There isn't already a thread for this is there? If so then merge, looked around but couldn't find one. Anyways, I was just looking up the Pelicans roster and was stunned... A.Davis - 21 A.Rivers - 22 P.Young - 22 R.Smith - 23 J.Holiday - 24 T.Evans - 24 J.Withey - 24 D.Miller - 24 J.Southerland - 24 E.Gordon - 25 J.Fredette - 25 L.Babbitt - 25 R.Anderson - 26 A.Ajinca - 26 O.Asik - 28 average age = 24.2 Hot damn are they super young!!! and very talented. The youngest player on the roster, 21, is Anthony davis, their superstar. The oldest player, our old buddy, Asik. Asik is 28 but has only played 4 seasons in the nba, and 3 out of those 4 seasons he was a backup to all star players playing very limited minutes, so he's definitely still a very fresh and young player. So 1 superstar in Davis 2 potential all stars, or above average starters in Holiday and Gordon 2 quality starting players in Asik & Evens 1 quality 6th man in Anderson 6 quality bench players in Rivers, Fredette, Ajinca, Withey, Babbitt, Miller 3 quality prospects in Smith, Young and Southerland I'm loving that team, if they weren't so damn injury prone, I bet they would probably be a 50+ win team who could make it the second round in the playoffs, and that would be insane for a team that young, being lead by a 21 year old. PG: Holiday, Fredette, Smith SG: Gordon, Rivers SF: Evans, Babbitt, Miller PF: Davis, Anderson C : Asik, Ajinca, Withey Inactive : Young, Southerland Very interested in how much they can win this year, how healthy they can stay, how all the young talented players like Holiday, Gordon and Evans pan out, they all have all star potential in my mind and Holiday was just an all star 2 seasons ago. Watching Davis develop even more will be awesome, seeing how the Davis and Asik defensive wrecking ball duo does will also be great. Very interesting and exciting season coming up for the Pelicans. As a fan of the nba, I hope they kick ass this season. As a Rockets fan, I hope they stay out of our way and give us a damn good lottery pick.
Will be an interesting team for sure! At this point though, I do not think they are that great because their trio of wings do not match together very well. I think if they could get two out three to gell and stay healthy most of the year, their starting line-up could be very tough to beat. Their bench is still a question mark with Anderson, Jimmer and Rivers but if all three perform, they could sneak into the playoffs.
Call me if they make the playoffs in the West, and when that happens, they need to include more veterans so they won't be the youngest team any more.
playoff team that wont make it cuz its the west+injuries Gordon wont stay healthy, Davis isnt injury prone by any means but he might miss some time, Evans seems to sprain an ankle every season, jrue has missed time as well, Anderson is a question mark due to the back injury. Would root for that team if they made the playoffs though
I think you're being a little generous with these guys and their descriptions, as I would not call Gordon, considering his contract, and above average starter, and those 4 bench guys I would not describe as "quality". Having said that...they're very young and have the superstar in place for years to come. I'm not ruling them out of the playoffs, but they won't be any higher than the 7-8 seed if they make it, and that's assuming they don't succumb to injuries, which seems unlikely given the players they have.
The fact that they are so young is not a good thing, as far as winning this year is concerned. Really young teams tend to underperform, especially in the playoffs.
Agreed. Holiday would be an all star in the East. West no shot. Above average at best. Gordon 3 years ago would be a definite potential all star. But he's been injury riddled and frankly not good at all. Not even a good starter Quality is pushing it. Evans was decent at the end of last year. Asik is a good number 4/5 starter. agreed Nope. You don't really want any of these guys getting minutes in big games unless they're playing for the Spurs. I would say 1 superstar (Davis), a third star (Holiday), 2 solid starters in Evans and Asik, a 6th man Anderson and a 7th man in Eric Gordon
This. Right now their perimeter is dysfunctional. Holiday is one-dimensional shooting the 3-ball but unwilling to really attack on the dribble the way he should to play winning basketball. Tyreke has never played a winning game, preferring instead to hog down possessions by driving the clock down and far too often settling for the worst shot in basketball, the fade away 18 footer that he doesn't hit anywhere close to the 55% needed to make it effective. Gordon hasn't wanted to be in New Orleans since the minute he signed that offer sheet from Phoenix. He is even worse defensively than last year's Harden which is crazy because he has all the tools to be a plus defender. Tyreke and Gordon are both very selfish on-court and Holiday is simply not a leader. If there is one team in the league that could use every ounce of Rajon Rondo's vitriol it's the Pelicans. Something will have to change in that trio before they can win.
I'm still in shock that someone seemingly in the business picked them to be better than the Rockets. CyberX, how could you?
Firstly, contract has nothing to do with determining whether a player is an above average starter or not. Were not talking about value, were talking about talent. If healthy ( I know, unlikely ) 16+ points, 3+ rebounds and 2+ assist while 45/35/80 is definitely above average IMO. I would also take their bench players over ours, let say outside of Motiejunas and Anderson as the 6th men (A huge lopside at the 6th man position unless D-Mo has a crazy breakout year). Canaan/Daniels/Smith - Rivers/Fredette/Smith Covington/Gee - Babbitt/Miller Dorsey/Adrian - Ajinca/Withey Pelicans have at least equal or better bench players then we do, and we are supposed to be contending and in win now mode. Just saying. I think they are quality bench players, especially with such a strong starting 5 and 6th man.
They need to offload Gordon, classic example of addition by subtraction with that dude. Tyreke is for real though, he's finally showing up, look at his stats last 2 months of the year last year, ridiculous. Him and Davis were the only two quality players still healthy, and lead the Pelicans to .500 ball between the two of them.
