Pelicans want Steven Adams

[PELICANSFAN]

Can't look at things in a vacuum. Plenty of teams would pay that and more for him. Unless you have leverage in your geographical location or are a championship contender, you aren't gonna get him for 3/45. GMs are aware that his value exceeds the box scores fans tend to judge players by.

Do you really believe that? If so, maybe he should fire his agent. Why take 2/$35 now when teams would be lining up to pay 3/$45 and more next year? He signed that because he knew there was no guarantee he would get that next offseason. I would bet he would not get near that. Adding that with the cost of acquiring him is why I do not like the deal. I like the player, not the cost. I honestly felt that OKC would have to attach a pick to him or at best trade him for a 2nd to unload his hefty contract if they wanted to move him without taking on additional salary/longer contract.

[PELICANSFAN]

Because it's literally not true. If I can do something but decide not to, and someone else runs around saying that I *can't* do it, they're wrong.

We could use the MLE. We won't, but we could. Claiming that the option was taken from us is a distortion at best.

You are not being realistic. Of course it took away the option as using it would put us into the tax which we all know will not happen (at least at this point of the rebuild).

[pelafanatic]

This same board would be losing its mind had we used those exact same assets to trade up for a rookie big man and signed an aging Center to the MLE, which was a likely alternative option. Can't have your cake and eat it too. Assets are nice until you have a disgruntled fan base begging for the 10th seed, and you're running 19 year old centers out there for 48 minutes a night.

Had it not been for the Thunder this summer, I don't think this fanbase would feel so asset deprived as we apparently do. Guess what; the honeymoon period for the Thunder's process is going to come to a crashing burn at some point soon unless they luck out in the draft and the Clippers fall apart. Presti has been abysmal in the draft for 10 years now.

I think Griff and Co. are doing a fine job for now of balancing assets and on court play. He clearly has a ton of trust in his talent evaluation and evaluators, as well as his player development team. The most important thing for this roster is development of Zion. Secondarily, BI. Then, he needs to hit on one of Zo, Kira, NAW, Jax. I trust it for now. I'm expecting the NAW breakout this year, but could be any one of these guys.

Regardless, the Pels are planning for 2022-2023. Adams will be an expiring 17 million (the perfect contract to match salaries in a trade). Zion will be up for an extension. BI will be maxed. NAW, Jax, and Kira are the only other players under contract and will be on rookie deals. That's enough room to add a near max contract through FA and another max through a Steven Adams trade. This is the plan.

(And for those somehow upset over losing 2nd round picks, we still have 5 over the next 2 years. We'll be trading more of them, so prepare in advance)

[AusPel]

I am the king of nuanced discourse.

Also Pelicandae:

Because it's literally not true. If I can do something but decide not to, and someone else runs around saying that I *can't* do it, they're wrong.

[PELICANSFAN]

This same board would be losing its mind had we used those exact same assets to trade up for a rookie big man and signed an aging Center to the MLE, which was a likely alternative option. Can't have your cake and eat it too. Assets are nice until you have a disgruntled fan base begging for the 10th seed, and you're running 19 year old centers out there for 48 minutes a night.

Not sure I understand. I do not recall anyone clamoring to trade Hill, a 1st and 2 2nds to move up in the draft for any center. The thought process was that we were accumulating assets in the event that a young star-type player wanted out somewhere in the next 3-4 years.

Also, between a rookie center and aging center, I do not think we would have been paying 3 years/$65 million for both combined even if we took that route. We also could have likely gotten a stop-gap center much cheaper (i.e. Len, Noel, Thompson, Baynes, Biyombo, RoLo) and kept Hill and the picks. Apparently Griff sees Adams as much more than a stop-gap and more like a building block.

[pelafanatic]

Not sure I understand. I do not recall anyone clamoring to trade Hill, a 1st and 2 2nds to move up in the draft for any center. The thought process was that we were accumulating assets in the event that a young star-type player wanted out somewhere in the next 3-4 years.

Losing our minds in a bad sense.

We were never going to go into the year with a stop gap center. Especially not an unproven one like Noel. Thompson was not a possibility. Baynes scared off every team with his meds, specifically the Pels who saw what happened when Favors wasn't available last season.

Adams is a building block in the sense that he will be extremely reliable both on and off the court. He doesn't miss games and he's a good dude. He's also the type of guy that, when Hayes eventually makes the leap, will be ok with taking a step back. He's spoken about how much it meant to his career when Nick Collison did the same.

And, again, they've seemingly set his contract up intentionally so that he's a 17 million dollar expiring in the year they plan to make the big trade. If the Pels make a jump this year and become unexpected players in FA or trades prior to 2022, that Adams contract will be crucial in order to land a star.

[PELICANSFAN]

Losing our minds in a bad sense.

We were never going to go into the year with a stop gap center. Especially not an unproven one like Noel. Thompson was not a possibility. Baynes scared off every team with his meds, specifically the Pels who saw what happened when Favors wasn't available last season.

Adams is a building block in the sense that he will be extremely reliable both on and off the court. He doesn't miss games and he's a good dude. He's also the type of guy that, when Hayes eventually makes the leap, will be ok with taking a step back. He's spoken about how much it meant to his career when Nick Collison did the same.

And, again, they've seemingly set his contract up intentionally so that he's a 17 million dollar expiring in the year they plan to make the big trade. If the Pels make a jump this year and become unexpected players in FA or trades prior to 2022, that Adams contract will be crucial in order to land a star.

Pure speculation on the players unless you are saying every single stop gap center was not right for a team like the Pelicans for some reason . The contract part makes no sense. His extension is a relatively flat extension, so they did nothing special to set up a certain expiring amount in his last year. All contracts' final years are expiring and they did not set up some amount specifically just to make it enticing.

[pelafanatic]

Pure speculation on the players unless you are saying every single stop gap center was not right for a team like the Pelicans for some reason . The contract part makes no sense. His extension is a relatively flat extension, so they did nothing special to set up a certain expiring amount in his last year. All contracts' final years are expiring and they did not set up some amount specifically just to make it enticing.

They set the years up intentionally to expire in 2022. And it?s not speculation on the players but if you don?t like the deal you don?t like the deal. There?s not much I can say to convince you

[Pelicanidae]

Also Pelicandae:

In the first post I was making fun of MM. Get things straight

[pelafanatic]

Adams had a 12.8% assist rate last year. That's 81% in the among bigs. We saw the Pels try to run some high post and rub stuff with Favors last year and it was god awful. New system of course, but I wonder if we see them try to put Adams in similar situations

[luigi modelo]

Adams had a 12.8% assist rate last year. That's 81% in the among bigs. We saw the Pels try to run some high post and rub stuff with Favors last year and it was god awful. New system of course, but I wonder if we see them try to put Adams in similar situations

I'm on board with your takes on acquiring Adams

[Pelicanidae]

Adams had a 12.8% assist rate last year. That's 81% in the among bigs. We saw the Pels try to run some high post and rub stuff with Favors last year and it was god awful. New system of course, but I wonder if we see them try to put Adams in similar situations

He's a fantastic passer for a big.

[PELICANSFAN]

They set the years up intentionally to expire in 2022. And it?s not speculation on the players but if you don?t like the deal you don?t like the deal. There?s not much I can say to convince you

Ah, you were talking about the year, not the amount. I think that was the max years they could extend based on the rules. I'm a bit confused as to why they did it now (as I believe they could have done it much later in the year and by that time have a grasp on how he fits next to Ingram and Zion). Maybe Adams and his agent pushed for it now.

Griff on Steven Adams: If it's ever been said I've been interested in him, it's absolutely true. Griff says he's been enamored since he first talked to him in the pre-draft process.

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) November 30, 2020

Griff may have overpaid a bit because of his infatuation with Adams.

No, I do not like the deal. However, I do like the player, so hope he is extremely successful here.

[pelafanatic]

Ah, you were talking about the year, not the amount. I think that was the max years they could extend based on the rules. I'm a bit confused as to why they did it now (as I believe they could have done it much later in the year and by that time have a grasp on how he fits next to Ingram and Zion). Maybe Adams and his agent pushed for it now.

Griff on Steven Adams: If it's ever been said I've been interested in him, it's absolutely true. Griff says he's been enamored since he first talked to him in the pre-draft process.

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) November 30, 2020

Griff may have overpaid a bit because of his infatuation with Adams.

No, I do not like the deal. However, I do like the player, so hope he is extremely successful here.

And this is fair. I'll agree with you on the overpay, though I think it is only slight (I hoped for 15 mil).

[luckyman]

In case nobody knew, Griff and SVG holding press conference today. Available on yt channel. First day of team practice Sunday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIOE...rleansPelicans

[6warddude]

David Griffin - When BI left the bubble he made it very clear to Trajan and I that he doesn't intend to miss the playoffs again in his career
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,


seeing this from griffin, to me its very clear why griffin offered what he offered to make sure that he get adams with no problems......ingram is ready to take on the big dog role...

[SoCal4Pels]

Do you really believe that? If so, maybe he should fire his agent. Why take 2/$35 now when teams would be lining up to pay 3/$45 and more next year? He signed that because he knew there was no guarantee he would get that next offseason. I would bet he would not get near that. Adding that with the cost of acquiring him is why I do not like the deal. I like the player, not the cost. I honestly felt that OKC would have to attach a pick to him or at best trade him for a 2nd to unload his hefty contract if they wanted to move him without taking on additional salary/longer contract.

You said: "If we signed him as a FA for about 3/$45 or less, I would be ok with it."

This is a hypothetical taking place at the present moment, not in the future, judging by your verb tense.

If SA were an unrestricted free agent now, I definitely believe he could get 3/45 from many teams, possibly more. Meaning, he likely isn't coming to an incredibly young, unproven, tiny market team for that price.

The future is an unknown. If he proves that he is expected to remain a very healthy, incredibly strong, rebounding and defensive anchor whose value exceeds his box score numbers, then he will have commanded a decent price as a FA. Extending requires a discussion between an agent and player and is the less risky path, especially for a very large player, a very physical player, playing heavy minutes.

[Eman5805]

Yeah. I like Steven Adams. The cost to get Steven Adams is tough to parse. But whatever. Hopefully this team is greater than the sum of its parts. Even with some really good parts.

[PolishFan]

Yeah. I like Steven Adams. The cost to get Steven Adams is tough to parse. But whatever. Hopefully this team is greater than the sum of its parts. Even with some really good parts.

I like the player and I like the deal. We got 2 picks, 2 swaps, Adams and Jrue lite in Bledsoe for a year of Jrue and second rounders. I don?t believe we should keep all of the picks we have cause we really have a lot or be developing too many young players at the same time. We need some vets and it?s not like it?s easy to bring FA here. We got a player that we wanted and he got extended for much less than his current contract and it seems he wants to be here. Will he decline? Maybe but he is still quite young so I strongly believe he won?t.

We got a starter for a late pick in a week draft

[Eman5805]

Just wish we could've kept more. But whatever. Contrary to what many clowns who seem to think playing some kind of 5 out offense is the way to go or that Zion is some lumbering big who needs mountains of space or he'll trip and bumble over the defense...Zion is going to be on the recipient of some screen actions. Like the specific play Gentry liked to use to get Zion (and Ingram) going downhill, I see no reason why we can't incorporate that into the current offense whatever it is.

[luckyman]

...

Griffin said that some of the Pelicans' most efficient lineups last season featured Williamson playing alongside another non-shooting big, Derrick Favors.

The starting lineup the Pelicans liked to employ with Williamson, Favors, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday had a +18.1 net efficiency rating last season in 282 minutes together. That was the fourth-best lineup in the league among five-man lineups to play at least 150 minutes together.

So Griffin isn't worried about the lack of shooting chances Adams and Williamson will have.

"I think people put an awful lot of, and I'm one of them, put an awful lot of stock in the ability to stretch the court and shoot from the big position," Griffin said. "But not enough is made of the ability to set a physical screen and to make the right read as a passer and Steven gives us that."

[AusPel]

In the first post I was making fun of MM. Get things straight

It's hard to tell when you're cracking a joke

[MichaelMcNamara]

Just wish we could've kept more. But whatever. Contrary to what many clowns who seem to think playing some kind of 5 out offense is the way to go or that Zion is some lumbering big who needs mountains of space or he'll trip and bumble over the defense...Zion is going to be on the recipient of some screen actions. Like the specific play Gentry liked to use to get Zion (and Ingram) going downhill, I see no reason why we can't incorporate that into the current offense whatever it is.

And this is where I am at. I love Adams as a player. I can already see him having a good game and people saying "See Mac, he doesnt suck!"

I love him as a player but nobody else would have given OKC half of what we did and he wasnt getting 17.5 mil on next years market. Plain and simple. So, overpay, but I love the player. Both can be true. I think we lead the league this year in DHO's and my hope is Adams can also help the transition D by pounding the offensive glass. I have often thought a good way to help your transition D is to have your bigs really crash the boards, forcing the opponent to have 3 or 4 guys box them out to secure the rebound. And if your opponent has to put that many guys on the defensive glass to box out Zion and Adams, how can they run?

[AusPel]

Ah, you were talking about the year, not the amount. I think that was the max years they could extend based on the rules. I'm a bit confused as to why they did it now (as I believe they could have done it much later in the year and by that time have a grasp on how he fits next to Ingram and Zion). Maybe Adams and his agent pushed for it now.

Griff on Steven Adams: If it's ever been said I've been interested in him, it's absolutely true. Griff says he's been enamored since he first talked to him in the pre-draft process.

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) November 30, 2020

Griff may have overpaid a bit because of his infatuation with Adams.

No, I do not like the deal. However, I do like the player, so hope he is extremely successful here.

Who leaks this stuff about front office loving a guy?

All it ever leads to is an overpay, or being taken advantage of

All possibility of breaking even in a transaction is instantly eliminated

[PELICANSFAN]

And this is where I am at. I love Adams as a player. I can already see him having a good game and people saying "See Mac, he doesnt suck!"

I love him as a player but nobody else would have given OKC half of what we did and he wasnt getting 17.5 mil on next years market. Plain and simple. So, overpay, but I love the player. Both can be true. I think we lead the league this year in DHO's and my hope is Adams can also help the transition D by pounding the offensive glass. I have often thought a good way to help your transition D is to have your bigs really crash the boards, forcing the opponent to have 3 or 4 guys box them out to secure the rebound. And if your opponent has to put that many guys on the defensive glass to box out Zion and Adams, how can they run?

Agree. I like the player, just not the cost to acquire and salary. I think he will be fun to watch.