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Shall We Dance?
Well, that was fun. I spent most of the season trying to remember there were actually 82 games this go ’round and lamenting that a 0.500 season was likely out of reach. The Pelicans went 36-46. It’s not that simple, though. Things got interesting there near the end. 0.500 was practically off the table in […]
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Marching through March
The New Orleans Pelicans sit at 28-36 with 18 games to play. In years past, the fan base would be eyeing the draft hard and decrying losses. This season, however, the 8th seed in the West is competitive, looking like a sub-0.500 team may make it into the Playoffs. Let’s take a look at the […]
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Living at the Deadline
Update: Now that we know the Pelicans did not get involved in a trade, keep in mind that the Pelicans can use the DPE ($3.625m) to make a waiver claim on a player in the last season of his deal. They can waive someone to make room. Frank may be the prime candidate there, but […]
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The Two Step
Apparently, “Let’s Dance!” is referring to a two-step. The return of Zion Williams has been, overall, what I expected. He’s showing quickly that the hype is justified, and that Zion is certainly a talent to watch as one that might be the best player in the NBA one day. I certainly need to see what […]
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How to Sustain This?
The New Orleans Pelican enter the Zion era at 17-27, winning 11 of their last 16. Those 11 games were not against chumps, and some were key games against teams battling the the 8th seed. I’ve used the specific term “unsustainable” to describe some of the performances of the Pelicans in this stretch. While this […]
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It’s Time
The New Orleans Pelicans enter the last third of January at 16-27, 12th in the West, and just 0.5 game ahead of the tie at 13th and 14th. The next couple of weeks is not a normal couple of weeks, however. Rather, it is full of interacting uncharacteristically important events, each with the potential disproportionately […]
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Cutting the Pelicans’ Tether
The New Orleans Pelicans sit at 14th in the West at 13-25 with their next three games are all on the road. The midpoint of the season and the likely debut of Zion provide a good time to take stock. We will be inundated with these these takes soon, but I wanted to take an […]
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Looking Up to the Bottom
The New Orleans Pelicans enter 2020 at 11-23. This is not good. Still, with more than half the season left to play, the Playoffs are not beyond discussion because of the way the bottom half of the West currently sits. Last season, the Clippers held the 8th seed in the West with 48 wins, while […]
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Happy Ass-Whipping
As the holidays slide past along with the change of seasons, it is natural to consider the past, present, and future, as so much of the cultural importance of this time of year is about birth, death, and renewal. It’s also about gifts and giving. Here is the list of gifts I’m openly requesting from […]
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The Coaching Move
The New Orleans Pelicans were set to start this season in disarray, gather themselves, and fight for the eighth seed. Instead, the disarray was compounded by being short-handed, and the amount of youth has led to a performance a little north of the worst in the NBA, but not more north. At some point, it […]
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Take a Bow
It’s been around eight months since the New Orleans Pelicans hired David Griffin to be the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. His hiring was part of a major transformation of the franchise than included restructuring Basketball Operations, trading Anthony Davis, filling out the roster for this season and beyond including the draft of Zion […]
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Fine with the Struggles
The New Orleans Pelicans are struggling mightily, and I feel fine. This is not ideal; in fact, far from it. I’m not claiming “moral victory” or pointing to close losses or margins or any of that. I’m just fine with this. Let me tell you why, and maybe you will feel better or, better yet, […]
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Plus Ça Change
Change has been the constant for the New Orleans Pelicans since the trade demand from Klutch came through, derailing the last chances for Davis to stick around in Louisiana. Since then, it’s been incessant change. It’s exciting and inspiring. It’s woken the desire and imagination of many. Trying to understand just what kind of difference […]
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The Case for an Ingram Extension
The number of options the New Orleans Pelicans have before them is part of what makes them so exciting. This cuts both ways, however. Every choice is a point where, when things are examined in hindsight, one can point directly to it and say, “This . . . this right here . . . this […]
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Chaos A.D.: Draft Night
The New Orleans Pelicans came out of draft night with the franchise cornerstone, cleaner books, and assets. The path David Griffin, Trajan Langdon, and Bensonia envisioned is becoming clearer to us all. The result of draft night is summarized below along with the current assets. As it stands, the Pelicans will go forward with Jrue […]
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Chaos A.D.: Timelines
The New Orleans Pelicans find themselves in a strangely familiar position. Armed with the top pick in a draft with a atypically interesting top talent, the franchise is dealing with ownership and management changes while the current talent is in the process of bolting. The details differ from the 2011-2012 time frame and the actual […]
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One Last Little Wrinkle
I was saving this fun little cap note for the offseason, but I think I’ll share it now as a send off for Demps. My commentary on his era will come in time, but, for now, let’s just look at what might be the last cap wrinkle Dell left behind. Punchline: Don’t freak out if […]
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Chaos A.D.: The First Dominoes
For years, the keystone in the current era of the New Orleans Pelicans has been Anthony Davis. My mantra for years has been that Davis is the measure of all things the franchise does. Once that organizing principle was practically removed, you could see the chaotic swirling begin immediately. Since then, just in terms of […]
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Chaos A.D.: Shifting Foundations
The self-declared impending departure of Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans forces some changes on and off the court. While the franchise is “on the rack,” it’s a good time to look around and see if there are less-obvious things that need attention. I think some changes at the top need to happen, and […]
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Chaos A.D.: Disorder Unleashed
Chaos A.D. Disorder Unleashed — Sepultura, Refuse/Resist Chaos is a terrifying and necessary thing. It creates and destroys. It gives and takes. It’s the constant change in the world that masquerades as order and structure. Anthony Davis has been the organizing principle of the New Orleans Pelicans from when he joined the team until very […]