New Orleans early offseason in review (HW/bondom34/dbrandon)

[HartfordWhalers]

New Orleans Offseason in Review

Hartfordwhalers Review

Key Losses:
Ryan Anderson
Eric Gordon

I put both here, because on a sheer talent level they fit. But Eric Gordon is debatable, and NOP wasn't making Anderson work with AD.

Losses:
Kendrick Perkins
Norris Cole
Jordan Hamilton.
Bryce Dejean-Jones (death)
Toney Douglas
Luke Babbitt

Where is Norris Cole?

Draft:
#6 Buddy Hield
#33 Cheick Diallo (traded for)

Big fan of taking Jamal Murray over Hield, so to me that was a miss. But Diallo was a good grab although if the stuff with Cordinier is true that is a touch ugly.

Trades:
#39 and #40 for #33 Cheick DIallo
Babbitt for cash from Miami

Babbitt being gone is kinda like Babbitt being there.

Free Agency:
Solomon Hill 4/$51.9m (with ~4m in unlikely incentives)
E’Twaun Moore 4/$34 m
Langston Galloway 2/$10.7m
Buddy Hield rookie scale
Tim Frazier 2/$4.1m
Cheick Diallo 3/$2.5m (~2m guaranteed)
Alonzo Gee 1/$1.4m
Terrence Jones 1/$1.1m

Last things first, thats a great low risk flier on Jones. I like the theme of the offseason, go for guys who can grow with the core, complimentary players.

The big signings are Hill (25), Moore (27 -- wow older than I thought) and Galloway (24). In contrast, last season Sac (a similar team with a stud big man and question marks around it and a win now owner/gm) went for guys 30 or so in Rondo and Beli. The target age is right, not too green that they should be 2 years away from 2 years away, but not already declining.

The big questions are do the guys live up to the contracts? Is Hill the next Bazemore, or is he the next Asik? Is Moore really worth 8.5m a year? He probably won't shoot 45% from 3 again, but even at a career 37% he is an interesting fit.

Current Depth Chart: (as usual this is a rough draft taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Jrue Holiday, Tim Frazier, Tyreke Evans (injured)
SG: E’Twaun Moore, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, Alonzo Gee
SF: Solomon Hill, Quincy Pondexter, Cheick Diallo
PF: Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, Dante Cunningham
C: Omer Asik, Alexis Ajinca

Needs:
Center looks really weak. And I like AD at pf but given that lineup, I'm worried he plays a lot of center instead. So, a legit starting center is a need. Also, getting anything from Tyreke (trade?). Need Holiday to look like a fringe all star.

Additional Thoughts: This is the team that I would have loved to see get Harrison Barnes. Or Crabbe.

Projected Win/Loss: 36-46 They don't look like they are going that far, but they also look to be less depressingly bad going forward. So, they have that going for them; which is nice.

Off-Season Grade: C+ I'm not convinced they nailed anything, and I'm docking them for the Hield pick who feels like teh classic example of an over drafted upperclassman, but they tried a decent enough plan.

bondom34 Review

Key Losses:
Ryan Anderson

Losses:
Eric Gordon
Kendrick Perkins
Norris Cole
Alonzo Gee
Jordan Hamilton.
Bryce Dejean-Jones (death)
Toney Douglas
Luke Babbitt

I put Gordon not as a key loss, because he's injured so much.

Draft:
#6 Buddy Hield
#33 Cheick Diallo (traded for)


Trades:
#39 and #40 for #33 Cheick DIallo
Babbitt for cash from Miami

Free Agency:
Solomon Hill 4/$51.9m (with ~4m in unlikely incentives)
E’Twaun Moore 4/$34 m
Langston Galloway 2/$10.7m
Buddy Hield rookie scale
Tim Frazier 2/$4.1m
Cheick Diallo 3/$2.5m (~2m guaranteed)
Alonzo Gee 1/$1.4m
Terrence Jones 1/$1.1m

Current Depth Chart: (as usual this is a rough draft taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Jrue Holiday, Tim Frazier, Tyreke Evans (injured)
SG: E’Twaun Moore, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, Alonzo Gee
SF: Solomon Hill, Quincy Pondexter, Cheick Diallo
PF: Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, Dante Cunningham
C: Omer Asik, Alexis Ajinca

Needs:
A high end wing would be really nice, and Asik to remember how to play basketball.

Additional Thoughts:
Nothing really outstanding hereto be, but a bunch of just solid moves. Hill is a fine player, Hield is an old rookie but ready to play early and fits a huge need so I liked that too. They kept my man Tim Frazier on a really good deal too. Jones could be a really good move if he turns back around from last year. No home runs but a bunch of solid singles to me.
Projected Win/Loss:
37-45
Off-Season Grade: B

dbrandon Review

Key Losses:
Ryan Anderson
Eric Gordon

Probably their two best non-AD scorers. Injury issues aside, both are solid players. Will be missed, but not worth NO capping itself out.

Losses:
Kendrick Perkins
Norris Cole
Alonzo Gee
Jordan Hamilton.
Bryce Dejean-Jones (death)
Toney Douglas
Luke Babbitt

Not a huge deal.

Draft:
#6 Buddy Hield
#33 Cheick Diallo (traded for)

I like both of these. Granted, I'm from Oklahoma, so I readily admit some pro-Hield bias. But I think they used the draft well.

Trades:
#39 and #40 for #33 Cheick DIallo
Babbitt for cash from Miami

Both of these are fine.

Free Agency:
Solomon Hill 4/$51.9m (with ~4m in unlikely incentives)
E’Twaun Moore 4/$34 m
Langston Galloway 2/$10.7m
Buddy Hield rookie scale
Tim Frazier 2/$4.1m
Cheick Diallo 3/$2.5m (~2m guaranteed)
Alonzo Gee 1/$1.4m
Terrence Jones 1/$1.1m

I like them picking up Moore, Galloway, Frazier, Gee and Jones. Hill is a lot more of a question mark. I'm not convinced his 3-ball is for real, in which case he's an expensive non-shooting wing. We'll see.

Current Depth Chart: (as usual this is a rough draft taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Jrue Holiday, Tim Frazier, Tyreke Evans (injured)
SG: E’Twaun Moore, Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, Alonzo Gee
SF: Solomon Hill, Quincy Pondexter, Cheick Diallo
PF: Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, Dante Cunningham
C: Omer Asik, Alexis Ajinca

Needs:
Asik to be decent again. Hill to keep developing his shot. Moore not to fall off after having a good year in Chi.

The pieces around AD aren't really inspiring names, but they're all tough, solid players. I think they're getting a little underrated. Probably the biggest need is for some of those guys to really break out over the course of this year, because if one of them does, this roster's got solid role players up and down the line and is in pretty decent shape.

Additional Thoughts:

Lot of things to like here. I wasn't sure what the Pels were going to do this offseason—they would have been basically capped out if they had kept their guys—but Demps made some really solid moves. Nothing that exciting, but trying to go for exciting put them where they are now. Time to be sensible.

Also worth noting that if a trade opened up for better players, most of these guys are on cheap enough deals that if they improve at all they'd be good trade bait.

They really need to shore up the center position, but that can probably wait—I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of playing small with AD at C. This is a roster that can run and gun a little, and they will.

Projected Win/Loss:
40 wins

Off-Season Grade: A- I think the Hill deal was too much of a risk. Other than that, very solid.

[HartfordWhalers]

(We are operating on the classic Monday Wednesday Friday timeline at this point for those wondering.)

[Woody Allen]

Absolutely hated the free agency signings other than Moore (who they overpaid) and Jones. They insist on building this team for mediocrity and don't deserve Anthony Davis. Well at least they didn't trade their first round pick for another Omer Asik this year...

[drosestruts]

I'm gonna miss Moore, feel like he's a great player to play point guard alongside a ball dominant guard like Harden, Butler, or Wade type. Not sure how New Orleans plans on using him.

[Slava]

Friendly reminder, the departure of Eric Gordon means that every asset that came their way in the CP3 trade is now gone. (Kaman/Gordon/Aminu/10th pick which turned into Austin Rivers).

Its pleasant to see more Danny Ferry and less Dell Demps influence in cleaning house by moving injury prone players and hopefully it continues next season with Holiday and Asik being removed.

I don't mind the Hield draft, even though he looked quite poor in preseason. They need dynamism and floor spacing from the perimeter, so going for an older NBA ready Hield is not the worst idea and there weren't many options for a high reward move once Minnesota claimed Kris Dunn just ahead of them.

Great punt on Terrence Jones if he can get his head right and Gentry might help. I'd look for Galloway to potentially seize the PG position alongside Hield if Holiday continues to disappoint. The rest of the additions are solid blue collar grafters who will do well alongside Anthony Davis and if Davis stays healthy you can expect a gaudy box stats season from him and a league leading PER alongside Westbrook.

Nothing to hate but not much to love either so a solid B+ for me. If nothing else, just making sure Ferry is around to babysit Demps is a good outcome from this offseason which might benefit the franchise 4 years from now.

Predicted W/L: 41-41

[pelifan]

I still think Demps struggles to comprehend value. He's gone after the right players this offseason but paid them the wrong prices. I highly doubt he had anybody bidding over 10 million for Hill's services.

The draft class was largely terrible and I'd rather have drafted Dunn but give me Hield over Murray no question. I feel he actually made the right pick for once. I put very little stock into the preseason as Hield's preseason numbers are almost the exact same as Steph Curry's and much lower than Jodie Meeks (Hields doubters comparison) who was in the same preseason as Curry and totally tore it up. Only thing I think it shows is that he won't be an allstar right away, but that's a given for 99% of rookies anyway.

[HartfordWhalers]

I put very little stock into the preseason as Hield's preseason numbers are almost the exact same as Steph Curry's and much lower than Jodie Meeks (Hields doubters comparison) who was in the same preseason as Curry and totally tore it up. Only thing I think it shows is that he won't be an allstar right away, but that's a given for 99% of rookies anyway.

I really think Murray was the pick, but I just wanted to second all of the above about summer league meaning close to squat.

[pelifan]

Also maybe it's the unrealistic fan in me, but I can't see this team being half as bad as last seasons team. I'm expecting closer to 40 than 35.

[Scoot McGroot]

The Solomon Hill question is a tough one. Has he developed his shot? Tough to tell. Over the season, he only shot 32.4% from 3. Throw out game 82, where everyone on both sides were benched in a meaningless game, and he shot 17/63 on the year from 3, or 26.9% for the year. Heck, throw out the last week of the year (really, one week, April 6-13), and he shot 11/49 on the rest of the season, 22.4%. He obviously had a great shooting streak in the playoffs, where he clearly earned his money. But, if he hadn't have gone 24/44 over a 12 game run, would he have gotten a guaranteed contract of any kind, let alone for 4 years and $52+m? If that one month of shooting (April 6-May 1) is merely the start of the rest of his career, he's worth it, and a keeper that will help New Orleans. If it was just a streak, as he's had before in his career? Well, it will be an albatross, and he'll be a player that you can't afford to keep on the court for more than short stretches at all.

[pelifan]

The Solomon Hill question is a tough one. Has he developed his shot? Tough to tell. Over the season, he only shot 32.4% from 3. Throw out game 82, where everyone on both sides were benched in a meaningless game, and he shot 17/63 on the year from 3, or 26.9% for the year. Heck, throw out the last week of the year (really, one week, April 6-13), and he shot 11/49 on the rest of the season, 22.4%. He obviously had a great shooting streak in the playoffs, where he clearly earned his money. But, if he hadn't have gone 24/44 over a 12 game run, would he have gotten a guaranteed contract of any kind, let alone for 4 years and $52+m? If that one month of shooting (April 6-May 1) is merely the start of the rest of his career, he's worth it, and a keeper that will help New Orleans. If it was just a streak, as he's had before in his career? Well, it will be an albatross, and he'll be a player that you can't afford to keep on the court for more than short stretches at all.

Great post.

[RexRyan]

There's not a single publication that has Hill or Moore ranked in the top 50 free agents of 2016. One had Moore #101 and Hill #106! Ironically, in most of them, Jones was ranked ahead of the two of them, and how much did he get?

Davis is awesome, but I see him pulling out his hair this season. Last year, Vegas had the over/under at 47 for the Pellies. Now, Demps has taken all this money and projections are between 35 and 40 wins. That's a fail to me.

[Jon1798]

Obviously every fan base thinks like this, but it's much harder to appreciate this offseason for those who haven't watched the Pelicans every game. It's hard to appreciate the real flaws on this team. Years of players not trying hard on a nightly basis, not attempting to get back or play defense. Guys only looking for their's and not daring to play with a thigh bruise.

We have been one of the worst defensive teams for years. Way too many one way players. One of the reasons Jrue is so loved and so valuable is because he is one of the only true two way players on this team. A guy that played through injury to the point of seriously injuring himself( not saying that's what we want lol).

So we cleared the deck. Two of the worst offenders are gone in Gordon and Anderson. And we loaded up on hard playing, versatile players.

Solomon Hill is going to start at SF, and can play PF in small ball lineups. He's capable of defending and passing like a very poor mans Draymond. He'll make $11 million this season, one that saw Barnes, Crabbe, Turner, Parson's etc etc get ridiculous contracts. I don't believe there were other starting SF's signed in Hill's range. It's a chance, but I think a good one. His numbers are more along the lines of early Demarre Carroll and Jae Crowder. We shall see.

Outside of that, we needed outside shooting and added the best shooter in college basketball in Buddy and Moore who shot 45% from three. Plus we get Quincy Pondexter back. Let's just say it, would anyone take Gordon on his deal over Moore on his? Moore shot better, plays defense and is generally on the court.

Buddy vs Murray was easy for me. Murray's lack of athleticism is going to not only make him suffer on defense, but will also make getting a shot off very difficult. Buddy is great moving off the ball and will be playing off of Jrue and AD.

And we all know Terrance Jones was a killer add. A big that can run, and handle the ball. A guy with experience playing with AD. On a minimum deal.

I'm not sure this team makes the playoffs, but I think they did an amazing job with what they had to make a base. Perfect world they now head into next offseason with another lottery pick, they let Tyreke walk, and they add a player in FA prior to a massive Jrue extension.

This team with Alvin Gentry is going to score. If they have above replacement level players on the court playing hard defense, I think they will surprise people with how good they can look.

[pacers33granger]

Solomon Hill is going to start at SF, and can play PF in small ball lineups. He's capable of defending and passing like a very poor mans Draymond. He'll make $11 million this season, one that saw Barnes, Crabbe, Turner, Parson's etc etc get ridiculous contracts. I don't believe there were other starting SF's signed in Hill's range. It's a chance, but I think a good one. His numbers are more along the lines of early Demarre Carroll and Jae Crowder. We shall see.

I feel the Pelicans will do a bit better than most think providing they don't have massive injuries again and generally agree with your overall post.

But Hill is not in any sense a good passer. He's generally smart, but he still does force things at times and does not have any court vision. Very capable on defense, you will love him there, no doubt. Bad shot throughout his career but seemed to be putting more arc on it at the end of the season. Whether that was knowing he was on the fringe of getting a new deal remains to be seen.

I don't mind the contract that much now that we saw the rest of the free agent crop's deals. It is banking on a very small sample size though. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy and was incredibly pissed when we declined his option. As a starter (which he is being paid like, even if it is closer to 5th starter money in this environment), still some question marks though.

And honestly, Indy fans weren't 100% sure what to make of his drive honestly. He worked his ass off on the court. Sometimes on defense when he really dug in he'd look like a young Tony Allen (not as good, but similar qualities). But his off court work seemed to be lacking at times. Bird declined his option specifically because he came into camp out of shape and seemed like he had "made it" and deserved minutes (he led the team in minutes the year prior). Maybe that changed because his option was declined and he realized he couldn't get comfortable again. But maybe it didn't.

I think you guys will love him as a player, but like I said, still some question marks that really have little evidence to properly project.

[Statlanta]

The way there free agency has gone you would think that New Orleans had a deal with Houston. I believe that developing young guys and not overly committing to modest vets is alright for any franchise but when you are a franchise with a top 5 asset in the league with Anthony Davis you can only hope he doesn't get flustered. Their hands are tied though until next free agency when they can finally choose their starting PG(Holiday/Evans/free agent) and field a team without the guard logjam

[Trader_Joe]

NO will be a better team this year, but I attribute that to health (other than Evans).

I did not like the Moore signing for the money, not a fan of Hill for the money either. I did like their pick in Heild and think they scored with T.Jones...but Davis needs more. I think they really need to make some moves starting with Evans and Asik if possible. Unless they move AD to center, that is their weakest link by far. Also.. didn't know they signed Galloway. I think he could be an under the radar signing.

35 wins seems about right.

[Laimbeer]

Absolutely hated the free agency signings other than Moore (who they overpaid) and Jones. They insist on building this team for mediocrity and don't deserve Anthony Davis. Well at least they didn't trade their first round pick for another Omer Asik this year...

Pretty much this. Heild seems solid and prevents a failing grade, but the Hill and Moore signings were brutal. I'd be afraid AD would be getting restless.

D.

[loserX]

Normally when I weigh in on these I pick a "best move/worst move" just to give myself some signposts for assessment (also just for the hell of it). I found this quite difficult with the Pelicans.

Best move: the draft. Like HW I would have preferred Murray over Hield, but Hield also makes 100% sense to me and I have no problem with the logic in doing so. Good grade from me. I like the Diallo trade/pick too but also like HW I feel it's a shame if they jobbed Cordinier in the process. (Why not just buy back into the 2nd and take him later?)

And like everyone else, I liked the addition of Jones on a relatively low-risk contract. Hopefully the team helps him start afresh.

Worst move: probably the Hill/Moore signings, and even then not that bad. Both guys are gambles, but at least now the Pelicans are gambling on guys in the right age group instead of churning out retreads.

Still, both guys are a big question mark. For some reason this team has been completely unable to find even adequate SFs for some years now. Luke Babbitt? Something that appeared to be a cardboard cutout of John Salmons? There is going to be some pressure on Solomon Hill to show he's the answer and not just another failed experiment.

Of course what the Pelicans need more than anything else is health for their key players. AD has to play a full 82 or something close to it. Jrue has to stay in enough games to be a real difference maker. And Tyreke at least hopefully can come back and drive up his trade value before the deadline.

I'll give a B-/C+ for having a vision and sticking to it. I would have liked to see another low-variance player added in addition to all these gambles, though.

[pelifan]

Both guys are gambles, but at least now the Pelicans are gambling on guys in the right age group instead of churning out retreads.

I disagree. Acquiring young vets has always been Demps' MO.

[gom]

I'm going to go with B/B+ here. Here's why:

Draft: B+/A-

Personally, I think that Hield makes a lot of sense for the Pelicans. There is uncertainty with any pick, and I'm not convinced that Murray will be better than Hield over the first few years of his contract, and they need to get something going sooner rather than later. I also thought Diallo was a good signing.

Free Agency: B-

Losses:

I think the Pelicans will miss Anderson and Gordon, but I also recognize that they needed to move on and build a team that worked better on both sides of the court. I don't see any of the other players they lost as being a valuable part of a team with aspiration for the postseason.

Gains:

Solomon Hill: Seems like a reasonable deal in this market, but I worry about his quality. Keep in mind that Eric Gordon signed a four year deal for about the same rate ($53M). Solomon Hill better get working from day 1.

E'Twaun Moore: It's not really a bad deal (4/34), but I don't really see (except for a brief time last season) Moore as a quality starter. This may be a good thing for Hield, who should get an opportunity, but it's also possible that we see Hield (or Galloway) in a 3 man backcourt if NOP goes small with Hill at PF and Davis at C. They have options.

Gee & Jones were cheap low-risk deals. Overall, not too bad.

---

I think the Pelicans will win more games than last year but I still don't see them as a playoff team.

[Scoot McGroot]

Solomon Hill is going to start at SF, and can play PF in small ball lineups. He's capable of defending and passing like a very poor mans Draymond.

pacers33granger already addressed the passing, but I'll address the other issue. Solomon Hill is a very poor SF. He did nothing at all to really set himself apart as a SF. When he took off over the last month of the season (including the playoffs), he was playing smallball 4. He's like Jared Dudley or Luol Deng. If you acquired them to play the 3, you'll be sorely disappointed. If you play them a bit out of position at the 4, which fits them better at this point in their career, you might have something.

Though, that requires playing Anthony Davis at the 5, something I'm not sure you wish to do. But, to play Solo effectively, you must.