Pelicans extend Herb Jones 3yr/$68M

[Saints14]

If fully healthy, lineup would likely be:

PG- Murray/ Fears/ Jose
SG- Herb/ Poole/ Hawkins
SF- Murphy/ Bey/ Peavy
PF- Zion/ Queen/ Matkovic
C- Missi/ Looney/ Dickinson

And that’s a very very strong roster. Calling that anything close to bottom five in the league is absurd. Now “healthy roster” is not something we are familiar with soooo.

The biggest concern I have is that if Fears is thrust into the starting lineup while Murray is recovering he's a strong contender for "worst player in the league" in terms of total negative value, which usually tends to be a young rookie PG thrown into the deep end. But yeah, if healthy (big if) this is a pretty interesting roster, and you have to feel great about having the wings locked up to reasonable deals for the long term

[Jon1798]

If fully healthy, lineup would likely be:

PG- Murray/ Fears/ Jose
SG- Herb/ Poole/ Hawkins
SF- Murphy/ Bey/ Peavy
PF- Zion/ Queen/ Matkovic
C- Missi/ Looney/ Dickinson

And that’s a very very strong roster. Calling that anything close to bottom five in the league is absurd. Now “healthy roster” is not something we are familiar with soooo.

The biggest concern I have is that if Fears is thrust into the starting lineup while Murray is recovering he's a strong contender for "worst player in the league" in terms of total negative value, which usually tends to be a young rookie PG thrown into the deep end. But yeah, if healthy (big if) this is a pretty interesting roster, and you have to feel great about having the wings locked up to reasonable deals for the long term

I’m much more worried about Queen playing serious NBA minutes at this point, but yes, most rookies struggle. Poole has to stay healthy, or I think they throw Fears out there and hope for the best. I have a lot of faith in Fears figuring it out pretty fast and I don’t think the moment will be too big for him. He just needs to adjust to the size and speed of these players and hopefully he’s given some time to do that.

[Scalabrine]

Good deal for Herb Jones.

Dejounte Murray / Jeremiah Fears / Jose Alvarado
Jordan Poole / Jordan Hawkins / Micah Peavy
Trey Murphy III / Saddiq Bey
Zion Williamson / Herb Jones / Karl Matkovic
Yves Missi / Derik Queen / Kevon Looney

Is Murray expected to be ready to start the season? He tore it 1/31/25. Historically, The injury is usually 9 months on the fast side of it and really 12+ to really get your feet under you. So that would put him at 9/31/25. It just depends how he can come back from it. I feel like fans have gotten more optimistic about this injury and players being able to return to their full self but we still haven't really seen it enough times beyond Durant.

Notable NBA Achilles Injuries

Player | Age at Injury | Time Missed | Performance After Return
----------------------|---------------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------
Kevin Durant (2019) | 30 | ~18 months | Returned to MVP level — rare full recovery.
Kobe Bryant (2013) | 34 | ~8 months | Never the same. Played only 41 games after.
DeMarcus Cousins (2018)| 27 | ~12 months | Lost mobility. Multiple injuries followed.
Wesley Matthews (2015)| 28 | ~8 months | Solid role player, but lost explosiveness.
Dominique Wilkins (1992)| 32 | ~9 months | Exception — averaged 29.9 PPG next season.
Brandon Jennings (2015)| 25 | ~9 months | Never regained burst. Quick decline.
Rudy Gay (2017) | 30 | ~9 months | Returned as steady veteran role player.
John Wall (2020) | 29 | ~24 months | Returned, but no longer All-Star caliber.

The trends are that shooters typically recover the best. Players relying more on quickness, athleticism and burst rarely return and in pretty much every case explosiveness will not be 100% to what it was. Modern medicine is awesome, and I think these recoveries will only become more and more successful, but Murrays skillset is concerning when it comes to a full recovery and the history is definitely against him coming back and being more than a solid role player. Especially this season.

[Pointgod]

If fully healthy, lineup would likely be:

PG- Murray/ Fears/ Jose
SG- Herb/ Poole/ Hawkins
SF- Murphy/ Bey/ Peavy
PF- Zion/ Queen/ Matkovic
C- Missi/ Looney/ Dickinson

And that’s a very very strong roster. Calling that anything close to bottom five in the league is absurd. Now “healthy roster” is not something we are familiar with soooo.

First of all that roster will never be fully healthy. Second of all, this team has no shooting, will be soft on the interior and doesn’t exactly scream great fit with the spacing and guys who are best with the ball in their hands.

[donato]

If fully healthy, lineup would likely be:

PG- Murray/ Fears/ Jose
SG- Herb/ Poole/ Hawkins
SF- Murphy/ Bey/ Peavy
PF- Zion/ Queen/ Matkovic
C- Missi/ Looney/ Dickinson

And that’s a very very strong roster. Calling that anything close to bottom five in the league is absurd. Now “healthy roster” is not something we are familiar with soooo.

First of all that roster will never be fully healthy. Second of all, this team has no shooting, will be soft on the interior and doesn’t exactly scream great fit with the spacing and guys who are best with the ball in their hands.

I don't know about "no" shooting. Just between Trey, Poole, Alvarado and Bey you have around 30 attempts per game on 37% ish.

[lordjeff05]

I think Herb might be a little overrated here because of an outlier shooting season a year ago, but even if he's a 35% shooter this is a good contract. Of course if the next 3 years are more like 2025 then it's a disaster. Good for Herb though, I'm always happy for guys that seem to like where they're at and aren't trying to necessarily maximize every last dollar

The barometer for me is Jaden McDaniels who gets paid significantly more and is in my opinion, a worse player. Herb is a smart player, who handles, passes and cuts well, so as long as he keeps his percentage around 35 on a decent clip he should be fine on offense.

[lordjeff05]

If fully healthy, lineup would likely be:

PG- Murray/ Fears/ Jose
SG- Herb/ Poole/ Hawkins
SF- Murphy/ Bey/ Peavy
PF- Zion/ Queen/ Matkovic
C- Missi/ Looney/ Dickinson

And that’s a very very strong roster. Calling that anything close to bottom five in the league is absurd. Now “healthy roster” is not something we are familiar with soooo.

The biggest concern I have is that if Fears is thrust into the starting lineup while Murray is recovering he's a strong contender for "worst player in the league" in terms of total negative value, which usually tends to be a young rookie PG thrown into the deep end. But yeah, if healthy (big if) this is a pretty interesting roster, and you have to feel great about having the wings locked up to reasonable deals for the long term

I think its super unlikely that Fears starts unless he shows incredible growth this summer. I think they bring along Fears slowly, especially if Hawkins rebounds from a pretty disappointing sophomore year.

[lordjeff05]

Good deal for Herb Jones.

Dejounte Murray / Jeremiah Fears / Jose Alvarado
Jordan Poole / Jordan Hawkins / Micah Peavy
Trey Murphy III / Saddiq Bey
Zion Williamson / Herb Jones / Karl Matkovic
Yves Missi / Derik Queen / Kevon Looney

Is Murray expected to be ready to start the season? He tore it 1/31/25. Historically, The injury is usually 9 months on the fast side of it and really 12+ to really get your feet under you. So that would put him at 9/31/25. It just depends how he can come back from it. I feel like fans have gotten more optimistic about this injury and players being able to return to their full self but we still haven't really seen it enough times beyond Durant.

Notable NBA Achilles Injuries

Player | Age at Injury | Time Missed | Performance After Return
----------------------|---------------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------
Kevin Durant (2019) | 30 | ~18 months | Returned to MVP level — rare full recovery.
Kobe Bryant (2013) | 34 | ~8 months | Never the same. Played only 41 games after.
DeMarcus Cousins (2018)| 27 | ~12 months | Lost mobility. Multiple injuries followed.
Wesley Matthews (2015)| 28 | ~8 months | Solid role player, but lost explosiveness.
Dominique Wilkins (1992)| 32 | ~9 months | Exception — averaged 29.9 PPG next season.
Brandon Jennings (2015)| 25 | ~9 months | Never regained burst. Quick decline.
Rudy Gay (2017) | 30 | ~9 months | Returned as steady veteran role player.
John Wall (2020) | 29 | ~24 months | Returned, but no longer All-Star caliber.

The trends are that shooters typically recover the best. Players relying more on quickness, athleticism and burst rarely return and in pretty much every case explosiveness will not be 100% to what it was. Modern medicine is awesome, and I think these recoveries will only become more and more successful, but Murrays skillset is concerning when it comes to a full recovery and the history is definitely against him coming back and being more than a solid role player. Especially this season.

I'm not expecting Murray to play this year. And I don't factor him in to a playoff prediction.

[JimmyPlopper]

Good deal for Herb Jones.

Dejounte Murray / Jeremiah Fears / Jose Alvarado
Jordan Poole / Jordan Hawkins / Micah Peavy
Trey Murphy III / Saddiq Bey
Zion Williamson / Herb Jones / Karl Matkovic
Yves Missi / Derik Queen / Kevon Looney

Is Murray expected to be ready to start the season? He tore it 1/31/25. Historically, The injury is usually 9 months on the fast side of it and really 12+ to really get your feet under you. So that would put him at 9/31/25. It just depends how he can come back from it. I feel like fans have gotten more optimistic about this injury and players being able to return to their full self but we still haven't really seen it enough times beyond Durant.

Notable NBA Achilles Injuries

Player | Age at Injury | Time Missed | Performance After Return
----------------------|---------------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------
Kevin Durant (2019) | 30 | ~18 months | Returned to MVP level — rare full recovery.
Kobe Bryant (2013) | 34 | ~8 months | Never the same. Played only 41 games after.
DeMarcus Cousins (2018)| 27 | ~12 months | Lost mobility. Multiple injuries followed.
Wesley Matthews (2015)| 28 | ~8 months | Solid role player, but lost explosiveness.
Dominique Wilkins (1992)| 32 | ~9 months | Exception — averaged 29.9 PPG next season.
Brandon Jennings (2015)| 25 | ~9 months | Never regained burst. Quick decline.
Rudy Gay (2017) | 30 | ~9 months | Returned as steady veteran role player.
John Wall (2020) | 29 | ~24 months | Returned, but no longer All-Star caliber.

The trends are that shooters typically recover the best. Players relying more on quickness, athleticism and burst rarely return and in pretty much every case explosiveness will not be 100% to what it was. Modern medicine is awesome, and I think these recoveries will only become more and more successful, but Murrays skillset is concerning when it comes to a full recovery and the history is definitely against him coming back and being more than a solid role player. Especially this season.

I'm not expecting Murray to play this year. And I don't factor him in to a playoff prediction.

For some reason I thought he was further along in his recovery. Silver lining is that Fears will get a lot of exposure and development time.

[lordjeff05]

If fully healthy, lineup would likely be:

PG- Murray/ Fears/ Jose
SG- Herb/ Poole/ Hawkins
SF- Murphy/ Bey/ Peavy
PF- Zion/ Queen/ Matkovic
C- Missi/ Looney/ Dickinson

And that’s a very very strong roster. Calling that anything close to bottom five in the league is absurd. Now “healthy roster” is not something we are familiar with soooo.

First of all that roster will never be fully healthy. Second of all, this team has no shooting, will be soft on the interior and doesn’t exactly scream great fit with the spacing and guys who are best with the ball in their hands.

This team has more shooting than the team that won 49 games in 23/24. People are making the mistake of slotting Murray into the starting lineup when he is returning by January at best, and likely not at all.

The starters will be Poole, Herb, Murphy, Z and either Missi or Looney. Trey Murphy has been top 10 in catch and shoot 3 point attempts per year for the last two years and Poole shoots as many of them as CJ. Clearing away Ingram solidifies the pecking order and opens up the floor. Biggest question marks for me are not our rookies but our other young guys. If Missi shows defensive improvement and Hawk holds his own then we should be fine.

[Bad Bart]

Trey and Herb are locked up for around 40 mill combined for the next 2 years, and barely over 50 for the 2 years after that.

Wow, that is amazing value! I know the Jones deal is under Weaver-Dumars, but David Griffin really got screwed by injuries. He put together some really talented squads, in my opinion, but they were never on the court together.

[NO-KG-AI]

Trey and Herb are locked up for around 40 mill combined for the next 2 years, and barely over 50 for the 2 years after that.

Wow, that is amazing value! I know the Jones deal is under Weaver-Dumars, but David Griffin really got screwed by injuries. He put together some really talented squads, in my opinion, but they were never on the court together.

The first Jones deal was under Griffin. I think it signals that Herb prefers to reup as early as possible instead of waiting and risking it despite much bigger potential earnings.

He’s a low volume guy, but he’s a guy that when healthy will always be an all defensive team guy, a good connective passer, and will flirt with 50/40/85 shooting splits. He just slides into any team, system, or lineup and enhances everyone around him.

[Jon1798]

If fully healthy, lineup would likely be:

PG- Murray/ Fears/ Jose
SG- Herb/ Poole/ Hawkins
SF- Murphy/ Bey/ Peavy
PF- Zion/ Queen/ Matkovic
C- Missi/ Looney/ Dickinson

And that’s a very very strong roster. Calling that anything close to bottom five in the league is absurd. Now “healthy roster” is not something we are familiar with soooo.

First of all that roster will never be fully healthy. Second of all, this team has no shooting, will be soft on the interior and doesn’t exactly scream great fit with the spacing and guys who are best with the ball in their hands.

People are making the mistake of slotting Murray into the starting lineup when he is returning by January at best, and likely not at all.

.

That’s a really odd take and I have no idea where you are getting this from. Of course Murray is playing this year. No idea how well he will play, but as was said, the early part of his return time line is the start of the season. Murray is in his 20’s and is no doubt hitting his rehab (unlike a Zion). Even with the “Pelican curve” my expectation would be around 11 months right at January 1st. He’s hurt, not dead.

[Jon1798]

If fully healthy, lineup would likely be:

PG- Murray/ Fears/ Jose
SG- Herb/ Poole/ Hawkins
SF- Murphy/ Bey/ Peavy
PF- Zion/ Queen/ Matkovic
C- Missi/ Looney/ Dickinson

And that’s a very very strong roster. Calling that anything close to bottom five in the league is absurd. Now “healthy roster” is not something we are familiar with soooo.

First of all that roster will never be fully healthy. Second of all, this team has no shooting, will be soft on the interior and doesn’t exactly scream great fit with the spacing and guys who are best with the ball in their hands.

First of all that roster will never be fully healthy.

Agreed

Second of all, this team has no shooting, will be soft on the interior

Poole, Herb and Murphy will start at 1-3 and can’t shoot? Zion and Missi are soft?

guys who are best with the ball in their hands.

Everyone plays better with the basketball in their hands. That’s the game.

[Eightnineborn]

As A Cavs fan I feel terrible, Id pay Herb more than that and get rid of Darius. Im not saying Herb is a better player, maybe he will be, but he just makes sense along with Don so much more than Darius.

[AleksandarN]

I guess this will be the bench mark for CB’s new deal

[bbms]

underpayment... no reason for him not get 25 apy

[Scalabrine]

If fully healthy, lineup would likely be:

PG- Murray/ Fears/ Jose
SG- Herb/ Poole/ Hawkins
SF- Murphy/ Bey/ Peavy
PF- Zion/ Queen/ Matkovic
C- Missi/ Looney/ Dickinson

And that’s a very very strong roster. Calling that anything close to bottom five in the league is absurd. Now “healthy roster” is not something we are familiar with soooo.

First of all that roster will never be fully healthy. Second of all, this team has no shooting, will be soft on the interior and doesn’t exactly scream great fit with the spacing and guys who are best with the ball in their hands.

This team has more shooting than the team that won 49 games in 23/24. People are making the mistake of slotting Murray into the starting lineup when he is returning by January at best, and likely not at all.

The starters will be Poole, Herb, Murphy, Z and either Missi or Looney. Trey Murphy has been top 10 in catch and shoot 3 point attempts per year for the last two years and Poole shoots as many of them as CJ. Clearing away Ingram solidifies the pecking order and opens up the floor. Biggest question marks for me are not our rookies but our other young guys. If Missi shows defensive improvement and Hawk holds his own then we should be fine.

if Murray isn't playing at all then clearly the biggest problem is a real point guard. You mention both Murphy and Poole as catch and shoot guys, but who is going to feed them the ball in those spots? You just don't really see teams without a real floor general rack up a ton of wins. Is Zion the point forward? I guess I don't hate that...What happens the other 40 games though?

[Jon1798]

First of all that roster will never be fully healthy. Second of all, this team has no shooting, will be soft on the interior and doesn’t exactly scream great fit with the spacing and guys who are best with the ball in their hands.

This team has more shooting than the team that won 49 games in 23/24. People are making the mistake of slotting Murray into the starting lineup when he is returning by January at best, and likely not at all.

The starters will be Poole, Herb, Murphy, Z and either Missi or Looney. Trey Murphy has been top 10 in catch and shoot 3 point attempts per year for the last two years and Poole shoots as many of them as CJ. Clearing away Ingram solidifies the pecking order and opens up the floor. Biggest question marks for me are not our rookies but our other young guys. If Missi shows defensive improvement and Hawk holds his own then we should be fine.

if Murray isn't playing at all then clearly the biggest problem is a real point guard. You mention both Murphy and Poole as catch and shoot guys, but who is going to feed them the ball in those spots? You just don't really see teams without a real floor general rack up a ton of wins. Is Zion the point forward? I guess I don't hate that...What happens the other 40 games though?

I have no idea what Jeff is talking about out. Murray is ahead of schedule and was injured last January.

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[hugepatsfan]

If fully healthy, lineup would likely be:

PG- Murray/ Fears/ Jose
SG- Herb/ Poole/ Hawkins
SF- Murphy/ Bey/ Peavy
PF- Zion/ Queen/ Matkovic
C- Missi/ Looney/ Dickinson

And that’s a very very strong roster. Calling that anything close to bottom five in the league is absurd. Now “healthy roster” is not something we are familiar with soooo.

In the sports phrase dictionary they'd put this lineup as the example for "team is less than the sum of its parts". Not a good mix of players at all. Bottom 5 probably harsh at first glance but not much better.