2022 NBA Draft Lottery

[Pelicanidae]

CJ, Trey, and BI being your main shooters is almost enough for a deep run. Trey still hasn't been able to create his own shot. I personally think we do need one more guy that can burn from perimeter. We get that 3rd legit shooter to develop that can also create his own shot. Team ceiling is limitless.

If your team has 4+ legitimately serious outside threats and 4+ legitimately capable self-creators, you have the best offense in the NBA. While aspiring for that is good, I think saying you need it is probably pushing it.

[coreylaron]

Why not just skip the middle man and draft sharpe? Lol

[MichaelMcNamara]

I know you've done the breakdown somewhere before, but just for interest sake, here's what I got using rough estimates:

JV-30
Zion-30
Ingram-30
Herb-30
CJ-30
-------------
~ 150 minutes for starting 5

240 available roster minutes
-150 starter minutes:
----------------------
~ 90 minutes left for bench:

Jose-20
Nance-20
Trey-20

These 3 key bench players expect to have a secure/expanded bench role next season.

90 overall bench minutes
- 60 Jose/Nance/Trey minutes
----------------------
~ 30 bench minutes remaining for:

Hayes
Graham
Kira
draft pick(s)
Naji

Temple(?)...

It is EXTREMELY rare where the 5 starters all play 30 Minutes or less. I think starter minutes are closer to 160-165. Leaving 80 for the bench. And I think Trey and Nance get 45 combined. Leaving 35 for the 8th, 9th, and 10th man

[coreylaron]

I can see Daniels being a good fit mainly because, as Mac has said, he does a lot of other things when not scoring. For some reason though, I really like Mathurin. So, I would be happy with either. If both are gone, I still lean towards taking the homerun shot on Sharpe and seeing what he becomes.

If Mathurin is there, that means sharpe and dyson are gone. So I wouldn’t be upset

[coreylaron]

That seems like a silly overexageration. The second half of the lottery of a fairly weak draft? You try to get something to help your team. If you have a team that you think can win now, and there is a guy out there that can help fill an immediate need, even if that need is shooting depth. And the guy has a decently high ceiling for future growth, I think you take him.

That's why I think Mathurin makes a better pick than Dyson. He fills an immediate need, and is a good enough athlete to allow for continued growth. So what is the main issue for the team? Is it three point defense. Then you go Dyson, because he fills an immediate need on that end. Is it three point offense? Then you go Mathurin.

Our problem was that we were 24th in the league in three point offense. If we want to make a push I think that number has to improve. Bringing in a guard that shoots poorly, and don't kid yourself, he shot very poorly especially for a guard, with the hope that you can turn that into a strength with coaching might be a tad too optimistic.

You can’t ignore the addition of Zion to the offense though. TS through the roof and will generate bukoo open threes. Like, a whole lot. With him, our needs are towards the defensive end. Both on ball and rim protection. He’s also a good off ball defender as well. Not a slouch on offense either. You leave him, he’s getting a floater or making a good pass. Shot isn’t as bad as the numbers suggest.

As far as draft philosophy, we just differ.

All in all, with BI, Zion, Cj, and JV, putting the ball in the net won’t be our Achilles heel

[Freyfamilyreuni]

It is EXTREMELY rare where the 5 starters all play 30 Minutes or less. I think starter minutes are closer to 160-165. Leaving 80 for the bench. And I think Trey and Nance get 45 combined. Leaving 35 for the 8th, 9th, and 10th man

And you're still not taking injuries into account, which seems like a big ommission for a fan of the Pelicans.

[coreylaron]

Do you sacrifice, Hayes, Kira, and or Naji for the pick?

[Freyfamilyreuni]

Do you sacrifice, Hayes, Kira, and or Naji for the pick?

I think this team is going to have to make a tough decision about Jax. He's not worth the money he wants to be paid, and he may never be worth the money. He's also a defensive liability. And if we give a lot of minutes to Zion we can't afford to have too many defensive liabilities.

Which is why I think if you're planning on parting ways with Jaxson, you need to start considering someone that is probably both a defensive and offensive upgrade. Sochan is a definite defensive upgrade right now. And he has the potential for being a much more well rounded offensive threat.

[PELICANSFAN]

If Mathurin is there, that means sharpe and dyson are gone. So I wouldn’t be upset

Probably and I would agree.

[Freyfamilyreuni]

You can’t ignore the addition of Zion to the offense though. TS through the roof and will generate bukoo open threes. Like, a whole lot. With him, our needs are towards the defensive end. Both on ball and rim protection. He’s also a good off ball defender as well. Not a slouch on offense either. You leave him, he’s getting a floater or making a good pass. Shot isn’t as bad as the numbers suggest.

As far as draft philosophy, we just differ.

All in all, with BI, Zion, Cj, and JV, putting the ball in the net won’t be our Achilles heel

The numbers don't bear it out. We were 24th in the league last year without Zion in three point percentage. We were 27th in the league the year before with Zion in three point percentage.

You're going to have some upgrade with CJ and Trey, but you still don't have a lot of shooting on this team. Which in today's NBA is a recipe for failure. You have to take advantage of the extra points the line gives you.

[AusPel]

Do you sacrifice, Hayes, Kira, and or Naji for the pick?

You do whatever it takes to get better with those three guys

[coreylaron]

I think this team is going to have to make a tough decision about Jax. He's not worth the money he wants to be paid, and he may never be worth the money. He's also a defensive liability. And if we give a lot of minutes to Zion we can't afford to have too many defensive liabilities.

Which is why I think if you're planning on parting ways with Jaxson, you need to start considering someone that is probably both a defensive and offensive upgrade. Sochan is a definite defensive upgrade right now. And he has the potential for being a much more well rounded offensive threat.

I can agree with the logic. Has a better shot at getting minutes than mathurin as well. No guarantee he still gets minutes though

[Sleeper]

The numbers don't bear it out. We were 24th in the league last year without Zion in three point percentage. We were 27th in the league the year before with Zion in three point percentage.

You're going to have some upgrade with CJ and Trey, but you still don't have a lot of shooting on this team. Which in today's NBA is a recipe for failure. You have to take advantage of the extra points the line gives you.

I agree. We need more shooting. Don?t think we go with Daniels when we already have Herb. I understand drafting best player available but if we draft a player that can get us out of a three point slump?.That player will get minutes in those games where our shots are not falling.


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[AusPel]

I agree. We need more shooting. Don?t think we go with Daniels when we already have Herb. I understand drafting best player available but if we draft a player that can get us out of a three point slump?.That player will get minutes in those games where our shots are not falling.


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More playmakers and better spacing = a better shooting team as a whole.

Not necessarily enough to just plug in a good to great shooter, who doesn't really affect the game in other ways *cough* AJ Griffin and Mathurin to a lesser extent *second cough*

Just adding Zion's gravity is gonna make everyone's shooting life that much easier, because they'll have more time to get their shot off

[MichaelMcNamara]

And you're still not taking injuries into account, which seems like a big ommission for a fan of the Pelicans.

Everyone makes this point as if I, a person who thinks about literally everything, havent thought about this very simple point.

Of course I know that it wont be only 9 or 10 guys playing every minute of all 82 games. There will be injuries, there will be rest days, etc.

But you dont make important decisions based on those things. You want to improve your 12th guy when you can, because he will get thrown in at some point. But you dont sacrifice a pick to do so. You dont draft in the top 10 to do so, etc.

Maybe you cut and spread Temple to do so. Or trade Jax for a future pick and a roster spot (or a better fit) to do so. But you arent using thing like a top end pick to do so. Thats my point. Do the 240 and you see that there is no need to mess with anything valuable to fill out rotation minutes. And when injuries occur, you still have Graham, Kira, Naji, whoever the pick is --- all waiting in the wings, all fully capable of playing regular season minutes. You dont let 'when injuries happen' effect what you do at 8 AT ALL

[coreylaron]

Did y’all ignore how good the final 4 teams were defensively?

[coreylaron]

Also that train of thought can be misleading, because our team will generate a lot of points at the rim and in the midrange

[Freyfamilyreuni]

More playmakers and better spacing = a better shooting team

Not necessarily just plugging in a good to great shooter who doesn't really affect the game any any other ways *cough AJ Griffin cough*

Just adding in Zion's gravity is gonna make everyone's shooting life that much easier, because they'll have more time to get their shot off

Daniels can have a week and a half to get his shot off, odds are he still bricks it. Having a bunch of bricklayers surrounding Zion doesn't do us much good. Which is what happened the last time Zion did play for us.

I'm going to assume that Griffin is going to make some additional moves. I don't think Jaxson is in the long term or maybe even immediate plans. So your options are to draft a guard and try to replace a big through a trade or free agency. If you draft a guard that can't shoot, then you'll have to find a decent big that can also double as a three point threat. Those aren't easy to find.

If you draft a big to replace Jaxson, then you try to upgrade your shooting by getting a guard or wing that can shoot through a trade or free agency. There's a lot more of those to be had.

[coreylaron]

Daniels can have a week and a half to get his shot off, odds are he still bricks it. Having a bunch of bricklayers surrounding Zion doesn't do us much good. Which is what happened the last time Zion did play for us.

I'm going to assume that Griffin is going to make some additional moves. I don't think Jaxson is in the long term or maybe even immediate plans. So your options are to draft a guard and try to replace a big through a trade or free agency. If you draft a guard that can't shoot, then you'll have to find a decent big that can also double as a three point threat. Those aren't easy to find.

If you draft a big to replace Jaxson, then you try to upgrade your shooting by getting a guard or wing that can shoot through a trade or free agency. There's a lot more of those to be had.

We’re talking about the 15th option on offense bro lol. Willie gon take the shot himself before the rookie can

[Freyfamilyreuni]

We’re talking about the 15th option on offense bro lol. Willie gon take the shot himself before the rookie can

If the 8th pick in the draft is your 15th option on offense, then you did something wrong.

[MichaelMcNamara]

The clear issue here is Frey drafts on who the player is. Its an inexact science but you are drafting on who you think they will be in 2025-2033. If you are drafting on who they are today, you wouldnt draft almost any of these guys because most 9th men are better than nearly every prospect in this draft is today

[Eman5805]

If the 8th pick in the draft is your 15th option on offense, then you did something wrong.

This year? Not even. Just means we have a competitive roster ready to slot itself firmly in the postseason. But if by like 2026? You don’ goofed.

[AusPel]

You can't really coach or instill certain basketball skills, no matter if you plugged 10,000 hours into them

You can fix shooting. Lonzo is a nice example. DeAndre Jordan became a pretty good free throw shooter being absolute pants

And what's the lagniappe? All the other lovely unteachable skills are still there.

AND

We don't need pick 8 to contribute to year 3, realistically

[Taker597]

If your team has 4+ legitimately serious outside threats and 4+ legitimately capable self-creators, you have the best offense in the NBA. While aspiring for that is good, I think saying you need it is probably pushing it.

I am pushing it... but i have the Warriors in mind. I don't want have to wait for father time. I want to beat them.

[MichaelMcNamara]

You can teach every basketball skill. You can’t improve certain forms of athleticism

The reason that shooting is the skill that more guys like improve than any other skill is because guys like working on that skill. It’s the bench press of working on your skills. But many others can be improved. You can grind and watch tons of tape and improve IQ and how you see the game. But what’s more fun for these 22 yr old kids - shooting 1000 jumpers or watching 6 hours of film with a coach?

All can be improved, you just rarely have guys who want to improve the tougher things. It doesn’t make for Insta videos that get a ton of likes to be sitting in a dark room, watching film. Or shuffling feet while calling out actions on D, etc