I won't say ruined, but Davis is going to have to wait a little bit before the Pellies get a team around him.
Agreed, that Jrue Holiday trade will haunt them, and it has nothing to do with Noel turning into a legit center
I'm not big on Noel, either. Holiday made a name for himself in Eastern Conference, but is not worth his contract. The first round pick this year is huge.
I want to see New Orleans succeed so much. Did some work with Monty Williams a few years back and he's the nicest guy. Even gave me his personal cell# and email so I could get back in touch with him to record some TV shows in the offseason. However, soon after he got the New Orleans head coaching position and I knew he'd be too busy. I never even tried to call him.
Yea and thats why I'm for the idea of never trading him to them. AD is already a beast, we don't need to strengthen division rivals anymore.
They are a little younger than I expected, but they are currently 12 games out of the playoffs. Time to gel will not cure 12 games.
Who is NO going to overtake for a playoff spot? The only superior teams with serious age issues are the Spurs and Dallas. The Spurs are going to end up with over 60 wins this year. They are not dropping out of the playoffs soon. Dirk has a game that doesn't rely on athleticism and he will be a well above average player until the day he retires. Dallas will never be a bad team until he quits. And then there is Phx too. NO has a tough road ahead of it. Every playoff team in the western conference has at least one star (in many cases two) in addition to either an above average coaching staff or GM. Meanwhile AD's supporting cast is mediocre at every position, including coaching and management.
Just as a reference, it would really be subject to interpretation. Last year, NO was also went on a nice run from Jan 5 - Feb 13. They beat the following teams: Dallas, SA, Houston, Min, Phi, Bos, Sac, Mem, Pho, Atl, Det, Por ( some pretty decent teams) They won 12 out of 9 games during that stretch and if I remember correctly, people were saying watch out for them THIS year. I am not saying they did not improve, it's just that the WEST is so tough. I am sure they will try to add another impact player to their team but the other teams in the west are also trying to do the same. For them to make a huge leap, that player that they will add needs to be far more superior than what the other teams will get. Otherwise, they would be in the same boat next year.
They need to hire David Stern as their GM. He's by far the best decision maker they ever had. Let him finish the job he begun.