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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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Pelicans Secured Aaron Nelson, Now They Have to Use Him
Every franchise in the NBA has strengths. Some have more than others, but there are advantages that each franchise has that they need to leverage for maximum impact. Texas teams have no state income tax, Miami has South Beach, Milwaukee has solitude, and LA has the allure of Hollywood. New Orleans now has a massive […]
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The false narrative of Gayle Benson’s interest to sell the Pelicans is somewhere in between ignorant and intentional
“There is no way I am going to sell that team ever,” Pelicans owner Gayle Benson It’s just been a little over a full calendar year since Tom Benson died and current New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson is still having to answer questions about whether or not she will sell her NBA […]
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Paying your own, starting with Randle.
There are two ways a team can decide to operate going into the summer: as a cap space team, or as an over-the-cap team with only exceptions at their disposal. How cap space teams allocate their cap room varies depending upon the goals of an organization, and for all intents and purposes the Pelicans will […]
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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 […]
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The New Orleans Pelicans Need the Anthony Davis Controversy
Surprise, surprise, the biggest New Orleans Pelicans story centers around the New Orleans Pelicans starriest of players who is approaching the time period where he’ll be approaching free agency. As we approached approaching approaching, many prepared by glibly discussing the movement of the generational talent. The reactions to these pieces, even “Hey, calm down, they […]
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Trades, Trades, Trades
Yes, it’s that time again. The NBA’s trade deadline is just three weeks away, and the worst kept secret in the NBA is that Dell Demps is working the phones in an effort to improve the team and keep Anthony Davis long term. As usual, the Pelicans first round pick is on the table and […]
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The Beal Deal
(This article is a collaboration between Mason, Shamit, and 42.) An important part of this season, and retaining Anthony Davis for at least another season, is improving the roster. Bradley Beal arguably has the highest combination of acquirability, skill mix needed by this team, and tradability to other teams in the future. Here is a […]
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Jahlil Okafor Might Be a Factor
I remember it distinctly because I was in great distress. I was on the elliptical late at night and deep in the offseason discussing edge moves and reclamation projects with the guys, particularly Kumar (who can verify this). I was all over point guards, or passing combo guards. . . and there was one other […]
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Should the Pelicans Trade for John Wall?
(Enjoy this guest post from Ben Alterman) Why trade for a point guard? In an interview with Rachel Nichols of ESPN, AD said that winning is the most important thing to him and adding another star next to him and Jrue is the best way to make the team better this year to help convince […]
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A December Look at Moore
What do you think about Moore so far and going forward? 42 (@42phd): Moore is just fine. He’s a reasonable player on both ends with a reasonable contract. I like Moore on this team, but he’s in that sweet spot for being a trade asset, too. I wrote him out of the future of the […]
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A December Look at Randle
What do you think about Randle so far and going forward? 42 (@42phd): I am happy with Randle. He’s clearly got issues on this team, but I feel like he is making progress. We’ll see how much in the end. On both sides of the ball, he just focuses too much on the ball. On […]
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Winning Without Davis
If you want to win with Davis, you need to win without Davis. — Me I don’t understand. I simply don’t understand what is so hard to understand. Day after day I see chatter about the team, and so much of it is so irrelevant. Blah blah shooting, blah blah rotation, blah blah standings, blah […]
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Pelicans Maintain Flight Path Despite Rotation Disarray
Photo Credit: Andrew Smith Through 13 games, the Pelicans sit at 7-6 and in a 3-way tie for 9th place in the Western Conference. They are also 10th in the NBA in Net Rating per Cleaning the Glass’ stats database (which removes “garbage time”) at +3.1 points per 100 possessions (6th in the West), and have […]
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Taking the Initiative
This week, New Orleans Pelicans General Manager Dell Demps was called “a lousy general manager” by former NBA Commissioner and contemporaneous proxy owner of the New Orleans Hornets David Stern. This produced reactions all over the NBA, including the local media and the New Orleans Pelicans themselves. I want to address a few things about […]
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Working Smarter and Harder
Fatigue makes cowards of us all. — George S. Patton, Jr, War As I Knew It If you just look at the number of games or minutes played by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2018-2019 regular season, you are left with the impression that the sample size is small, and that no conclusions . […]
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Gentry Needs To Find Out Now If The Three Bigs Can Play Together
When Julius Randle unexpectedly became a free agent on July 2nd, the Pelicans put in a call to his agent half expecting to get blown off. They had no cap room left, and only had the mid-level exception to offer to the 23 year-old unrestricted free agent. Even in a slightly depressed market, guys like […]