How do we avoid becoming the Pelicans?

[Catledge]

I would happily trade places with the Pelicans right this second, but if the point is to ask how can we play two bigs in a way that works, I think at least one big will need to be able to shoot threes at 37%+ AND both will need to be able to switch on the perimeter.

I think the way to move forward from here is to start AG plus the two bigs together in the front court with Ross/Fournier and the best PG we can acquire this summer. Then we should spend the year playing 4-out-1-in while giving AG and Isaac he green light to shoot from 3 regardless of their percentages. If it works, we have a vision for moving forward. If it doesn't work, we have another high draft pick and can make a decision about which front court player to move next summer.

[Skybox]

So no smart ideas then?

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Taking Bamba was not smart, when you already have a similar player in Isaac. It's not smart to further create a logjam at PF and C, when there already was one to begin with. It's not smart to flat out ignore your biggest needs at PG, SG and SF. Betting on going with 2 defensive bigs is not smart, especially after watching the Ibaka, Biz experiment fail horribly. Bonus on top of that, while that was failing Vuc went into cry baby mode.

i dont mean to be a dick but besides for the fact that they are both thin, long and have unusual hair....they are nothing alike. Isaac is a SF/PF who grew up playing G and got too tall for it. he kind of reminds me of Rashard Lewis and i expect for him to be an elite 3 and D guy worst case scenario. Bamba is a real center who will anchor the D in the paint and hopefully develop a post up and face up game over time. to me this is rashard lewis and dwight howard...not biz and ibaka.

i do agree that they picked a big while we are in desperate need of a guard, however this draft just had a ton of bigs, when you are bad you pick best available and sort it out later...thats how sports work for the teams that actually want to get better.

the NBA is about stars and Bamba was the only guy besides for MPJ who was going to give you that potential. to be honest i think he may end up being the best player in this draft 3 years from now...put it this way....he has better touch then howard ever did or does now, he is also bigger, longer with equally good instincts on D. he wont ever be as physical....but in todays NBA thats overrated. you want guys who run the floor, can face up, and finish at the rim.

I completely agree with this. They are "longs" not necessarily "bigs". Both can move quickly. I'm more concerned that a skinny Bamba will get punished down low by the few real bigs left (on those occasions they meet). For example, Vuc would probably beat up on Bamba down low at this point (not for long, just saying). If two NBA players are equivalent skill, agility, speed, etc...more size is always better. It's debatable whether Isaac can really play SF, but he's certainly no Center, and he's shown he can lock down a typical forward with his great footwork and reach on D. His reach at wing makes me comfortable that a smaller offensive-minded PG would be fine (but an equivalent taller one would be better).

[PrimeThyme]

I don't know if becoming the 2017-2018 Pelicans is necessarily something to avoid. One generational talent in AD, a superstar talent in Boogie, and arguably an all-star talent in Holiday (especially in the east). With a healthy Boogie and if the Pelicans played in the east, they might have made it to the finals this year. Nobody is beating the Warriors so its hard to judge how good a team is by that. They were really rolling the last quarter of this year.

Now I would like to take a better route to get there and not mismanage so many assets. If the Pelicans weren't trading away their picks since they drafted AD, they were making bad ones. Luckily they were able to win some trades and come away with Boogie and Mirotic.

[BadMofoPimp]

I am more concerned with becoming the Kings.

[Mauro Pedrosa]

I'd be shocked if any of our bigs developed an offensive game remotely close to Boogie or AD.

I'm super worried about our front office's fixation with length. I think Bamba and Isaac are great, but when you try to have a PG, SG and SF that replicate that body type, you might run into trouble.

The amount of 6'6'' and taller PGs that can't shoot a lick is crazy. MCW, Lonzo, Ben Simmons and the list goes on and on.

You can't win in today's NBA without offense, but instead of going after scorers, we're rumored to want Jerami Grant ffs. Another SF-PF to add to our 10+ players that can play those positions

[drsd]

How do we become the Pelicans?

Fixed.

I really like some pieces on that team, a team that went 48-34 and made the Conference semi's, all whilst being dinged up.

After trading Vučević for a PG and (re)signing a PF - yes I mean you Hezonja - the Magic will be balanced and better than last year.

[dsg2021]

Do not like the comparison at all.

1) Our 2 bigs are more modern and can space out and share shots better.
2) NOR has been capped out with a spend-cringey ownership, no room to draft high lottery guards and no room to sign them either. They operate on the outside of that.

I don’t see it at all.

[pepe1991]

Do not like the comparison at all.

1) Our 2 bigs are more modern and can space out and share shots better.
2) NOR has been capped out with a spend-cringey ownership, no room to draft high lottery guards and no room to sign them either. They operate on the outside of that.

I don’t see it at all.

Our 2 bigs are more modern and can space out and share shots better.

Cousins 25 ppg , 36% for 3
Davis 28 ppg ,34% for 3 being DPOY candidate

Magic bigs: 5,4 ppg Isaac, and let's see what MB is.

NOR has been capped out with a spend-cringey ownership, no room to draft high lottery guards and no room to sign them either

Just like us, we just don't have Holiday,who would be best Magic player.

[Alonzo_Morning]

1) Our 2 bigs are more modern and can space out and share shots better.

[GatorbaitDD]

Do not like the comparison at all.

1) Our 2 bigs are more modern and can space out and share shots better.
2) NOR has been capped out with a spend-cringey ownership, no room to draft high lottery guards and no room to sign them either. They operate on the outside of that.

I don’t see it at all.

What? Our bigs are a joke compared to AD and Cousins. Both AD and Cousins can shoot out to 3.

[dsg2021]

1) Our 2 bigs are more modern and can space out and share shots better.

‘More modern’ and ‘share shots’ was my lazy way of saying that bigs don’t generally take as big a part of the whole team offense in today’s NBA.

One NOR big shot 18 fga per game.
The other big shot 19.5 fga per game.
ORL averaged more 3PA and 3PM per game than NOR did as a whole.

[dsg2021]