Official New Orleans Pelicans Thread

[CWood21]

On 5/16/2019 at 3:00 PM, resilient part 2 said:

how so?? He is not showing allstar potential YET all while having some medical concerns..

Player A: 33.8 MPG, 18.3 PPG, 49.7% FG%, 33% 3P%, 5.1 RPG, 3 APG, 2.5 TOPG 
Player B: 31.1 MPG, 15.7 PPG, 45% FG%, 37% 3P%, 6 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.5 TOPG

Obviously, you know who is who, but when one player is putting up largely superior numbers than the other.  The kicker is the uncertainty regarding Brandon Ingram's health plus Tatum having an extra year of team control.  I don't need to see mental gymnastics to justify why one player is more valuable than the other.  No, Ingram playing on a 37-45 team doesn't make his stats any less impressive than Tatum playing on a 49-33 team.

[CWood21]

On 5/16/2019 at 3:25 PM, resilient part 2 said:

I agree, BUT Danny Ainge might not see it that way..

Other than maybe Daryl Morey, Ainge is probably the biggest hoarder of assets in the NBA.  At least with Morey, he cashed a chunk of his assets into James Harden.  Ainge really is  a leprechaun.

[CWood21]

On 5/17/2019 at 10:09 PM, DoleINGout said:

I think Kyrie is motivated to return to the Celtics if for no other reason then he wants to prove he can handle being the main guy. Kyrie wants his own team and Boston will probably be the best option to do that unless the Brooklyn Nets jump out in free agency.

I could see a scenario where KD, AD, and Kyrie all end up on the Celtics next season.

At this point, there's more indication that Kyrie is intending to leave Boston.  IF Kyrie was going to re-sign with Boston, he would have squashed those rumors midseason.  Instead, he was deliberately non-committal about his future in Boston.  I don't see any way he's not going to end up with either of the NY teams or the Lakers.  And there's no financial way to see Kevin Durant AND Anthony Davis in a Celtics' uniform.  Stop playing 2k.

[CWood21]

On 5/17/2019 at 10:35 PM, DoleINGout said:

Ainge will mortgage the team if it means landing a title with these three players. How will he afford them? Likely see Hayward and Horford leave while being unwilling to re-sign Morris/Rozier/Baynes. Thies is rumored to be leaving for Germany. Maybe with Hayward and Horford Golden State does a sign/trade for KD with Boston. 

For Davis it would require sending Tatum, Smart, Robert Williams, and very likely Jaylen Brown too. Ainge might choose to send Brown in addition to multiple picks instead of the future Grizzlies first or Kings pick this year, (whichever gets the deal done). Who knows? Maybe Stevens becomes collateral in all of this since the core that was so successful and promising prior to this season is gone. But I digress...

Basically Ainge would have to rip apart the roster as is and build a team around literally just those three guys; KD/Kyrie/AD.

Returning to the point made about Kyrie and having "his team"... I think he'd rationalize it like it's his team since he has been here for teo years already.

Al Horford isn't opting out.  He's not getting $30M/year on the open market.  Hell, he might be pushing a 2 year deal at $15M/year if he's lucky.  And Gordon Hayward is a toxic contract.  He was awful this year.  Golden State isn't sitting in the luxury tax to help the Celtics sign Kevin Durant.  There's NO way Kevin Durant ends up in a Celtics' uniform.

[CWood21]

8 hours ago, amac said:

If AD decides to give staying in NO a shot and we can dump Solomon Hill and Etwuan Moore for cap space, who do you guys think we should target in FA? Kawhi, KD, Klay are the obvious but less likely, Kyrie or Kemba might be gettable. I don't want to be the ones to give Butler his last big contract. D'angelo, Tobias, Middleton, Brogdon, Barnes, Bogdanovic, Rubio, Beverley, Rondo, Danny Green more attainable. 

I think Kyrie or Kemba would make this team really scary but on the flipside would kind of worry about Zion not getting the touches he should and some potential chemistry issues. Tobias makes alot of sense but will probably get overpaid

How do you plan on dumping nearly $21M in salary?  Teams aren't going to willingly take on that kind of salary without some sort of incentive.  And I'm not sure future FRPs (even with limited protection) are going to get it done.  Plus, you have to get one of the big FAs to buy into signing with New Orleans.  Kawhi Leoanrd, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thomspon are definitely not going to sign in New Orleans.  I doubt Kyrie would either.  Kemba maybe if you had the biggest offer on the table.

[DoleINGout]

23 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

Al Horford isn't opting out.  He's not getting $30M/year on the open market.  Hell, he might be pushing a 2 year deal at $15M/year if he's lucky.  And Gordon Hayward is a toxic contract.  He was awful this year.  Golden State isn't sitting in the luxury tax to help the Celtics sign Kevin Durant.  There's NO way Kevin Durant ends up in a Celtics' uniform.

Horford has said he is open to a team friendly extension for two years. There is a good chance he opts out if Ainge asks him to. From there it is anyone game what happens of course.

Hayword played his first season for the Celtics just this season while recovering from a traumatic injury and rehabbing physically and mentally all while playing on a team full of guys with selfish mentalities. By the first playoff series Hayward had shown tremendous upside heading into next season and while struggling against the Bucks like everyone else in the NBA this season, Hayward still showed he can play very good defense.

Golden State's motivation for such a move to acquire Hayward and/or Horford is to continue competing for the championship next year while filling out their roster with the departures of several players including KD in this scenario and likely Boogie Cousins.

[DoleINGout]

30 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

At this point, there's more indication that Kyrie is intending to leave Boston.  IF Kyrie was going to re-sign with Boston, he would have squashed those rumors midseason.  Instead, he was deliberately non-committal about his future in Boston.  I don't see any way he's not going to end up with either of the NY teams or the Lakers.  And there's no financial way to see Kevin Durant AND Anthony Davis in a Celtics' uniform.  Stop playing 2k.

Kyrie could go to the Nets, Knicks, Lakers, or stay with the Celtics. He could have squashed the rumors but because he didn't doesn't necessitate his departure. Kyrie also started the whole fiasco essentially by promising to re-sign so early in the season. No one knows what he is going to do yet. I think Kyrie had a lot of emotionally charged moments throughout the season of his own volition but in part due to the dynamics of the team that formed this season for the Celtics. I believe Kyrie is wanted back, is motivated to stay, and mostly I believe Kyrie knows the Celtics will be a much different team going forward.

[MookieMonstah]

7 hours ago, CWood21 said:

Player A: 33.8 MPG, 18.3 PPG, 49.7% FG%, 33% 3P%, 5.1 RPG, 3 APG, 2.5 TOPG 
Player B: 31.1 MPG, 15.7 PPG, 45% FG%, 37% 3P%, 6 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.5 TOPG

Obviously, you know who is who, but when one player is putting up largely superior numbers than the other.  The kicker is the uncertainty regarding Brandon Ingram's health plus Tatum having an extra year of team control.  I don't need to see mental gymnastics to justify why one player is more valuable than the other.  No, Ingram playing on a 37-45 team doesn't make his stats any less impressive than Tatum playing on a 49-33 team.

One guy was the teams #2 and #1 for a good chunk of the season.

The other was a 3rd or 4th option for much of the season.

 

[MookieMonstah]

8 hours ago, CWood21 said:

Tatum's value has dropped quite a bit since last year.  He shot significantly worse from the field and beyond the arc than he did in his rookie year, and he's got another year of rookie salary control.  His value isn't the same as it was after last offseason.  It's going to take more than fillers an extra picks to get New Orleans to deal Anthony Davis.  And that's assuming Ainge is willing to put Tatum on the table.  I'd guess he won't if Kyrie leaves.

Shot significantly worse 😂

The second year player went from great shooting splits to very good shooting splits. What a travesty, might as well put him in a casket now.

[MookieMonstah]

7 hours ago, CWood21 said:

Other than maybe Daryl Morey, Ainge is probably the biggest hoarder of assets in the NBA.  At least with Morey, he cashed a chunk of his assets into James Harden.  Ainge really is  a leprechaun.

What? I don’t even...

Ainge made huge trades for Ray Allen, KG and Kyrie Irving. He’s he opposite of a hoarder. He collects and waits for the right opportunity, it’s what a great GM does but I guess I can understand why that would confuse Lakers fans...

Edited May 20, 2019 by MookieMonstah

[CWood21]

4 hours ago, MookieMonstah said:

One guy was the teams #2 and #1 for a good chunk of the season.

The other was a 3rd or 4th option for much of the season.

One finished second in FGA by roughly 5 FGA less than the team leader and ~2 more FGA than the next highest.  The other finished 3rd nearly 6 FGA less than the team leader.  One played on a relatively team-friendly brand of baseball where they had 5 players have 10+ FGA where the other only had 3 players average 10+ FGA.  Despite all that, Tatum only averaged less than 1 FGA less than Ingram but shot nearly 50 points worse from the field.  This is another bad take.

[CWood21]

4 hours ago, MookieMonstah said:

Shot significantly worse 😂

The second year player went from great shooting splits to very good shooting splits. What a travesty, might as well put him in a casket now.

Maybe I missed when 50 points was a drastic difference.  Ingram shot nearly 50% from the field.  Tatum hit 45% from the field.  That's a big difference.

[CWood21]

4 hours ago, MookieMonstah said:

What? I don’t even...

Ainge made huge trades for Ray Allen, KG and Kyrie Irving. He’s he opposite of a hoarder. He collects and waits for the right opportunity, it’s what a great GM does but I guess I can understand why that would confuse Lakers fans...

I'm talking about post-Big 3.  And let's go back and look at it again, what exactly did Boston give up for Kyrie?  They gave up Isaiah Thomas who they had ZERO intention of paying. They gave up Jae Crowder who has clearly showed he was a byproduct of the Brad Stevens' system.  They gave up Ante Zizic who has essentially been a replacement-level big with the Cavaliers.  So really the only notable asset they gave up was that Nets' FRP.

[MookieMonstah]

41 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

I'm talking about post-Big 3.  And let's go back and look at it again, what exactly did Boston give up for Kyrie?  They gave up Isaiah Thomas who they had ZERO intention of paying. They gave up Jae Crowder who has clearly showed he was a byproduct of the Brad Stevens' system.  They gave up Ante Zizic who has essentially been a replacement-level big with the Cavaliers.  So really the only notable asset they gave up was that Nets' FRP.

The Nets unprotected 1st was a huge asset. That was a stupid take, own it. Ainge has never "hoarded" assets. He just doesnt piss them away like poor GMs do. 

[MookieMonstah]

45 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

One finished second in FGA by roughly 5 FGA less than the team leader and ~2 more FGA than the next highest.  The other finished 3rd nearly 6 FGA less than the team leader.  One played on a relatively team-friendly brand of baseball where they had 5 players have 10+ FGA where the other only had 3 players average 10+ FGA.  Despite all that, Tatum only averaged less than 1 FGA less than Ingram but shot nearly 50 points worse from the field.  This is another bad take.

It's fine dude, just ignore circumstances. The ONLY time Tatum has been the Celtics #1 option, he absolutely thrived as a 19 year old. The Pelicans prefer the Celtics package by all reports and its because Tatum >> Ingram. You can bring a horse to water but you can't make it drink.