player. Whatever it takes, the big picture is winning. We didn't do that this year, enough, but you know the big picture is winning. You have to fit your role, the minutes; as I said to the coaching staff, I'm here to do everything to win the games. Stats aren't important when you look at the record.''

Since you got here, we have won more and more. Do you think you were part of that culture, whether you return or not?
''I hope I helped. You tell me. Do I help? You know, I did everything that I can to increase winning, to be a winner, to be successful. Now, you know, what people see. . .''

On Zion's growth
''He was a professional. He really took the time to be better on and off the court, took care of his body. He was healthy the majority of the season, that was the big question whether he would stay healthy and he did. The season is long, playing heavy minutes, you're going to have bumps and bruises and the majority of the time he was healthy. And his basketball is tremendous. His biggest question is staying on the court and he did it.''

On not missing any games this year
''I'm really happy about that. As tired as I am, I'm very happy. Prioritise being available every day, every game, and being tough. Playing through some small injuries, pains, and you know, I should get a painkillers deal. [...] The game's, you know, yo uget bruises and bumps and sore spots but you treat them, get ready for the game, and go play. There was no other mindset for me - just going out there and leaving everything.''

Jordan Hawkins

First year as a pro reflections
''I mean, it was a blessing to hear my name called last June, that was one of the greatest days of my life. To put on a jersey and play on an NBA floor I'm thankful for the opportunity first and foremost because I know not a lot of people get to be here, especially where I'm from, so it was a blessing to be around this group of guys with this coaching staff in my first year.''

How are you going to approach the summer?
''This is a very important summer for me. I know I need to take that step, make that leap that I know I'm capable of doing so it's very important. [...] Working on my body, becoming a better shooter, a better shooter off the dribble, finding different ways to create my shot.''

What about defense?
''It's very important, I think I learned this year just how important the defensive end is, so that's probably going to be top of the list for sure.''

Learning from Vets
''I had a great chance to see CJ and Larry and JV, how they carry themselves, and even Trey too, he carries himself like a vet too, the way he gets his work done. So I was watching those guys, I'm very observant, what their routines were.''

Matt Ryan

Emotions on getting that deal formalised
''It was about time. That's how I felt. It was a great feeling, right before the season ended to get that deal situation and get some financial security and get the feeling that I'm wanted here. That's always a great feeling. It was my first year being in the same spot all year and that was great for me, and that's the progression that I want to keep taking to build on who I am as a player.''

Getting to showcase his skills early in the year
''No doubt, in a league that looks after shooting and values it, I showed that I can shoot with the best of them. That's the confidence I have in myself and the belief, I showed that before I got a couple of injuries which was unfortunate, but I was out there. I think I was leading the league in shooting. So I have plans this summer for getting better at deficiencies, just like every player, and coming back strong next year.''

What does it mean to finally lock down a real contract
''That's the belief you have to have, that you're one of the best to play well. Going from Exhibit 10 to 2 way and now locking in a roster spot, that's the progression that I wanted to have. Continue growing and getting better - being one of the 450 is a blessing and an honour but it's just the beginning for me. I believe that.''

Key area to improve in the offseason
''I think it's obvious as a shooter and being a slightly lighter shade of skin, you want to work on your defense and taking care of that side of the ball. When you come back from injury like I did there's a little uncertainty about if I could go out there and be in rhythm and compete on defense and make shots, continuing to build an all round game - dribbling, in the weight room, conditioning, defense, it's going to be a huge summer for me.''

Thoughts on the close to the year - 49 games won but getting swept
''Well, you never wanna get swept that's never fun, especially the way we did. I don't think we put our best foot forward in this series. But the season as a whole, 49 games, always being in playoff contention in a stacked conference despite having gives in and out of the rotations. It's a rollercoaster, it's the NBA, but winning 49 games after the injuries we had but it's a true testament to the roster that we had and the trust that everyone had with each other. From the outside looking in when I wasn't here over the last few years, New Orleans seemed on the rise, and now I'm part of it it's a blessing to be here and help take it to the next level.''

Trey Murphy

Assessment on your season?
''I think overall it was a decent season. 49 games, can we just say first, winning 49 games is not an easy feat in the NBA. If we were in the Eastern Conference we'd be the 3rd seed. Obviously wanted it to end differently but overall team success was good. I was able to contribute to that as well, and it was my first time having a major injury so coming back from that was something I had to deal with.''

Each year you've been here, the team's won more games. How close are we?
''Pretty close. Once again, 49 games and that wasn't a fluke especially with all the guys we had out throughout the season, could've won more games. But we have a lot of guys on this roster who can put the ball in the basket and guard and do things to help winning.''

Do you see your own trajectory to grow
''Oh, I know where I can go. With how hard I work and overall drive, I think the biggest thing for me is still staying working every single day and not thinking too much about the future. I'm going to be a really good player in this league and it's a matter of time until that shows.''

Extension?
''Obviously we're going to try to do what's best for me and the Pelicans and so, I hope we can get something done but at the end of the day it's not about money. I want to play basketball.''

Willie's growth as a coach
''He's definitely grown a lot. We didn't speak a ton my rookie year, partly due to me not playing as much, not being in the rotation, but as time has gone past we've talked a lot more and opened up a lot more and I appreciate him being there.''

How different do you think it would have been if Zion doesn't get hurt?
''There's a lot of ifs. You can try to make up and think about but it doesn't matter, he was hurt and that's part of the season. Obviously we'd love to have him there but we've had to play without guys the entire season and I'm not going to play in fairytale situations.''

Zion's growth this year
''Z definitely grew a lot this season and his overall work ethic, his communication with his teammates, and taking care of his body. This season he was on top of everything and being out that time last year he saw the trajectory we were on and he wanted to get back to that.''

How do you feel about the questions surrounding the BI+Z+CJ core?
''That's not for me to answer, in all honesty. Obviously we won a lot of games but that's not something that's up to me. I love playing with all three of those guys and whatever happens, happens. It's a business, it's the NBA.''

Go back - what would your agent and family say with you saying the extension isn't all about the money?
''I'm not going to act like its not about the money at all, that would be stupid of me, it's a chance to have generational wealth and do things for my family that I haven't been able to. So obviously it means a lot. But I'm not going to be super money hungry to the point where I think I'm being selfish, let me say that.''

Herb said you grew a lot on the defensive end - thoughts?
''Being quite honest it was the Lakers game in LA, probably one of the worst defensive games I've ever had and I had a pit in my stomach and I was like Im never going to feel like that again. Honestly, having Herb behind you when you're on the ball makes it a lot easier, I just send everybody to Herb.''

Your favourite development from Herb?
''Shooting 40% from 3 is probably one of them. Dating back to my rookie year he wouldn't look at the rim and now he's shooting 40% from 3, that's a testament to how hard he works.''

Your goals for the summer
''Overall strength. Staying healthy, continuing to work on my knee, making sure I'm in the best position possible for next season with my knee and overall game. I don't want to come back as a one dimensional player, I want to still grow my game and be the player I can be.''

Your rebounding improved down the stretch. Was it as simple as effort?
''Yep. Just go get the ball. That's it. Finish possessions. Trying to win is the biggest thing, just competing.''

Herb

Initial thoughts after the season
''Speaking for everybody, I think everyone is disappointed in the way things ended but we did improve, competed, and played really hard this year. You've got to be okay with going out and putting forth your best effort and coming up short.''

On his offensive improvement
''I just trust the work. Staying in the gym, continue to just work and play with a ton of confidence.''

Shooting goals or targets?
''If I come in and I feel good about the 10 jumpers, I move on but if I don't I stay in and make as many as I need to.''

Have you thought about what you're going to work on this summer?
''No sir, not at all.''

Do you feel like this is an organisation on the cusp of doing great things?
''For sure, as long as we continue to work the sky is the limit. We have to come back in the summer, continue to work hard and build on what we've been building.''

CJ+BI+Z combo
''I think, you know, they're a dynamic group and they all bring different things to the table that compliment each other. They're all phenomenal on the offensive end and they compete on the defensive end. I don't know what the future holds, but I hope we keep them together.''

Zion playing in 70 games
''It was beautiful to see. A lot of people criticised him and it was beautiful to see him get to work and not worry about what people may have been saying and just going out on the court and proving himself night in and night out.

What would it mean for you to get All Defense
''It's been cool [to get the support], I thank everyone who has supported me. But it's a lot, I come in every day, seeing 'Not On Herb' t shirts, it's cool but I tell guys to calm it down. Hopefully I can make a defensive team and that'd be a first and something I can continue to build on.''

On Zion's progress through the season and his mentality
''I think for a team, any player, as the season goes, you grow and get better. I wouldn't say I was my best self at the beginning of the year. Over time, as you get closer with teammates, you learn so many things about people in the times where it gets tough on the court, shows who they really are. Z is a great dude, he's all about ball, he wants to win, and with a guy like that on your team especially with his skillset, the sky's the limit.''

Not doing a full transcript of BI, I'm doing it shorter like I did Zion's, because BI talks very quietly and is constantly speaking into his own chest, and at a very slow pace, so it's actually annoying to listen to him sometimes.

Asked about how the season ended and he says ''every story don't have a good ending'', and says that ''injuries at certain points in our schedule messed us up'' and says we can do things ''internally to make us a better ball club''.

Says he believes him and Zion can work long term together because ''we both care about basketball and we both care about winning'' so ''if we figure out what we really want'' they can do it. Says it won't work without communication.

Says it's hard to measure potential year to year because the roster always changes and he can't give an answer because he doesn't know who's going to be there next year. ''I don't know the possibilities of anything.''

Asked about potential, he says ''there's some things we need to do before we reach that level''.

Asked about him taking fewer threes, he says that he does need to take more but says ''if you look back to my all-star year we had Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday who was finding people on the wing and getting downhill and we had guys who knew the game and played more than other people and knew people's spots, most of my 3pt shooting was catch and shoot and now it's a lot of creating for yourself, especially with the team right now it's a lot of creating for yourself, so if you look back and then look at our roster'' that explains a lot. Says adding a point guard would ''definitely be helpful, for sure.''

On the combination of him with CJ and Z, says that ''we gotta understand that talent isn't going to win basketball games, it'll win some but we've got to put things together to make sure we're all effective together at all times and that'll take communication''. Says that when CJ was joking about them missing his calls, that was CJ trying to figure things out and they'll need to get together over the summer to see how things can work together.

Says Willie has to manage a lot of different personalities and has done a good job keeping it positive whether things are good or bad, over the years. Says WG has improved in practices year on year.

When asked how he avoids making contract extension stuff personal despite his good relationship with Griff, he says he doesn't know because he's used to ''putting the work in'' and will ''let my agent talk about it and Griff will tell me how he feel about the situation but the work has to show and the results have to show, I'll worry about that.''

He still seems super complimentary of BI. I have a hard time seeing him trading him away.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

He still seems super complimentary of BI. I have a hard time seeing him trading him away.

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He's complimentary of everyone. It's not possible for him to move anyone if we're going just by what he said.

But he admitted that the minutes with all three were losses, said we had enough of a sample size, told us that we need to radically get better, that he's ''open to a lot of different things'', dodged committing anything to the extension with him, pushed back against BI's claim that we definitely need a point guard, and, this was significant for me -

After talking multiple times about how we need more IQ on the team, mentioning fit half a dozen times, he said

Quote:

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You want actions that yield good looks and I think we had that, and you need to have a better job of getting people to lean into that shot and understand that it's good for them. Again, the coaching staff worked tirelessly at it and I think they increased the number and quality of looks from 3, and we just have to get more of the pieces on the floor to make them.

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and

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A couple of years ago we would have said the same thing about Trey and Herb, so I think we have a lot of pieces like that, and we have a lot of draft assets that we can leverage to get better and I think to your point, yes, you need more difference makers but what you need is more people who understand exactly what's being asked of them on a regular basis as well.

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These quotes both seem like direct shots at the one shooter on this roster who refuses to take threes at the same rate as everyone else and insists on going against Willie Green's publicly stated commitment to focus more on 3pt shooting.

No GM will ever take direct, named shots at a player or explicitly say before negotiations that they're getting rid of him for certain, but these subliminals seem pretty overt to me.

Bobby Marks' New Orleans Pelicans Offseason Guide

Full transcript of the above from section 3 onwards - bolded are parts that I think are fairly important.

Section 3: Financial Position and Cap Space
''Now, here is the thing. Keeping your core, together. That means Zion, CJ McCollum, and then Brandon Ingram who will enter the last year of his contract. Is eligible to sign a 4yr, $208m max extension starting in July. CJ's owed $64m, Zion's got $163m, you've got Valanciunas that you need to address. If you keep your two picks, which is unlikely, you're at $161m in salary, luxury tax is $171, and I think it's interesting with the luxury tax and we're basically going to start shifting the mindset when it comes to luxury tax, certainly starting in 2025-26 because it's not a big deal to be in the, yes you'll miss the tax distribution but starting next year whcih is 25-26, the luxury tax penalties for the first two brackets get significantly lower. So instead of paying $1.50 for a dollar, you're paying dollar for dollar. It's when you get into that third tier where it gets expensive. So I wouldn't pay much attention - I know New Orleans has never paid the tax but that doesn't bother me as much as certainly where the apron rules are. So we talked about the luxury tax, where they are, they'll get some flexibility if they give back that, defer that pick, so you'll have probably oh, $13-14 million below the luxury tax. ''

Section 4: Jonas Valanciunas
''The big question will be what do you do with Valanciunas. Who was your centre. How do you replace him if he's not on the roster okay? You basically have the $12.9 part of the $12.9 Non Tax Mid Level; Valanciunas is one of three centres, and this is not a good centre crop - Nic Claxton, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Valanciunas are the three top centres. But does that mean he's going to get a $20m contract? I don't think so, he's probably a $13-15m guy, as we've seen centres rarely get paid in free agency. Certainly a centre that's got a bunch of wear and tear on his body, his rebounds have come down a little here. New Orleans 23rd in FG% allowed at the rim so can you get a shot blocking C in free agency or the draft? So keep an eye on what happens with Valanciunas.''

Brandon Ingram
''Brandon Ingram is going to be interesting, and I wrote about it because when you have a player that's 26 years old that averaged 20/4/4 in the past five seasons, usually it's a no brainer that you are going to write him a 4 year $208m max extension. However, and I know he came back from injury, and you give him credit for doing so, but he was ineffective in the Laker game when he got benched. He was ineffective this whole series against OKC. Lu Dort basically put him in a straightjacket. He was a no-show for Game 4. How does the injury come into play? Are you comfortable paying him $50m a year when he has, I got his, I mean, his games played - 55, 45, 64 over the last three seasons. He's missed 154 games since 2016-17 - that's going to be an, and I know there's a lot of Brandon Ingram fans out there and I see it on twitter, he's got his own fanclub, but that's going to be the million dollar decision as far as what you do. And if you don't extend him you are going to have to trade him. That's the reality of the situation. If he doesn't get an extension this summer you are going to have to trade him because you are not walking into the season or, you could trade him closer to the deadline but you are going to have turmoil come training camp. He will get paid next year. That is the reality of it. Big wings get paid in free agency. Will he get max money? I don't know, we'll see after another year, but he will get paid. The extension rules are changing come this off-season to where you can extend in an extend-and-trade for 120%, so his number will be near max. You can add more years than past. So he could actually get traded and then extend with his current club instead of playing out the year. We mention Valanciunas, keep an eye on what happens with Ingram. I think the interesting thing as far as from an extension standpoint, besides Ingram is Trey.''

Trey Murphy
''14.7pts, 38% from 3, him and Herb Jones together are really really good on the court. What is a number for him? It's going to be probably north of $20m - are you comfortable playing $22, $23m to your 6th man? What happens, can you move off Ingram, maybe you get a more traditional point guard, slide CJ to the 2, do you put Zion at the 5? Do you have Herb and Trey? So there's a lot of different mechanics that New Orleans can go into in this off season here. [...] Murphy's going to be interesting because rookie extensions, unless you're a max guy, tend to get played out until October 21st - the last day to sign an extension here. ''

Alvarado
''He's outplayed that $6.9m contract in 2022, plus rating of 17.5 per 100. Woo, goodness gracious. So he's got a $2m team option, he's eligible to get extended, I would be stunned if his option is declined and they make him an RFA.''

Overall stance:
''So keep an eye on what happens with Valanciunas, what happens with Ingram, what happens with Murphy, what happens in trade dialogues because this is going to be one of the most active off-seasons that we're going to see. There's a lot of teams sitting at what I called the p***ed off table - you have the Lakers there, Golden State there, Phoenix there, I think New Orleans is probably at the kids table, you might have the Clippers there soon, Milwaukee probably soon. There's going to be a lot of action just because it's not a great free agent class, there's so many teams in the apron that are going to be looking to get off money, there's the in-between teams that are going to take advantage of teams that can't go out and make trades, so I would keep an eye on New Orleans to be active this off season. They were active at the trade deadline, I would expect them to be active. Team needs, starting Centre, gotta get a traditional point guard. 6 tradeable firsts over the next 7 years, they've got their own first this year, that Laker pick in 2025, which when they defer likely they have the right to swap firsts with Milwaukee in 2026, they have an unprotected first from Milwaukee in 27, and a first that if it falls in the top 4 they get a couple seconds available. All in all that is the state of the union in New Orleans. Good regular season, poor way to end it especially losing at home.''

''It all comes down to health with Zion, what do you do with Brandon Ingram, what do you do with your C position, and working out an extension with Trey Murphy.''

See how you guys nailed me to the cross for saying Ingram is getting paid, and Mr. Marks says the same thing. lol. That aside, he also touched on something that I also mentioned.

There's going to be a lot of action on the trade market considering how many teams are in limbo with talented players. This could mean we possibly get a star quality player to pair with Zion, and Ingram. Or, what some of you may prefer, moving Ingram and getting a really good deal because of the desperation some teams will be in with disgruntled top talent. Maybe Ingram agrees to take less, to acquire another big gun.

On a side note, Marks doesn't seem all that high on JV. What do you make of that Pelicanidae? Curious of your thoughts on bringing him back, and if it should be a priority.

Also Interesting.. Thoughts on CJ vs Klay, who do you guys think has more to offer at this stage of their careers?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nichols

See how you guys nailed me to the cross for saying Ingram is getting paid, and Mr. Marks says the same thing. lol. That aside, he also touched on something that I also mentioned.

There's going to be a lot of action on the trade market considering how many teams are in limbo with talented players. This could mean we possibly get a star quality player to pair with Zion, and Ingram. Or, what some of you may prefer, moving Ingram and getting a really good deal because of the desperation some teams will be in with disgruntled top talent. Maybe Ingram agrees to take less, to acquire another big gun.

On a side note, Marks doesn't seem all that high on JV. What do you make of that Pelicanidae? Curious of your thoughts on bringing him back, and if it should be a priority.

---

He also said that we have maybe $14m worth of cap space, so I'm not sure what world you're picturing us getting those ''talented players'' that are ''in limbo'' without sending something OUT and if you think any of those teams are giving up major difference makers for CJ McCollum then we're in vastly different mindsets.

As for whether BI will get the contract, that's not the contention. I even said as much myself on this very page of this very thread, where I said someone will offer him the max and if we waited to extend him hoping for cheap, we'd have to match it or let him walk for nothing. My point is that no player in history with his resume has received that offer before, and I think there's a good reason for that - players with his resume aren't worth it. Whether some team will make that mistake or not isn't the point.

Without re-hashing that argument though, because we both know where we stand on that, the JV thing.

I think there's legitimate criticism on JV (it's true that our defFG% wasn't great, for example, and he isn't a stretch 5 which we would have in a perfect world) but you also have to consider the context of the team. If our defensive FG% was that bad at the rim, how were were a top 6 defense? Simple: our scheme deters rim attempts, so even if people shoot well when they get there, they don't get there very often, so it's not really an exploit of JV.

Despite that legitimate criticism of JV, there are things he gives to this team that we will direly need to replace if he leaves - rebounding being the most obvious thing - and it's clear that we're capable of constructing a good defense despite JV's flaws in that area (which is also why I don't mind trading BI for the currently not-great-defensively Jalen Duren: I trust WG to construct a good defense despite an imperfect defensive big).

In the end, I think we're probably not going to retain JV, and honestly that's probably a good thing given that WG hates playing him in key moments. I like JV a lot but I'd rather us have someone we could actually invest in properly and give the important clutch time minutes. The bigger issue is that I don't really trust Griff to replace him with someone good, and unless we get a major name at C I can easily imagine WG starting Nance or something which is basically a concept designed to make me cry.

I didn't finish reading your response.. but of course we're sending something out. C'mon now. smh.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Also Interesting.. Thoughts on CJ vs Klay, who do you guys think has more to offer at this stage of their careers?

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CJ, absolutely.

Far more dynamic shooter at this stage, particularly because he can make his own shot still even if he requires some other good players on the court to help give him the space to do that (space he had when Zion was playing, but didn't in the OKC series without Zion, for example) and while they both suck on defense, at least CJ has an in-between game and facilitates a little.

Klay is the 3&D guy in some ways, and his 3 is no longer as potent as it once was and the D has fallen off a cliff. Hasn't posted a positive BPM since 3 seasons ago, REB% has gone down each of the last 3 years, TOV% has gone up each of the last 3 years, and GS was actually worse with him on court 2 of the last 3 seasons.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nichols

I didn't finish reading your response.. but of course we're sending something out. C'mon now. smh.

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If you'd have even finished the sentence, you'd have seen the actual point I was making regarding WHAT other things we might have to send out.

C'mon now. Smh.

:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

He also said that we have maybe $14m worth of cap space, so I'm not sure what world you're picturing us getting those ''talented players'' that are ''in limbo'' without sending something OUT and if you think any of those teams are giving up major difference makers for CJ McCollum then we're in vastly different mindsets.

As for whether BI will get the contract, that's not the contention. I even said as much myself on this very page of this very thread, where I said someone will offer him the max and if we waited to extend him hoping for cheap, we'd have to match it or let him walk for nothing. My point is that no player in history with his resume has received that offer before, and I think there's a good reason for that - players with his resume aren't worth it. Whether some team will make that mistake or not isn't the point.

Without re-hashing that argument though, because we both know where we stand on that, the JV thing.

I think there's legitimate criticism on JV (it's true that our defFG% wasn't great, for example, and he isn't a stretch 5 which we would have in a perfect world) but you also have to consider the context of the team. If our defensive FG% was that bad at the rim, how were were a top 6 defense? Simple: our scheme deters rim attempts, so even if people shoot well when they get there, they don't get there very often, so it's not really an exploit of JV.

Despite that legitimate criticism of JV, there are things he gives to this team that we will direly need to replace if he leaves - rebounding being the most obvious thing - and it's clear that we're capable of constructing a good defense despite JV's flaws in that area (which is also why I don't mind trading BI for the currently not-great-defensively Jalen Duren: I trust WG to construct a good defense despite an imperfect defensive big).

In the end, I think we're probably not going to retain JV, and honestly that's probably a good thing given that WG hates playing him in key moments. I like JV a lot but I'd rather us have someone we could actually invest in properly and give the important clutch time minutes. The bigger issue is that I don't really trust Griff to replace him with someone good, and unless we get a major name at C I can easily imagine WG starting Nance or something which is basically a concept designed to make me cry.

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I might cry a bit as well regarding Nance, even though I like him as a player. I don't like small ball. Your stance may be different, and others but I'm a bit old fashioned. I like traditional bigs that can give you a bucket on the block, and protect the paint. There was, in my opinion, a false narrative that small ball was a more effective way to win games in the 4th. This idea seemed to proliferate after Coach Dantoni had some success with it on the Suns. Then Eventually the Warriors.

I don't see any great alternatives, but I suppose that can change since unlikely opportunities present themselves when trading starts.