Pels Off season thread

[Pelicanidae]

I mean, I get the temptation to doom monger and I'm not going to pretend that the offseason thus far has thrilled me - though of course, there's still room for changes. But in my opinion we're very probably a better team than we were going into last season, and that matters. I'll take it, even if we're not as much better as I had hoped.

[DarkHornet]

I mean, I get the temptation to doom monger and I'm not going to pretend that the offseason thus far has thrilled me - though of course, there's still room for changes. But in my opinion we're very probably a better team than we were going into last season, and that matters. I'll take it, even if we're not as much better as I had hoped.

Regardless of what else happens, we will be going into the season with a more experienced Zion, a more experienced BI, lots of young talent that I'm excited to watch, a bit of an upgrade at center, and hopefully a coaching situation that gets the guys more bought in. I'll be excited to watch this team this season, regardless of any other moves.

[Pelicanidae]

Regardless of what else happens, we will be going into the season with a more experienced Zion, a more experienced BI, lots of young talent that I'm excited to watch, a bit of an upgrade at center, and hopefully a coaching situation that gets the guys more bought in. I'll be excited to watch this team this season, regardless of any other moves.

Yeah, Zion, Ingram, NAW, Jax, Kira are all one year older. Most of the time, that means better for guys this young.

We've upgraded Bledsoe to Graham and Adams to Jonas.

We've added Trey Murphy who some people on the board are in love with (and who I think will be perfectly fine as well) on the wing, an area we were notoriously short last year.

It seems fairly clear to me that we're better equipped today than we were in say, December of last year.

Obviously if we make another trade that could improve or harm the team again, but for now I'm fine. Not thrilled but fine.

[13 - 3]

Oh the horror. We got a player Durant likes. Damn you Griffin an Trajan lol

Kevin Durant lists Devonte Graham, Zach LaVine, Kristaps Porzingis when asked about young players that impress him. KD thinks Zach LaVine has ?superstar potential.? ����

(via @OldManAndThree) pic.twitter.com/hiij3WgBeC

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) August 4, 2021

[PolishFan]

Regardless of what else happens, we will be going into the season with a more experienced Zion, a more experienced BI, lots of young talent that I'm excited to watch, a bit of an upgrade at center, and hopefully a coaching situation that gets the guys more bought in. I'll be excited to watch this team this season, regardless of any other moves.

And no bad contracts !

[hornetsrebirth]

I'm not trying to be condescending when I say this, but it's time for Pelicans fans to start being alittle more realistic.

Well I do mean this in a slightly condescending way because you just replied to my post but didn’t respond to the question at all. I will repeat: how much money would Zion be leaving on the table if he does not resign with the Pelicans?

[DarkHornet]

And no bad contracts !

Yep! We have the ability to add someone at the trade deadline if we see the opportunity. The worst thing we could do is to panic and give up a lot of assets for someone to close out the Memphis trade just for the sake of adding someone.

[msusousaphone]

Yeah, Zion, Ingram, NAW, Jax, Kira are all one year older. Most of the time, that means better for guys this young.

We've upgraded Bledsoe to Graham and Adams to Jonas.

We've added Trey Murphy who some people on the board are in love with (and who I think will be perfectly fine as well) on the wing, an area we were notoriously short last year.

It seems fairly clear to me that we're better equipped today than we were in say, December of last year.

Obviously if we make another trade that could improve or harm the team again, but for now I'm fine. Not thrilled but fine.

I agree with your comparisons.

My concern is the defense. Bledsoe was frustrating but he was decent at D. Lonzo is pretty good at D and most give him the potential to be great at D.......Graham concerns me. He wouldn't concern me if the rest of our defense was decent and we could hide his height disadvantage but we were so bad last year defensively that it seems like he'll be left exposed. Swapping out Bledsoe and Ball for Graham and NAW as starters is.....concerning to say the least. That's why I think we have to be targeting some defensive specialist, right?

Or the reports of Didi putting in a lot of work has the FO feeling like he can be that guy.

Or I'm underestimating Sato. Which is possible. I have never really paid attention to him.

I do think Murphy can eventually help here. But not rookie season.

A starting lineup of Graham, NAW, BI, Zion, and JV has me picturing turnstyles.

Edit: I say this all to say that I believe we won't leave it this way. Something else has to be coming.

[13 - 3]

Pels fans - I don't know how much more I can tweet about the Memphis deal for it to stick. It became VERY clear early in free agency that no one wanted their money and now the Pelicans are focused on trades - as it's the best option for improvement. They are not players in FA!

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) August 4, 2021

[13 - 3]

I’m told the #Celtics are prepared to offer the Washington #Wizards a package of Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, Aaron Nesmith and 3 first round picks for Bradley Beal.

— Avery Michaels (@AMichaelsNBA) August 4, 2021

It is just speculation for now

[Sleeper]

I?m told the #Celtics are prepared to offer the Washington #Wizards a package of Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, Aaron Nesmith and 3 first round picks for Bradley Beal.

? Avery Michaels (@AMichaelsNBA) August 4, 2021

It is just speculation for now

I will be sad if Wizards take that


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[13 - 3]

Yeah no way Boston would give up 3 first rounders. Lots of speculation on Twitter right now

[Pelicanidae]

I agree with your comparisons.

My concern is the defense. Bledsoe was frustrating but he was decent at D. Lonzo is pretty good at D and most give him the potential to be great at D.......Graham concerns me. He wouldn't concern me if the rest of our defense was decent and we could hide his height disadvantage but we were so bad last year defensively that it seems like he'll be left exposed. Swapping out Bledsoe and Ball for Graham and NAW as starters is.....concerning to say the least. That's why I think we have to be targeting some defensive specialist, right?

I understand the concern with regards to defense, and personally I don't think defense will be our strength this upcoming season, but think of it this way.

Last season we had Bledsoe and Ball. We were a historically awful defense. However good you think they were on defense, it did nothing to rectify the overall team defense - this year, it's all about the team locking in and playing defense more competitively, more aggressively, and with more consistency. If we do that, even if you think the individual links in the chain are less impressive, the chain itself will be stronger.

Now, then there's the question of whether we actually are worse off defensive than last year. I'm not sure we are.

Firstly, Bledsoe is on paper a good defender who has a history of defense, but whatever that reputation may be, it's not the player we got. Our Bledsoe stunk on defense. Graham, by comparison, is actually a better defender than people sometimes seem to think. He's not lockdown, by any means, but he's exactly the same height as Bledsoe and has a 6'6 wingspan, so there's tools to work with, and he actually fights on D. Despite his size, his D-EPM last season was +0.2: Bledsoe's was -1.8. Even if Bledsoe's defensive ceiling is higher than Grahams, I think it's reasonable to expect that Graham's defense on our team will be better than Bled's was last year.

Then there's NAW. NAW is a weird one because some games he looked very good on defense, racking up steals and deflections, chasing around screens, using his length well. Other games he was just really not good at all. Despite that, his defensive EPM last year was -0.7, which is not at all good but isn't quite Bledsoe levels of badness: if he can be more consistent this year, I feel like he will be fine on defense.

Then, while I think Adams is better than JV defensively at their best, again, the version of Adams we had was plagued by injuries and he could barely move for months. JV is probably better.

So what I'm saying is, Graham and JV will probably be better than Bledsoe and Adams defensively, NAW probably won't be too bad, and I feel like Zion was making clear improvement throughout last year that I hope continues this season. Overall, while I don't think we're going to be a top 10 defensive team or anything, I feel like we can avoid being bottom 5 again. 17th rated defense or something incoming.

[SonOfNOLA]

Yep! We have the ability to add someone at the trade deadline if we see the opportunity. The worst thing we could do is to panic and give up a lot of assets for someone to close out the Memphis trade just for the sake of adding someone.

That’s what it seems like the writers/podcasters on social media and Twitter wants the team FO do is panic into giving a 4 yr/80 mill bad contract to somebody just to do something “notable” in FA, in their eyes, and set the team back. They completely ignore who’s on the roster and don’t even think if those bad contract FAs would even be any better than our FRPs of the 2019 and 2020 drafts. Throw out $20 million to somebody, and if the Pels don’t, then it’s they don’t know what they’re doing

[SonOfNOLA]

Yeah no way Boston would give up 3 first rounders. Lots of speculation on Twitter right now

I mean for Bradley Beal, those are very late first round picks if the Celtics make it to the ECSF and ECF every year with Tatum, Brown, and Beal like they should

[Pelicanidae]

That’s what it seems like the writers/podcasters on social media and Twitter wants the team FO do is panic into giving a 4 yr/80 mill bad contract to somebody just to do something “notable” in FA, in their eyes, and set the team back. They completely ignore who’s on the roster and don’t even think if those bad contract FAs would even be any better than our FRPs of the 2019 and 2020 drafts. Throw out $20 million to somebody, and if the Pels don’t, then it’s they don’t know what they’re doing

Yeah, that would be a huge mistake.

I certainly would have liked us to have made a big move that catapulted us into the league's top tier but we didn't and at this stage, it's looking very unlikely for such a thing to occur. If it doesn't, the best thing to do is just accept that we're better now than we were, and go into the season like that.

We still have draft picks and such, we still have over $25m of expiring salary we can work with in trades, and we still have assets that can be moved in terms of young talent (I don't really want to move someone like NAW either but come on, if it's for a star?). If anyone becomes available, we're ready to take advantage of it. Until then, just hang tight.

[Pels4Life]

I'm not trying to be condescending when I say this, but it's time for Pelicans fans to start being alittle more realistic.

I'm not sure why we need to be realistic.

[Pelicanidae]

Devonte Graham has made it to New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/T9WAyb8x8A

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) August 4, 2021

[DroopyDawg]

Pels fans - I don't know how much more I can tweet about the Memphis deal for it to stick. It became VERY clear early in free agency that no one wanted their money and now the Pelicans are focused on trades - as it's the best option for improvement. They are not players in FA!

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) August 4, 2021

Shamit is wasting his time. Unless we sign Jordan in his prime... the front office is trash. The Pels can only offer free agents a contract, and depending on who you believe... w etried to money-whip the hell out of some good players, and they turned it down (some for less money... see Lil Timmy).

We got SOMETHING for Lonzo.. some fans felt they should have sent us Zach Lavine. We got SOMETHING in the trade from Chicago, which is way more than getting NOTHING.

The front office can't win. Granted they have done some dumb moves in the past, but let the offseason play-out fully before we fire Griff.

[MichaelMcNamara]

Well I do mean this in a slightly condescending way because you just replied to my post but didn’t respond to the question at all. I will repeat: how much money would Zion be leaving on the table if he does not resign with the Pelicans?

I went through all of this a while ago because I knew all this was coming and wanted you guys to have the facts. Just go ahead and scroll down the message board a tiny bit. Its all there - and I am literally the only one who has done the work on this, so that is the only place you can find what you are looking for. You're welcome

[pelafanatic]

Devonte Graham has made it to New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/T9WAyb8x8A

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) August 4, 2021

I feel bad that we haven't been able to give Devonte Graham enough appreciation because of all the other moving parts. I'm not exaggerating when I say he gives me a Kamara/Teddy vibe. He really seems to want to embrace this team and city, and also seems like a cool a** dude. Hopefully we can finish with a few good moves so we can give Graham the welcome he deserves

[Speakthetruth]

Griff awake. Has to be something going on behind the scenes.

[Pelicanidae]

I feel bad that we haven't been able to give Devonte Graham enough appreciation because of all the other moving parts. I'm not exaggerating when I say he gives me a Kamara/Teddy vibe. He really seems to want to embrace this team and city, and also seems like a cool a** dude. Hopefully we can finish with a few good moves so we can give Graham the welcome he deserves

Obviously we have limited knowledge on these things, but everything I've seen and heard about Graham indicates he's a good dude who works hard and embraces his role. Maybe I've just got incomplete info (very very possible) and he's actually horrible, but I'm rooting for him right now.

[msusousaphone]

I understand the concern with regards to defense, and personally I don't think defense will be our strength this upcoming season, but think of it this way.

Last season we had Bledsoe and Ball. We were a historically awful defense. However good you think they were on defense, it did nothing to rectify the overall team defense - this year, it's all about the team locking in and playing defense more competitively, more aggressively, and with more consistency. If we do that, even if you think the individual links in the chain are less impressive, the chain itself will be stronger.

Now, then there's the question of whether we actually are worse off defensive than last year. I'm not sure we are.

Firstly, Bledsoe is on paper a good defender who has a history of defense, but whatever that reputation may be, it's not the player we got. Our Bledsoe stunk on defense. Graham, by comparison, is actually a better defender than people sometimes seem to think. He's not lockdown, by any means, but he's exactly the same height as Bledsoe and has a 6'6 wingspan, so there's tools to work with, and he actually fights on D. Despite his size, his D-EPM last season was +0.2: Bledsoe's was -1.8. Even if Bledsoe's defensive ceiling is higher than Grahams, I think it's reasonable to expect that Graham's defense on our team will be better than Bled's was last year.

Then there's NAW. NAW is a weird one because some games he looked very good on defense, racking up steals and deflections, chasing around screens, using his length well. Other games he was just really not good at all. Despite that, his defensive EPM last year was -0.7, which is not at all good but isn't quite Bledsoe levels of badness: if he can be more consistent this year, I feel like he will be fine on defense.

Then, while I think Adams is better than JV defensively at their best, again, the version of Adams we had was plagued by injuries and he could barely move for months. JV is probably better.

So what I'm saying is, Graham and JV will probably be better than Bledsoe and Adams defensively, NAW probably won't be too bad, and I feel like Zion was making clear improvement throughout last year that I hope continues this season. Overall, while I don't think we're going to be a top 10 defensive team or anything, I feel like we can avoid being bottom 5 again. 17th rated defense or something incoming.

Well hold on. Let me defend Bledsoe for a bit.

Lol. Kidding. I feel bad for the guy, but no one can defend his tenure here.

[Pelicanidae]

Well hold on. Let me defend Bledsoe for a bit.

Lol. Kidding. I feel bad for the guy, but no one can defend his tenure here.

For real. In the perfect circumstance, Bledsoe is almost definitely a better defender than Graham. His wingspan is even longer, he's much stronger physically, etc. But in terms of what they're willing to give the New Orleans Pelicans, I'm guessing that Graham will put better effort in on the floor and produce better results.