November 2nd - New Orleans Pelicans @ Oklahoma City Thunder - 1-4

[GuardianAngel25]

when monty was here he had his team playing hard......this team just has to get heathy and we will see the good days...

Yea I don’t understand what is so hard to get.. We are missing our best player in Zion the entire season along with no Jrue for a few games and went without what has been our best player for nearly all game tonight. Oh along with our starting center being one of our few players over 23 years old.. Not a team in the NBA that would be looking good no matter who the coach was. With all that said we could very easily be 4-2.

[Pelicanidae]

Monty probably gonna start 4-2

I don't care about Monty, just don't put James Wiseman near this team

[Fedupfan]

I don't care about Monty, just don't put James Wiseman near this team

What about another Duke player? Cassius Stanley.

[Taker597]

I don't care about Monty, just don't put James Wiseman near this team

Never got into his hype, but what's your take on Wiseman?

[6warddude]

Yea I don’t understand what is so hard to get.. We are missing our best player in Zion the entire season along with no Jrue for a few games and went without what has been our best player for nearly all game tonight. Oh along with our starting center being one of our few players over 23 years old.. Not a team in the NBA that would be looking good no matter who the coach was. With all that said we could very easily be 4-2.

I think all of the hype from the summer has posters loosing it right now but injuries are part of the game...a young and injured team with a turnover of players we had just wont produce at the beginning until they gel and get healthy.....im falling back til January in hope we are healthy around that time to see what we can do......I just hope morale wont be down dealing with all these injuries...

[Pelicanidae]

Never got into his hype, but what's your take on Wiseman?

He's got the physical profile of a good player. Like if you just looked at his height, weight, wingspan on an anthropometrics chart, you would think ''wow, this guy's gonna be dominant.''

Unfortunately, he just has no idea what he's doing. He's a horrible decision maker, and has yet to show any actual standout skills, while simultaneously showing lots of negative signs.

In 21 EYBL games, Wiseman averaged 15.2 points on 52% TS. For a 7'1 dude with a 7'6 wingspan playing against other 16 and 17 year olds, that is... not good. For comparison, another C prospect in this year's draft, Onyeka Okongwu, shot 75.89% TS in EYBL play, and most people don't even consider him a top 20 prospect. Isaiah Stewart shot 60.5% TS, and he's generally not considered a lock for top 10.

In raw numbers, that translates to him shooting 55% from the FT line and 14.8% from 3!! And it's not like he didn't take any, he was taking more than 1 a game, which isn't the largest sample but it's not like he only took two shots the whole time.

It's not like he makes up for that by being a gifted facilitator either: 14 assists to 44 turnovers in EYBL play is not an ideal ratio.

The only real stat that people have been able to point at as an indicator of an NBA level skill as of right now is his blocks: 39 in 21 games is a strong block rate. Unfortunately, if you actually watch the tape on him it turns out that's not because he's some brilliant rim protector, but instead just a result of him jumping at literally everything. He has a 9'3.5'' standing reach. He should not need to jump that often for blocks, especially against guys who are 6'5 and under: but he does. He's always a-leapin. He plays much, much smaller than he is.

He's got the physical tools to still end up as a solid defender, if only due to the rules of verticality, and I'm sure that some strong coaching and development can turn him into at least an acceptable offensive player. But this weird narrative about him being in the strong contest for the #1 overall pick this year is just ludicrous to me. He would have to have a stellar college year to have any real chance of it. Of course, that's possible, but as of right now? Noooooooope.

[msusousaphone]

Jrue would be a perennial all-star if he got fouls called his way. I really can't understand how he doesn't get the calls. It's baffling. And the weirdest part is.....it's just kind of understood. Announcers are just nonchalantly saying "most would get that call but it's Jrue". It's just something people have accepted.

If they would start calling fouls for Jrue, you'd see hom make at least 5 to 8 more points a game from FTs alone, people would have to defend him different as they get into foul trouble, and it would open up things for every other player on the team.

But wtf. Like. He's a good guy. I could see if he were like Boogie ticking off the refs them not calling things his way. But he's not. So what's up?

[Dr. Sting]

I like Jrue as a person but he's not a "dog." He has zero alpha in him. Nice complimentary piece but no more than that. He could be a good 3rd option and a lockdown defender if Ingram and Zion live up to their potential.

[Sleeper]

I like Jrue as a person but he's not a "dog." He has zero alpha in him. Nice complimentary piece but no more than that. He could be a good 3rd option and a lockdown defender if Ingram and Zion live up to their potential.

Been saying this since before Griffin came out and said he was the leader of the team. A leader can’t make as many bad decisions as him. He is not aggressive at the right moments and his turnovers seem to come when we need him the most. He is a great NBA player but still don’t see the MVP Griffin sees in him. Way too inconsistent and it isn’t just this short season so far.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[6warddude]

Jrue would be a perennial all-star if he got fouls called his way. I really can't understand how he doesn't get the calls. It's baffling. And the weirdest part is.....it's just kind of understood. Announcers are just nonchalantly saying "most would get that call but it's Jrue". It's just something people have accepted.

If they would start calling fouls for Jrue, you'd see hom make at least 5 to 8 more points a game from FTs alone, people would have to defend him different as they get into foul trouble, and it would open up things for every other player on the team.

But wtf. Like. He's a good guy. I could see if he were like Boogie ticking off the refs them not calling things his way. But he's not. So what's up?

I keep saying if jrue wild out on the refs in one game about getting beat up when he drive and don't get the calls then nba talking heads will have his back and callout the refs.....players and people around the nba know jrue get disrespected by the refs but jrue has to stand up for himself and get a tech going after the refs for swallowing their whistles…..throw the ball at the refs feet or something...

[ragincaucasian]

Just spit in my face why don't you?

I knew that would get under your skin lol

[Pelicanidae]

I knew that would get under your skin lol

There are so many guys in this draft that look like they've got the potential to be at least *good*. Honestly cannot understand the Wiseman hype outside of people still getting their backs up over tall guys, which is weird in a Steph/Harden/Lillard/Westbrook/Kyrie/Kawhi/PG13 dominated world, where so many of the league's best guys are not bigs.

[ragincaucasian]

There are so many guys in this draft that look like they've got the potential to be at least *good*. Honestly cannot understand the Wiseman hype outside of people still getting their backs up over tall guys, which is weird in a Steph/Harden/Lillard/Westbrook/Kyrie/Kawhi/PG13 dominated world, where so many of the league's best guys are not bigs.

It's way too early to even evaluate the prospects. I look at it like this:

We have no enforcers down low. We are getting dunked on way too much. I'm not sure what the stats were on the last game, but there were a lot of uncontested dunks and just shots in the paint period.

Now, when Zion gets back that will change a little. But what if he gets hurt, or is on a pitch count, or is just resting on the bench?

I want people to be scared to even come in the paint at all. Wiseman, for how huge he is, is insanely athletic and would be a defensive force in the middle immediately.

Like I said, I'm not sold on anyone. The more we lose this year, the more tape I will be watching. Hell, I might watch every game in the NCAA Tournament this year.

[ragincaucasian]

He's got the physical profile of a good player. Like if you just looked at his height, weight, wingspan on an anthropometrics chart, you would think ''wow, this guy's gonna be dominant.''

Unfortunately, he just has no idea what he's doing. He's a horrible decision maker, and has yet to show any actual standout skills, while simultaneously showing lots of negative signs.

In 21 EYBL games, Wiseman averaged 15.2 points on 52% TS. For a 7'1 dude with a 7'6 wingspan playing against other 16 and 17 year olds, that is... not good. For comparison, another C prospect in this year's draft, Onyeka Okongwu, shot 75.89% TS in EYBL play, and most people don't even consider him a top 20 prospect. Isaiah Stewart shot 60.5% TS, and he's generally not considered a lock for top 10.

In raw numbers, that translates to him shooting 55% from the FT line and 14.8% from 3!! And it's not like he didn't take any, he was taking more than 1 a game, which isn't the largest sample but it's not like he only took two shots the whole time.

It's not like he makes up for that by being a gifted facilitator either: 14 assists to 44 turnovers in EYBL play is not an ideal ratio.

The only real stat that people have been able to point at as an indicator of an NBA level skill as of right now is his blocks: 39 in 21 games is a strong block rate. Unfortunately, if you actually watch the tape on him it turns out that's not because he's some brilliant rim protector, but instead just a result of him jumping at literally everything. He has a 9'3.5'' standing reach. He should not need to jump that often for blocks, especially against guys who are 6'5 and under: but he does. He's always a-leapin. He plays much, much smaller than he is.

He's got the physical tools to still end up as a solid defender, if only due to the rules of verticality, and I'm sure that some strong coaching and development can turn him into at least an acceptable offensive player. But this weird narrative about him being in the strong contest for the #1 overall pick this year is just ludicrous to me. He would have to have a stellar college year to have any real chance of it. Of course, that's possible, but as of right now? Noooooooope.

Good take. Who are your top 5 prospects right now?

[Pelicanidae]

Good take. Who are your top 5 prospects right now?

It's hard to say. I don't entirely agree when you say it's too early to even evaluate right now (there's a lot you can learn prior to college play, and some very dedicated and smart people doing a lot of it) but I do think that it's too early to be setting people out into immediate ranking like that.

Right now, I feel like it's mostly a tier system, where you have a couple of guys setting themselves apart from others but we'll need to see more before we can start making HUGE judgements that start splitting hairs. I also feel like it depends what you need, as well, so I rank guys by position more than just by overall stuff.

But, not to dodge the question, here are my current tiers:

Tier 1 - Guards
- Cole Anthony

Tier 2 - Guards
- Tyrese Maxey
- Anthony Edwards
- LaMelo Ball
- Nico Mannion
- Theo Maledon

Tier 3 - Guards
- Tyrese Halliburton
- Killian Hayes
- Isiah Joe
- Tre Jones
- RJ Hampton

Tier 1 - Wings
- Isaac Okoro
- Deni Avdija

Tier 2 - Wings
- Matthew Hurt
- Scottie Lewis
- Romeo Weems
- Jeramiah Robinson Earl
- Jaden McDaniels

Tier 3 - Wings
- Josh Green
- Precious Achiuwa
- Wendell Moore Jr

Tier 1 - Bigs
- Oscar Thsiebwe
- Onyeka Okongwu
- Isaiah Mobley

Tier 2 - Bigs
- Xavier Tillman
- Amar Sylla
- Aleksej Pokusevski
- Isiah Stewart
- James Wiseman

Tier 3 - Bigs
- Neemias Queta
- Kaleb Wesson
- Charles Bassey
- Obi Toppin

Obviously this is subject to change since it's still so early, and some of these guys I haven't had chance to watch a lot myself so I'm taking the word of draft guys who I trust and have agreed with in the past (I haven't really watched Pokusevski much, for example, but his name comes up a lot in the mouths of people who I generally share a lot of opinions with, so he's in there for now) but for the most part, that's my evaluations. Again, obviously who you pick depends on what you need: if you desperately need a defensive wing, then Okoro is probably your best bet in this draft even if Cole Anthony is a better overall prospect, for example.

[luckyman]

In case anyone forgot, Pelicans do have Cleveland's top 10 protected 1st round pick in 2020.

Cleveland is currently 2-3.