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The value Darren Erman provides for the Pelicans on defense
(Be sure to follow Brendon on twitter.) Lost in the concern over injuries and questions about Alvin Gentry’s future is a fact: Darren Erman has been a very valuable assistant during his time on the New Orleans Pelicans bench. Since taking over as lead assistant for Randy Ayers before the 2015-16 season, Erman has crafted […]
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Jameer Nelson signing is worth losing Crawford, should help offense
Jameer Nelson, who was cut last week by the Denver Nuggets ahead of his age-35 season, is exactly what the Pelicans need from their backcourt rotation, especially until Rajon Rondo returns from injury. Without Rondo, the Pelicans have been forced to alter the identity they crafted around Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins in training camp. […]
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Ian Clark might be the New Orleans Pelicans’ best offseason signing
It’s a situation the Pelicans aren’t accustomed to, in which free agents are willing to take less money or a lesser role in order to be a part of the organization. Never a premier locale in the NBA, it has taken the arrival of DeMarcus Cousins to push the team toward this kind of legitimacy. […]
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The Pelicans charted their course, and Kyrie Irving isn’t worth changing direction.
The Kyrie Irving trade demand has set the NBA ablaze, and even the newly-constructed New Orleans Pelicans have not been able to keep away from the hot stove. This morning, ESPN’s Zach Lowe published a piece which meandered through the various options for Cleveland and Irving in a potential trade. The Pelicans weren’t mentioned until […]
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Rondo will force change, but just might improve the Pelicans
If the arrival of DeMarcus Cousins in New Orleans signaled one set of changes for the Pelicans’ organization, then the courtship and acquisition of Rajon Rondo represents a full evolution. Gone is the versatile, defense-first team that stayed above water for 50 games last season; in is the opportunity for a more Gentry-fied offense. Cousins […]
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The New Orleans Pelicans are in the market for this year’s Malcolm Brogdon
The New Orleans Pelicans have the 40th overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft. There are several different ways the team could go with this pick, from drafting and stashing a foreign player to developing a raw college prospect with a two-way G-League contract. The Pelicans need contributors though, and the cheaper they come, the […]
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Jrue Holiday will set the baseline for the 2017 free agent point guard class
The summers of 2012 and 2013 felt important for the future of the point guard position in the moment, but together they now especially feel like a definitive moment. Because many of these players will soon be free agents, it is a good time to take stock of this group of veteran playmakers. The biggest […]
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Anthony Davis made healthy progress during the 2016-17 season
When incredible talent and radical injury misfortune intersect as precisely as they have in the career of Anthony Davis, the organization overseeing it all is bound to get swept up in a bit of what you might call “back-and-forth”. The Pelicans’ success during Davis’s career (longer than you might think at this point) has been […]
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Prioritizing identity for the sake of identity
What is in an identity? Much like within an individual, the identity of an organization takes on its shape over time. It is up to the constituents of that body to decide if its identity will be influenced more by external forces or internal ones. Do we trust the instincts of our leadership enough to […]
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10-Dayer Power Rankings
Fans of the Pelicans have become pretty familiar over the past two seasons with the players littering the top of D-League rosters and back end of NBA benches. The Pels have been forced to sign these tweeners time and time again based on their combined need for veteran leadership at the guard spots and shooting […]
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The Pressure Cooker
[[Everyone please give a warm welcome to the newest member of the Bourbon Street Shots team: Brendon Kleen. Enjoy his first post for the site and give him a follow on twitter at @brendonkleen14]] A blockbuster trade like the one that just brought DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans is being covered nationally like […]