Who do we keep on this roster and who do we move? Why?

[pelicanchamp]

1.I want to know who y’all think we have to do our best to keep on our roster. Why?
2. Who do we try to add via trade, draft or free agency?

Must keep:
Zion, Ingram, Favors, Lonzo, Hayes

Why are these players a must for me?
1.Offensive Rebounding from Favors and Zion are valuable.
2. Defense and BBIQ from Favors and Zion.
3. High FG% from Zion, Favors and Ingram.
4. Frequent trips to the FT line Zion, Ingram
5. Lonzo for defense, high bbiq, talented unorthodox PG, great chemistry with Zion and Ingram, phenomenal passing, and high volume above average 3 point threat. Pushes the pace, athletic, solid rebounder, still developing.
6. Hayes, freakish athletic with size and potential elite shot blocker. Draws fouls.Gets to the line. Good rookie with rookie contract.
7. Bottom line: Zion and Ingram are already reliable superstars. Lonzo maybe average low shooting percentage but that doesn’t mean much if all you shoot are 3s. All players as a whole do well in capturing the 4 factors of winning. FG%, getting to line, Offensive rebounding... low turnovers must improve... Zo is still a future All Star if he develops more. He will...


We need to add a defensive specialist who can do it all on defense. Preferable a guard. I would love to get a guy like PJ Tucker. Someone who can really shoot 3s and defend multiple positions. Marcus Smart is another guy...

If we could add Bradley Beal or find an elite defender in the draft that would be great. I also wouldn’t mind trying to land Dinwiddie from the NETS. We gotta find someone....

Guys I wouldn’t mind letting go of:
Okafor, Jackson, Miller, Kenrich


Players/targets I would consider: Beal, KAT, Dinwiddie, McCollum, Devin Booker, Marcus Smart, Stephen Adams, Ayton, Ibaka, Kuzma, Klay Thompson

Only players I would absolutely not move are Zion and Ingram.

I think we can land a high pick in this 2020 draft and do well.

We will have to give up Jrue, Reddick, Hayes, Lonzo, Hart and multiple picks to get a really big time player. Maybe not all of those players but some kind of package with some of these guys.

My prediction is we will wait for a superstar to be disgruntled and then have leverage to make a killer trade.







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[Impose]

The depth chart is actually quite nice as it stands. The team should gather momentum down the stretch with a friendly schedule and Zion looking like a legitimately super efficient piece. Some quality guys will miss minutes this year. I've definitely been intrigued by Brandon and Lonzo's development, Hart is the right type of competitor you NEED on your team. So the AD trade was gold.

Holiday is, I believe, a fantastic teammate and all-star level player. If he is happy working through this then I want him here, same with Redick.

I think there was a deal there at the deadline for the team but Griffin stood firm and believed in what he's put together. I actually don't blame him. Next season with this squad could be awesome. Prolly going to lose E'Twaun and Okafor whom I really admire, but there is depth to cover it.

One more longish wing would be all I ask for. Feels like our 4 guard lineups get bullied at times.

[tdcreator]

The depth chart is actually quite nice as it stands. The team should gather momentum down the stretch with a friendly schedule and Zion looking like a legitimately super efficient piece. Some quality guys will miss minutes this year. I've definitely been intrigued by Brandon and Lonzo's development, Hart is the right type of competitor you NEED on your team. So the AD trade was gold.

Holiday is, I believe, a fantastic teammate and all-star level player. If he is happy working through this then I want him here, same with Redick.

I think there was a deal there at the deadline for the team but Griffin stood firm and believed in what he's put together. I actually don't blame him. Next season with this squad could be awesome. Prolly going to lose E'Twaun and Okafor whom I really admire, but there is depth to cover it.

One more longish wing would be all I ask for. Feels like our 4 guard lineups get bullied at times.

I like Lonzo and him and Zion seem to be clicking but I’d move him. He gives you one good skill set in passing and pretty good defense but not much of anything else. I’d rather Jrue to be our defensive stopper and he gives a lot more on the offensive end. I know I’d sound like a broken record but Beal is ideal for this team. An aggressive shooter with range and can drive just a better version of JJ. A lineup of Jrue, Beal, Ingram, Zion, and Favors would be really good. I’d start the bench with Hart, JJ, and Jax. So I’m looking for a backup point unless NAW can fill it, a SF and a PF. I’d see how much MKG is because he could slide into both spots and be our go to defender on defense. If we kept our pick, I’d hope for okongwu or Toppin which would solidify some young depth at that position. Ideally moving forward would be Zion, Okongwu, and Jax in the front court with any on the 2 on the court at all times.
Jrue, NAW
Beal, JJ
Ingram, Hart
Zion, MKG, Melli
Favors, Jax

[donato]

No thanks. I'd like to build the team around Zion, BI, Lonzo and JAX. Look to potentially move the rest. Really impressed with Hart as a glue guy off the bench as well.

[Pelicanidae]

No idea why your list of specific targets includes Kuzma Players like Beal, McCollum, Booker, KAT, Smart, I understand. Kuzma? Seems like one of these is very much not like the others.

As for who on the roster is an absolute must keep, the only answer to me is Zion. Everyone else is negotiable dependent on the return. That's more a future move though, and it anticipates big trades; in the short term, we have to resign Ingram this summer for sure and I would hope to retain Favors as long as it was on a reasonable deal.

You mention getting an elite defender in the draft. Which position did you have in mind? If you're looking for an elite wing defender, Isaac Okoro is the clear and best answer, but there's a chance he's off the board by the time we pick, depending on exactly where we end up. He's probably going top 10, so if we finish with like, the 12th pick or something it would probably require him to drop. That said, tankathon predicts him going in the mid teens so maybe I'm just being a doomsayer.

If you want an elite defensive big, then if you're picking top 5 the answer is Onyeka Okongwu, but if you're picking 15 or lower, Killian Tillie is my guy

[TheBlade]

1.I want to know who y’all think we have to do our best to keep on our roster. Why?
2. Who do we try to add via trade, draft or free agency?

Must keep:
Zion, Ingram, Favors, Lonzo, Hayes

Why are these players a must for me?
1.Offensive Rebounding from Favors and Zion are valuable.
2. Defense and BBIQ from Favors and Zion.
3. High FG% from Zion, Favors and Ingram.
4. Frequent trips to the FT line Zion, Ingram
5. Lonzo for defense, high bbiq, talented unorthodox PG, great chemistry with Zion and Ingram, phenomenal passing, and high volume above average 3 point threat. Pushes the pace, athletic, solid rebounder, still developing.
6. Hayes, freakish athletic with size and potential elite shot blocker. Draws fouls.Gets to the line. Good rookie with rookie contract.
7. Bottom line: Zion and Ingram are already reliable superstars. Lonzo maybe average low shooting percentage but that doesn’t mean much if all you shoot are 3s. All players as a whole do well in capturing the 4 factors of winning. FG%, getting to line, Offensive rebounding... low turnovers must improve... Zo is still a future All Star if he develops more. He will...


We need to add a defensive specialist who can do it all on defense. Preferable a guard. I would love to get a guy like PJ Tucker. Someone who can really shoot 3s and defend multiple positions. Marcus Smart is another guy...

If we could add Bradley Beal or find an elite defender in the draft that would be great. I also wouldn’t mind trying to land Dinwiddie from the NETS. We gotta find someone....

Guys I wouldn’t mind letting go of:
Okafor, Jackson, Miller, Kenrich


Players/targets I would consider: Beal, KAT, Dinwiddie, McCollum, Devin Booker, Marcus Smart, Stephen Adams, Ayton, Ibaka, Kuzma, Klay Thompson

Only players I would absolutely not move are Zion and Ingram.

I think we can land a high pick in this 2020 draft and do well.

We will have to give up Jrue, Reddick, Hayes, Lonzo, Hart and multiple picks to get a really big time player. Maybe not all of those players but some kind of package with some of these guys.

My prediction is we will wait for a superstar to be disgruntled and then have leverage to make a killer trade.







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I'd add Nickeil Alexander-Walker to that list. While he hasn't seen a lot of play time yet, his ball handling and rapport with Hayes is impressive. Young guy with tons of upside. You can't afford to lose young talent like his. Imo, he is a must keep for this reason.

Another keeper (but not a must keep) is Melli. He is just now starting to come into his own. He is valuable bench talent and in today's NBA, bench talent is an absolute must. You have to find and keep talent that comes with a reasonable salary to fill those bench slots.

Getting rid of a strong bench in favor of a star player is often a mistake. Injuries to that single player and minutes not played can be problematic. For a solid team you need both star players AND a good bench. The youth on our team can both result in a solid long term starters and/or a strong bench while not encumbering us with salary concerns for awhile.

And as long as you have young players like we do, and will have for the foreseeable future (1sts from LA) you need your vets to be leaders like Reddick and Jrue. You must consider that when bringing in high priced talent.

Personally, I like the current makeup of our team and see these youngsters maturing into something very special. And then new young talent coming in over the next few years will be interesting and may build on what we already have.

[Eman5805]

Only two absolute stone cold locks are Ingram and Zion. I’d let Zo go for the right caliber of player.

[Pelicanidae]

I feel like if I were to grade the different levels of ''keep'', maybe it would look like this. I'm not including guys like Favors and Redick who, I think, we really should keep but are

Absolutely untouchable: Zion
Keep unless there's an outstanding offer: Ingram, Jrue, Hayes
Want to keep but could be moved: Redick, Melli, Favors, Hart, Lonzo, Kenrich, NAW
Want to move: Frank, Jah, Moore
Please get rid of this man: Darius Miller

All of this is fluid though. For all we know, Hart's currently playing at his absolute best and it's all downhill from here, in which case this time next year he could be on the ''want to move'' list, just for an example. Things can move. In fact, this could even be a different list by the end of the week but these are my thoughts right now.

[SoCal4Pels]

Beware, long, rambling post:

You have to ask yourself, what kind of team do you want to build, and what kind of assets do you think you can get for each player or combination of players based on their perceived value and what teams would be willing to give up?

Zion ain't going anywhere obviously, and if you want to build around a player like him (hyper athletic, dominant inside presence who can both post up and face up and can create open looks on the perimeter due to his gravity) the teams you try to emulate are historic Lebron teams and the current Bucks around Giannis (not saying Zion has their handles or playmaking ability...). So basically, you surround him with shooters, who ideally, also can create off the dribble on closeouts and play great D. Ideally...

You don't even think of giving up BI, he complements Zion and there is really no possibility of getting equal value for him at this point, and he is only just starting to scratch the surface of his potential. I mean technically, yeah he's tradable if the Clippers are throwing Kawhi, but nothing remotely like that will happen. And something no one talks about is that BI ALSO complements Lonzo so we do not have to rely solely on our PG for someone who can playmake in the half court, which has been a weakness of Zo's. And trust me, BI has the work ethic and drive to achieve on the defensive end the same improvements he has made on the offensive end.

Jrue, is he an IDEAL fit? No (though, most players on most teams are not ideal fits). Due to his lack of outside shooting. Is Lonzo or Favors ideal? For the same reason, no. But if Lonzo keeps working on his shot, gets his 3pt percentage to 37 or 38%, and taking his defensive potential and rare rebounding ability, actually, he is as close to ideal as you will find for a non-allstar role player who doesn't take shots away from Zion and BI. Reddick? Not ideal; weak on D.

BUT, E'Twan, Hart, and Favors make an excellent off the bench squad.... NAW has potential, and Hayes is already contributing. And if we are talking fantasy, since Jrue says he'd love to stay in NO forever, if he'd take less money when his contract is up and take on a 6th man scorer type role (ala Lou Williams, Eric Gordon), that would be amazing, but not holding my breath on that.

And even though I think we should give Jrue more time to adapt to the new team, and I guarantee you most people have a lack of understanding a players' defensive ability has on determining wins and losses since defense is not flashy and much harder to quantify and it is going to be very difficult to replace Jrue's defensive ability, you could move Favors to the bench and surround Zion, BI, and Zo with a long 3&D sniper wing and a stretch 5 that can play D (very hard to find), or else just two wings. But great 3&D wings role-players are coveted by EVERY SINGLE TEAM in the NBA, so it is going to be a very tall order to get equal value for Jrue.

But, in an ideal world, you could package some combo of Jrue/Reddick/Favors/Hart, picks, our youth potential (Hayes/NAW) to get there, and keep drafting for shooting/defense.

My 2 cents.

[tdcreator]

MKG is available now. Go grab him and let’s see if he fits.

[PELICANSFAN]

MKG is available now. Go grab him and let’s see if he fits.

As most buyout players, he will sign with a contender. Rumors are Dallas.

[DaPelFromHell]

I like the future starting lineup to be:

C: Hayes
PF: Zion, Melli
SF: BI
SG: NAW, Hart
PG: Lonzo

I want to keep those 7 players around for the long haul. I know NAW hasn’t looked so good in his rookie season, but the kid is uber talented. Unless we draft or add a better shooting guard later on I would be looking for NAW to be the starter with what we have now on the roster. Maybe we keep Frank Jackson around as he seems to get better and better. He’s young and won’t cost us a ton. I want to keep Hart as a 6th man type off the bench if we can. I like what I’ve seen from Melli for him to stick around as well.

[Mount Zion]

IMHO, you keep everyone you can on the current roster, except Miller and Okafor. If you are playing guys deeper than 10th-11th deep, then you either have a bad roster or you have significant injuries and aren't likely to win anyway. You churn the bottom of the roster with cheap developmental players that can push for playing time with the second unit and you can get those with second round picks (which the Pels have plenty of). I don't see the benefit of looking for additional scoring specifically when guys like Reddick, Melli, Moore and Hart can provide that off the bench. In the draft, I would target gifted rebounders, strong defenders (especially 3 and D types) and distributors that can create their shot in isolation. Use them situationally as they develop until they can challenge for regular time with the second unit, which is kind of what they have done with Jackson.

Certainly if the right deal comes along or someone like Giannis decides he want to come to New Orleans as a free agent, you adjust your plan. However, while the young part of the core is learning how to play in the NBA, I think it makes a lot of sense to stick with this roster for a while.

[Pelifan]

Zion and Ingram are your building blocks.

I would put the Pelicans priorities at
1) finding a high IQ star P&R player who can shoot, play offball, facilitate. preferably through the draft. Steve Nash... If you're out there...
2) adding 3&D players everywhere else. No ballstoppers.
3) Building a culture, playing hard and smart.

we need shooters and defenders, just like every team. and we need them everywhere. if we were to find that third core player, the one you throw max or near max money at, it would likely be a consistent guard who can run a pick and roll at a good PPP while being a good shooter. maybe Ingram, Lonzo, or Zion fill the void of pick and roll ballhandler in the future, but they aren't there today.

i love Jrue, Redick and favors, but they're expendable, If someone were to give Favors big money or offer significant longterm value for JJ or Jrue I wouldnt hesitate to move them (in Jrue's case I'd want him to be ok with the move). Lonzo is a fine point guard but I see him as more of a Shaun Livingston type on the championship version of this team longterm but it's worth it to keep him around to see if he can continue to improve as I dont think anything amazing will be offered for him on the trade market.

Ultimately I think we should keep taking fliers on perimeter players in the draft until we find one that works out as the third star for this team. Luckily we already have 2 players that the whole league covets most, superstarly skilled players over 6'5" who can create from the perimeter and still be comfortable inside. We really don't need to take chances on chuckers hoping they learn to be efficient like most of the rebuilding teams in the league.

Free agents: Frank, Okafor, Miller good luck elsewhere, Kenrich I'd keep only if nothing better came along. I'd like to keep Moore and Favors on short deals, but it's not the end of the world if we can't keep them.

Ingram will be getting a big raise, so it'll be difficult to make FA and trade additions to this team without some subtractions. But I don't feel that's necessary. I wouldn't be talking extentions with a lot of our guys, but I see no trade that NEEDS to happen. We should be building through the draft and we have all of our picks and some.

[Mount Zion]

I agree with almost everything Pelifan. While Jrue, Favors and Reddick may be expendable (or replaceable) in the abstract, if the Pelicans didn't have them, they would be looking for players like them. And that's true for Hart, Lonzo, Melli and Moore as well. If they didn't have Jrue, they would be looking for an elite defender at the guard position who can score and provide leadership. No Favors and they would be looking for rebounding. No Reddick and they would need that confident leader to come off the bench and provide instant offense. The other four can all hit the 3 while they are working on other aspects of their game. Add those to Zion, BI and Jaxson and I believe that the front office has done an outstanding job of roster construction. They can play with anyone now, not just down the road after a long rebuild.

As players like Reddick, Favors and even Jrue end up elsewhere due to age or cost, there is time and draft picks to enhance the roster. The young players, especially the role guys, will either improve or find themselves replaced. Thankfully, I don't see the need to make trades for expensive players who will not be a substantial upgrade and may not fit as well as who they already have. And thanks to the bounty of draft picks, the Pelicans don't have to spend unreasonable money on free agents either. This should be a draft and develop team.

[ragincaucasian]

I was down on Melli, but his last 10 games are so are night and day from when he started the season. He was borderline unplayable, and he has really improved both his shot and defense. He is an very nice asset now.

Jah does not fit this team at all. Not good at rebounding or defense. Hands of stone. Once in a blue moon he will have a game like he did against Drummond, and then go back to obscurity for months. We really should have traded him and one of our 2nd rounders for something before the deadline.

I would have said Frank and E'Twan, but man, they have bailed us out when our starters are hurt more than a few times. They are more important than we give them credit for.

[As I See It]

I would keep the roster pretty much intact unless we could get our hands on a 4/5 with range (ala Brook Lopez, Maxi Kleber, Lauri Markkanen, or even a healthy Blake Griffin). I previously spoke about the need for our bigs to be a threat from deep. Isn't it ironic that, coupled with the advent of Zion, Nico Melli has found himself on the floor considerably more than early in the season.......

.…..and is paying massive dividends.

I would also explore what it might take to get Mirotic back from Spain.

[Mrakar]

Roster is not a problem. Coach is.
Gentry is not a winning coach and he proved it time and time again.
This team has tremendous defensive potential with Favors, Zion, Ingram, Zo, Jrue, Hart, NAW and Hayes and i dont think Gentry can unlock that talent.
Offense gets u tickets, defense gets u wins.

[Bonecrusher]

1.I want to know who y’all think we have to do our best to keep on our roster. Why?
2. Who do we try to add via trade, draft or free agency?

Must keep:
Zion, Ingram, Favors, Lonzo, Hayes

Why are these players a must for me?
1.Offensive Rebounding from Favors and Zion are valuable.
2. Defense and BBIQ from Favors and Zion.
3. High FG% from Zion, Favors and Ingram.
4. Frequent trips to the FT line Zion, Ingram
5. Lonzo for defense, high bbiq, talented unorthodox PG, great chemistry with Zion and Ingram, phenomenal passing, and high volume above average 3 point threat. Pushes the pace, athletic, solid rebounder, still developing.
6. Hayes, freakish athletic with size and potential elite shot blocker. Draws fouls.Gets to the line. Good rookie with rookie contract.
7. Bottom line: Zion and Ingram are already reliable superstars. Lonzo maybe average low shooting percentage but that doesn’t mean much if all you shoot are 3s. All players as a whole do well in capturing the 4 factors of winning. FG%, getting to line, Offensive rebounding... low turnovers must improve... Zo is still a future All Star if he develops more. He will...


We need to add a defensive specialist who can do it all on defense. Preferable a guard. I would love to get a guy like PJ Tucker. Someone who can really shoot 3s and defend multiple positions. Marcus Smart is another guy...

If we could add Bradley Beal or find an elite defender in the draft that would be great. I also wouldn’t mind trying to land Dinwiddie from the NETS. We gotta find someone....

Guys I wouldn’t mind letting go of:
Okafor, Jackson, Miller, Kenrich


Players/targets I would consider: Beal, KAT, Dinwiddie, McCollum, Devin Booker, Marcus Smart, Stephen Adams, Ayton, Ibaka, Kuzma, Klay Thompson

Only players I would absolutely not move are Zion and Ingram.

I think we can land a high pick in this 2020 draft and do well.

We will have to give up Jrue, Reddick, Hayes, Lonzo, Hart and multiple picks to get a really big time player. Maybe not all of those players but some kind of package with some of these guys.

My prediction is we will wait for a superstar to be disgruntled and then have leverage to make a killer trade.


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Are your trade thoughts dreams or desire?

Beal has dropped in his efficiencies. That could be because he's shouldering the burden. 50% risk on that one.
KAT just got his buddy on the Wolves so he's going nowhere for the foreseeable future.
Klay isn't leaving the Warriors. And if the Warriors do put him up it's because something is wrong.
Ayton is the future for Phoenix as is Booker. Doubt Phoenix is going to be letting them go unless they get some draft picks and players in return.
Dinwiddie is going to be a target by more than a few teams. Let the bidding war start.
McCollum is going to stay with Portland. Solid core there.
Marcus Smart is one option that might be obtainable.

Better off to target that player that isn't a superstar but putting up solid numbers. Ingram, Zion are solid. Ball is a very good player.

In all honesty I wouldn't do much except get a different coach. Team is built pretty well.

[Nightshade]

I would swap Kenrich and Frank around other than that I agree with your list.