What kind of players does this team need to take it to the next level next season?

it seemed like billy wanted to be traded before the deadline and i believe because of that he was in green doghouse..there were games before the trade deadline where imo i think green was just nitpicking on billy and i also believe green didnt play billy out of spite.....

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Originally Posted by As I See It

I'm going back and forth on JAX. In the end I think it totally depends on the number. I wouldn't be surprised if was a back on a team friendly deal (similar to JHart's two years ago). Griff will not punt on him unless he absolutely has to (vanity), and I don't see a market for JAX despite his 'untapped potential'. On the other hand, there is always a market for a big, bulky, numbers guy who isn't a problem like H'Gomez. He's 90% out of the door (Miami anybody?).

FULL DISCLOSURE: I like JAX and view him as potentially a more complete Christian Wood (another last bloomer).

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I would keep Jax if I was the Pels. They just need to commit to him and stay there. If they aren?t willing to do that, then I can see why they rarely use their first round picks on centers.

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Originally Posted by djrnno

We're not saying that CJ did not have injuries that affected his shooting. We're saying that he didn't account for those injuries. If you know you have injuries that affect your shooting you should be looking to be more of a facilitator and not and iso dribble dribble dribble and shoot a difficult shot. Knowing that his injuries affected his shooting he should not have forced shots and passed more

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Exactly right

If Memphis can't pull this series out, I think they'll do what some of us thought they'd do a few years ago. Start selling off to trade for a star to pair with Ja.

That could mean Desmond Bane, Brandon Clarke, Tyus Jones, or Luke Kennard could be had. Obviously it'd have to be something like a multiple team trade to involve the Pelicans.

Gotta type the obvious stuff out on here.

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

I would keep Jax if I was the Pels. They just need to commit to him and stay there. If they aren?t willing to do that, then I can see why they rarely use their first round picks on centers.

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All depends on how much money Hayes wants or if he wants a fresh start elsewhere. He holds the cards.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

If Memphis can't pull this series out, I think they'll do what some of us thought they'd do a few years ago. Start selling off to trade for a star to pair with Ja.

That could mean Desmond Bane, Brandon Clarke, Tyus Jones, or Luke Kennard could be had. Obviously it'd have to be something like a multiple team trade to involve the Pelicans.

Gotta type the obvious stuff out on here.

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Memphis about to make some big changes. That was awful.

It was cute while it lasted.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Memphis about to make some big changes. That was awful.

It was cute while it lasted.

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They deserved to get embarrassed that badly. They were getting too cocky and hid when they couldn't take the pressure. I do agree that they will try and swing for the fences this offseason after trying to save money on the previous years

I wanted Bane so badly in the draft, I would love to get him if they moved him.

They'd be asking a fair amount though because he's very very good.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I wanted Bane so badly in the draft, I would love to get him if they moved him.

They'd be asking a fair amount though because he's very very good.

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Full credit, you were in early on Bane as I recall. But what ever happened to that guard out Charleston you were so high on? ; )

Pels have to get serious about putting more shooting on the roster. Turn over bottom three slots and add two professional shooter/scorers to the bench and some rim protection and rebounding.

Any early preference on this year's draft? I think any of those clutch of shooters who should be there when Pels pick at 14 would be useful: Hawkins; Howard; Sensabaugh or Murray. Even Strawther or Whitehead would work, if we trade down. Not a big fan of either George or Smith. I'd be ok if we went big to finally get some rim protection, but I think that's something you can buy pretty cheap in FA. Still Lively would absolutely solve a problem for us. And I like both Clowney, the big out of Alabama and especially Trayce Jackson-Davis as a do-it-all big in the Sabonis mode, but with more hops. But both those guys are end of the first round picks. We'd have to trade back in or trade way back to take on of them. I'd love Cason Wallace or Dick to fall to us, but that seems a long shot.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I wanted Bane so badly in the draft, I would love to get him if they moved him.

They'd be asking a fair amount though because he's very very good.

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What are your thoughts about Jalen Jackson Jr.?

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Originally Posted by johnpagenola

What are your thoughts about Jalen Jackson Jr.?

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If you mean Jaren, he's awesome but they're not moving him imo. Him and Ja are their centrepieces.

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Originally Posted by new city champ

Full credit, you were in early on Bane as I recall. But what ever happened to that guard out Charleston you were so high on? ; )

Pels have to get serious about putting more shooting on the roster. Turn over bottom three slots and add two professional shooter/scorers to the bench and some rim protection and rebounding.

Any early preference on this year's draft? I think any of those clutch of shooters who should be there when Pels pick at 14 would be useful: Hawkins; Howard; Sensabaugh or Murray. Even Strawther or Whitehead would work, if we trade down. Not a big fan of either George or Smith. I'd be ok if we went big to finally get some rim protection, but I think that's something you can buy pretty cheap in FA. Still Lively would absolutely solve a problem for us. And I like both Clowney, the big out of Alabama and especially Trayce Jackson-Davis as a do-it-all big in the Sabonis mode, but with more hops. But both those guys are end of the first round picks. We'd have to trade back in or trade way back to take on of them. I'd love Cason Wallace or Dick to fall to us, but that seems a long shot.

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My top 19 right now is as follows (separated out into tiers):

Generational	Star Bets	Clear Lottery	Good Prospects
Victor Wembanyama	Scoot Henderson	dariq Whitehead	Keyonte George
	Amen Thompson	Brice Sensabaugh	Kris Murray
	Jarace Walker	Jett Howard	Nick Smith Jr
	Ausar Thompson	Cason Wallace	Leonard Miller
	Cam Whitmore	Gradey dick
	Brandon Miller	Maxwell Lewis
	Taylor Hendricks	Anthony Black

Key:
Generational: Those players who project to be MVP level players. If health remains, they will be a star.
Star Bets: These guys have a clear path to all-NBA level impact if things go well for them. Note that because All-NBA is partially popularity based, I'm not saying that they will ever actually make an All-NBA team. It's just impact.
Clear Lottery: These players have paths to high impact but it would take a lot to go right for them, but it's fair to think they have strong chances at being real NBA rotation players.
Good Prospects: Look like they should be able to be NBA roleplayers barring weird stuff.

Note that these are loose tiers, I'm not saying that every prospect is exactly as good in exactly the same way as the others. For example, Scoot is a clear #2 pick in my eyes and no one is really moving him from that spot, so him being in the same column as Miller is not saying they're the same level. It's just that they're both guys who I think have clear roads to star level impact.

Personally, Just addressing the guys you named who aren't in my list: I don't think Strawther is a first round talent. Clowney is cool, I can see him late first round or early second round but I also think that I'm probably underrating him a little. Trayce actually reminds me a huge amount of Nance Jr, I have him in that 30-40 range though if a team has the perfect slot for him I could see him going a little higher.

I have to say that I was pretty low on Leonard Miller but since his interview where he compared his playing's style to Lamar Odom's, I'm intrigued.
If he fully embrace playing PF/C, there could be real upside for a 6'11 big with nimble feet, good court vision and shooting touch, not enough shooting for me to play wing but as a center he would be playable.

He's not a great shotblocker so the rim protection wouldn't be perfect but his ability to play in any defensive scheme should mitigate the issue.

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Originally Posted by Blattman

I have to say that I was pretty low on Leonard Miller but since his interview where he compared his playing's style to Lamar Odom's, I'm intrigued.
If he fully embrace playing PF/C, there could be real upside for a 6'11 big with nimble feet, good court vision and shooting touch, not enough shooting for me to play wing but as a center he would be playable.

He's not a great shotblocker so the rim protection wouldn't be perfect but his ability to play in any defensive scheme should mitigate the issue.

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I think he has more potential as a shooter than his raw %age might imply. His form is extremely wonky so he would need time with a dedicated focus on it to fix, but we know that in many cases that's possible (look at what happened to Lonzo with his all-time broken form) and Miller has really nice track record on runners and floaters which makes me think optimistically about his touch. Near 80% FT shooter as well, which is a decent sign.

Alright enough passer too. I think in general he's probably a 4, if we're talking about traditional positions, though we all know that's a little bit fluid these days.

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Originally Posted by new city champ

Full credit, you were in early on Bane as I recall. But what ever happened to that guard out Charleston you were so high on? ; )

Pels have to get serious about putting more shooting on the roster. Turn over bottom three slots and add two professional shooter/scorers to the bench and some rim protection and rebounding.

Any early preference on this year's draft? I think any of those clutch of shooters who should be there when Pels pick at 14 would be useful: Hawkins; Howard; Sensabaugh or Murray. Even Strawther or Whitehead would work, if we trade down. Not a big fan of either George or Smith. I'd be ok if we went big to finally get some rim protection, but I think that's something you can buy pretty cheap in FA. Still Lively would absolutely solve a problem for us. And I like both Clowney, the big out of Alabama and especially Trayce Jackson-Davis as a do-it-all big in the Sabonis mode, but with more hops. But both those guys are end of the first round picks. We'd have to trade back in or trade way back to take on of them. I'd love Cason Wallace or Dick to fall to us, but that seems a long shot.

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Would be surprised, if not shocked, if we used/kept our 1st rd pick. Would guess we're adding more experience this offseason, not youth.

i want a david west type of player at any position...4yrs in college,, all conference, tough and ready and know how to play ball...

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Originally Posted by 6warddude

i want a david west type of player at any position...4yrs in college,, all conference, tough and ready and know how to play ball...

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I agree. There is a difference between a talented child and a talented young man. We are living it right now. At least we apparently are not still waiting on 3M3 (a three year college player).

Take your pick....

JAX?
Kira?
DD?

Yes, an argument can even be made that, after four years and one MAX Extension later, we are still waiting on 'The Chosen'.

Isn't it funny how two recent four year college players, Herb and Jose', have contributed more than the Lottery Talent on this team...and so quickly?

Makes you wonder, huh?

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I think he has more potential as a shooter than his raw %age might imply. His form is extremely wonky so he would need time with a dedicated focus on it to fix, but we know that in many cases that's possible (look at what happened to Lonzo with his all-time broken form) and Miller has really nice track record on runners and floaters which makes me think optimistically about his touch. Near 80% FT shooter as well, which is a decent sign.

Alright enough passer too. I think in general he's probably a 4, if we're talking about traditional positions, though we all know that's a little bit fluid these days.

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Interesting takes. Note that Hawkins doesn't make into even the good prospect group and neither does Lively, a pure defensive big. I get why (I think) but can't help but think either of them would very much help solve problems with our current roster. As I get older, I get more enamored with drafting for need and not on projected potential. Perhaps for that reason, I'm not that high on George or Smith. But really any of the guys you list would help our bench. I need to take another look at Max Lewis.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

If you mean Jaren, he's awesome but they're not moving him imo. Him and Ja are their centrepieces.

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You're right. Maybe I heard too many basketball players named Jalen.

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Originally Posted by new city champ

Interesting takes. Note that Hawkins doesn't make into even the good prospect group and neither does Lively, a pure defensive big. I get why (I think) but can't help but think either of them would very much help solve problems with our current roster. As I get older, I get more enamored with drafting for need and not on projected potential. Perhaps for that reason, I'm not that high on George or Smith. But really any of the guys you list would help our bench. I need to take another look at Max Lewis.

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I'm not saying that everyone else in the draft sucks, there are other good names, I was just trying to keep it relatively restricted and by sticking to roughly that top 20, it's guys who are at least in the conversation for our pick. Obviously some of those names will be gone before we pick (no way Wemby slides, for example) and there's every chance we don't even use the pick at all and it's traded, but it's just a bit of fun to talk about.

I think in general drafting for need is a fool's errand because either your team is bad enough to need real minutes from that player - in which case it's bad enough to need upside - or it's good enough that rookies won't get minutes in which case, you might as well draft for upside and develop them anyway.

If your team 'needs' a rookie to come in and play a vital role, odds are your team isn't good enough to be caring about need.

I'm also not particularly interested in drafting one-dimensional players at this stage. Take the Lively point: if all I wanted was a huge rim runner who fouls like a madman, I've had Jax on my bench for the last 4 years. They're not one-to-one players obviously, but you get my point.

Its not sexy to say but I dont see acquiring new players getting us to the next level. What will get us to the next level is obviously first and foremost having our main guys relatively healthy and secondly the younger guys progressing. Specifically DD taking the next step on offense and Herb continuing to improve his perimeter shooting.

Team needs as most people have already said are perimeter shooting and a big who can control the paint (interior defense and rebounding).... i think based on our position in the draft we just have to get whoever projects to be the best NBA player no matter what they do. Should not have to expect the rookie to make an immediate impact, but bring him along and hopefully have a major contributor in a couple years and who knows what the team will look like then.

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Originally Posted by 6warddude

i want a david west type of player at any position...4yrs in college,, all conference, tough and ready and know how to play ball...

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Isn't our incoming Eric Liddell that exact person?

Guess that fist domino in Memphis has fallen. Wannabe Kobe wants to go somewhere to pretend to be real Kobe even worse.

The Memphis Grizzlies have informed pending free agent Dillon Brooks that he will not be brought back under any circumstances, league sources say.

Full story and details at @TheAthletic: https://t.co/CRztYTgYi7

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 2, 2023

As for the draft, I can easily see Cam Whitmore, Cason Wallace, Gradey Dick, Anthony Black, and Jarace Walker all being available when the Pelicans pick at 14.

Outside of the top 6 stopping at Taylor Hendricks, this draft gets very flat the rest of the lottery and then some.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

As for the draft, I can easily see Cam Whitmore, Cason Wallace, Gradey Dick, Anthony Black, and Jarace Walker all being available when the Pelicans pick at 14.

Outside of the top 6 stopping at Taylor Hendricks, this draft gets very flat the rest of the lottery and then some.

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All? I can see some, but not all.