Wing defenders

Its a must the Pels improve the defense on the perimeter

I suggest they go after Rondae Hollis Jefferson in the off season.

Isaac Okoro is somebody worth trading up for

Tyler Bey is also somebody that interest me in the draft

Who else in out there

Would we be interested in taking a flier on Otto Porter in the offseason? He could probably be had for pennies, but he'll be on the final year of his huge deal next year. I feel like it's a low risk high reward because I'd love the fit if he could stay healthy.

A finishing 5 of Ball-Holiday-Ingram-Porter-Zion could be super fun.

If we were to bring in Porter and give Ingram a max, our salary would be $133,620,226 without rookie contracts, Didi, etc., as well as Favors or another big.

However, I wouldn't mind getting off JJ's $13 mil if it meant you could take the chance on Porter. The cap is projected at $115 mil with the luxury tax at $139 mil.

If there’s one negative about Ingram is his inability to guard the premier wings in the league.

Never put Zion at the 5. Always have another big with Zion.

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Originally Posted by superstar7th

Never put Zion at the 5. Always have another big with Zion.

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Why? There are some teams that he matches up well at the 5 in spurts.

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Originally Posted by pelafanatic

Would we be interested in taking a flier on Otto Porter in the offseason? He could probably be had for pennies, but he'll be on the final year of his huge deal next year. I feel like it's a low risk high reward because I'd love the fit if he could stay healthy.

A finishing 5 of Ball-Holiday-Ingram-Porter-Zion could be super fun.

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I'm a porter fan, but can he stay on the floor and play is a huge question mark

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Originally Posted by Snarly

If there’s one negative about Ingram is his inability to guard the premier wings in the league.

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His lack of strength is a problem. It is easy to push him around

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

Why? There are some teams that he matches up well at the 5 in spurts.

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How many years do we have to watch PJ Tucker and Draymond Green play the 5 before people stop with this

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Originally Posted by Speakthetruth

I'm a porter fan, but can he stay on the floor and play is a huge question mark

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Yea and this is the risk that you're taking but it's also the reason he'll be available for practically nothing. I think its a medium risk, high reward gamble.

The risk is you'd have to move JJ's contract in order to bring in Otto; but if he plays, the reward is that Porter is a perfect fit as a low usage sharpshooting wing who can eat minutes against players like Lebron and Kawhi defensively.

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

Why? There are some teams that he matches up well at the 5 in spurts.

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I know right. We’ve been killing with him at the 5.

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Originally Posted by pelafanatic

Would we be interested in taking a flier on Otto Porter in the offseason? He could probably be had for pennies, but he'll be on the final year of his huge deal next year. I feel like it's a low risk high reward because I'd love the fit if he could stay healthy.

A finishing 5 of Ball-Holiday-Ingram-Porter-Zion could be super fun.

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As an Otto Porter fan, I approve of this.

His contract is fat and he's definitely overpaid, but just in terms of on-court fit he'd be great. Legitimately talented defender who can shoot, pass a little, and even create a little (only 21% of his 2pt FGs were assisted in his 9 games this year, and it was only 37.4% of them in 50 games last year) although obviously that's not a strength.

The issue is, yeah, the health. Huge risk. But you're right, it's a medium risk high reward venture. Especially since he hits free agency in a year where there's a ton of huge names so it's fairly unlikely that he'll command extremely high value offers for his next deal.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

The issue is, yeah, the health. Huge risk. But you're right, it's a medium risk high reward venture. Especially since he hits free agency in a year where there's a ton of huge names so it's fairly unlikely that he'll command extremely high value offers for his next deal.

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This is why its such a luxury to have a top tier medical staff at our disposal. We could bring in Porter and have data on him for a full season, then give Aaron Nelson the final say as to whether Porter can actually stay healthy. I'd say its a great match for Porter as well, given both the scheme and Nelson.

Need help guarding the 3's and 4's? Cunningham's available.

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Originally Posted by pelafanatic

This is why its such a luxury to have a top tier medical staff at our disposal. We could bring in Porter and have data on him for a full season, then give Aaron Nelson the final say as to whether Porter can actually stay healthy. I'd say its a great match for Porter as well, given both the scheme and Nelson.

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It helps that he's relatively young as well. 26, if I remember correctly, so the next contract could very conceivably take him completely through his prime and end just before the expected drop-off age. Kind of convenient.

But I agree, I think that at some point if you have trust in Aaron Nelson and the training staff, it's probably a good idea to try and take on a salvage project in terms of health that, if it pays off, could have huge benefits.

Another player for the Pels to consider this off season, in a similar vein as Otto Porter, is Kelly Oubre Jr. I'm not sure how much it would take to pry Oubre away from the Suns, but there were rumors at the deadline that he had been made available. Would we be willing to give up a protected 1st for a one year rental?

For Oubre, he costs about $14 million, which is significantly less than Porter makes. He's not quite the shooter that Porter is, but he has a better all around game than Porter and hes a legitimate defender at this point in his career, with the tools to potentially be elite.

I still think Porter is a better fit because of his ability to knock down the open 3, but Oubre comes at less of a risk.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Need help guarding the 3's and 4's? Cunningham's available.

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I thought of him too :) he played some great D against Lebron

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Need help guarding the 3's and 4's? Cunningham's available.

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When is the last day you can bring in 10 day contracts?
Be nice to add him if the Pels make the playoffs.

I can't believe we live in a world where people are legitimately thinking about bringing back Dante Cunningham of all people.

We need another big on the cheap for remainder of year that maybe stays next year. G league forward Yante Maten could be that guy. His scoring is inside like Zion, and he boards well.

The light bulb shined again tonight

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I can't believe we live in a world where people are legitimately thinking about bringing back Dante Cunningham of all people.

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Few actually know what the hell they're talking about. We're all fans. Most of us are just saying crap to say it.

He’s Lebron, he is a demigod. Nobody is defending him by themselves unless they are Scottie Pippen or something. What you need (to have a better chance at stopping him) is a better game plan than defending everyone else and forcing Lebron to beat you, because for the better part of two decades Lebron has been doing just that.

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Originally Posted by UNO Gracias

He’s Lebron, he is a demigod. Nobody is defending him by themselves unless they are Scottie Pippen or something. What you need (to have a better chance at stopping him) is a better game plan than defending everyone else and forcing Lebron to beat you, because for the better part of two decades Lebron has been doing just that.

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Thatsbtrue but this team doesnt have 1 person that I feel comfortable playing on him

Free agency needs a fix

No, that’s the thing, there isn’t anyone in the NBA right now (or in the near future) who can defend Lebron, so you need a better gameplan.

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Originally Posted by UNO Gracias

No, that’s the thing, there isn’t anyone in the NBA right now (or in the near future) who can defend Lebron, so you need a better gameplan.

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Most of the guys in the league who are best on Lebron are the types of guys who have zero utility on offense. Their only job is to be a defensive stopper.

The only guys in the NBA who would I would trust guarding Lebron 1V1 while also having some offensive responsibility are Giannis and Kawhi.

Tatum also did a good job on Lebron last time they played.

Jaylen brown did a pretty good job that day..lebron did hit a tough jumper to win

But I mean the pels have 0 resistance . He looks like he is prime lebron vs them scoring the ball

There are few people that can guard Lebron, so get yourself a coach who can gameplan accordingly.

Maybe the only solution is to try roids with Ingram lol

(joking)

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Originally Posted by akhan786

Maybe the only solution is to try roids with Ingram lol

(joking)

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Im not.

Am I the only one that thinks Ingram did an acceptable job in his 1 v 1 assignments with Lebron last night, other than the bad foul at the end? I think his length at the very least prevented Bron from shooting those post fade-aways.

I actually don't think Bron is that bad of a matchup for Ingram because you're not super worried about foot speed. The matchups that really give Ingram problems are the ones that test him laterally.

That being said, you can tell the physical tole it takes on Ingram when he has to bump with Lebron every possession. It would be really nice to have Kenrich back for the playoff series just to take some of that beating. IMO, the only way we beat the Lakers in the first round is if Kenrich has a hot shooting series. Otherwise, it's our worst possible match-up.

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Originally Posted by pelafanatic

Am I the only one that thinks Ingram did an acceptable job in his 1 v 1 assignments with Lebron last night, other than the bad foul at the end? I think his length at the very least prevented Bron from shooting those post fade-aways.

I actually don't think Bron is that bad of a matchup for Ingram because you're not super worried about foot speed. The matchups that really give Ingram problems are the ones that test him laterally.

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Ingram held his own. The problem is this staff thinks Hart is prime Tony Allen.

No one on this team was effective guarding James. Simply as that.

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Originally Posted by Snarly

No one on this team was effective guarding James. Simply as that.

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Well that gets us absolutely no where. Instead of just punting, we should probably analyze where we were at least somewhat successful.

If Ingram can take one thing away with his length in the fade away jumper, that at least limits Lebron's options. In limiting Lebron's options, the rest of the defense can then be a little bit more confident in their rotations. Against hart and Jrue, since they dont have the beef or the length, Lebron has far too many options, leaving the rest of our defense on their heals.

Not many players in the league are going to be "effective" against Lebron, but we just need to be slightly more effective to turn these losses into wins. The margin is not wide. Our secondary pieces are so much better than theirs that we can make some of that up.

There’s nothing to analyze. Lebron burned Pelicans every single game this season. The Pelicans threw everything at him and it was ineffective.

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Originally Posted by Snarly

There’s nothing to analyze. Lebron burned Pelicans every single game this season. The Pelicans threw everything at him and it was ineffective.

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I'm hoping (against hope) that we've got some sort of junk defense (zone?) in our back pocket that we'll break out in the playoffs to steal a game or two.

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Originally Posted by Snarly

There’s nothing to analyze. Lebron burned Pelicans every single game this season. The Pelicans threw everything at him and it was ineffective.

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If you don't want to have a constructive conversation then that's fine, move on.

It's not like we got crushed in either of the last 2 games. One stop here or there and it could've been a win. I'm not saying we can stop him for an entire game by any means, but we're one or two possessions away.

I also think there may be some future strategy to this. We didn't throw a zone at him a single time, but I think that could be utilized in a playoff series. It's possible we didn't want to show them everything prior to our playoff series.

Additionally, he's shooting 35% from 3 on the season, but he's shooting 44% against us (8/16 in the last 2), so there's actually some regression there to look forward to hopefully.

You are being outright silly now. The Pelicans threw everything and the kitchen sink at him. Zion, Holiday, Ingram, Hart, and even Ball and he burned everyone. Played tight and sagged off of him and he burnt the team. Weakside help and trying to force him to the help but nothing worked.

We had no answer for him for all 4 games. You need to look in the mirror and stop the excuses. Lebron had an answer for everything we threw at him.

Where in my comments did I make a single excuse? All I'm saying is if we can get one or two more stops a game we could beat this team once or twice in the series. If you want to be negative, that's your prerogative, but even with godly Lebron these last 2 games, we've still been in it until the very end and its been incredibly fun.

I'm not putting blinders on the fact that we desperately need another wing piece for the future. I'm simply saying that there may be some things we can do here or there to get maybe 1 or 2 more stops. He's not gonna shoot 14/21 every night.

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Originally Posted by Snarly

You are being outright silly now. The Pelicans threw everything and the kitchen sink at him. Zion, Holiday, Ingram, Hart, and even Ball and he burned everyone. Played tight and sagged off of him and he burnt the team. Weakside help and trying to force him to the help but nothing worked.

We had no answer for him for all 4 games. You need to look in the mirror and stop the excuses. Lebron had an answer for everything we threw at him.

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The best defense against Lebron is to hope that he isn't terribly engaged in the game. Because he does have a tendency throughout the regular season (and even a few times in the post season) to become somewhat passive in games. Where he becomes almost too much of a facilitator and helps bail out defenses by hanging around the perimeter too much.

Unfortunately, the drama between the Lakers and the Pelicans last season and the off season seems to have lit a fuse in Lebron when he plays us. (Zion's media hype as Lebron's successor probably doesn't help either). He's basically on a seek and destroy mission when he plays our team. And unfortunately when he gets in this mind set he's almost impossible for anyone to stop.

Granted our two starting forwards are both currently not well suited to defend Lebron under even regular circumstances. Ingram not strong enough and Zion's perimeter defense is still fairly clumsy.

The good news is Lebron is 35 and surely at some point all the mileage has to catch up to him. Umm, right?

I like that we didn't double Lebron in these last 2 games. There's a 99% chance that we play Lakers first round, we do not need to give them any footage of defensive schemes yet.

We pretty much just played them straight up and was in it til the end. With Lebron playing like it was a playoff game. We switch it up in the playoffs and I think we have a real chance at knocking them out first round.

Ibaka Ibaka Ibaka

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Originally Posted by akhan786

Ibaka Ibaka Ibaka

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Ibaka would be. a nice fit at center next to zion

I would've liked to have seen more Jaxson Hayes and less Etwuan Moore this game :/

If we're going to lose I'd rather kids get some burn instead of watching Jrue miss his clutch FT's (yes I know he had a good game) and Moore taking bad shots and going 1-7 and still losing. Inexcusable.


edit:

wrong thread, but close enough re: minny