Jazzfan1971 and FloppyMoose's Offseason Preview - The Pellys

[Nitroglycerin]

I love Anthony Davis. But I dont think they'll make the playoffs. If next summer they bolster their bench ala Portland, theyll be in for sure
Their froncourt rotation is one of the best,but they have a really big hole at SF.
Tyreke is not an SF. Didnt the Kings put him at SF and still regressed?
Did he play SF with the Pels?
Still, Davis will be a beast

[hands11]

In order to make the playoffs, the Pelicans have to better than:Nuggets,Phoenix,Memphis,Trail Blazers,Rockets,Warriors,Clippers,OKC,San Antonio, Dallas

No.

San Antonio
OKC
Clippers
Warriors
Dallas
MEM
Trail Blazers

No. They won't be better then them.

Houston - they are an injury away from being bad
PHX - played over their heads and no idea what happens with Bledsoe
DEN - Injuries are a huge concern there just like NO

Making the playoffs in the West would be tough for them this year but its not impossible. There might be one slot open.

[Jon1798]

In order to make the playoffs, the Pelicans have to better than:Nuggets,Phoenix,Memphis,Trail Blazers,Rockets,Warriors,Clippers,OKC,San Antonio, Dallas

No.

San Antonio
OKC
Clippers
Warriors
Dallas
MEM
Trail Blazers

No. They won't be better then them.

Houston - they are an injury away from being bad
PHX - played over their heads and no idea what happens with Bledsoe
DEN - Injuries are a huge concern there just like NO

Making the playoffs in the West would be tough for them this year but its not impossible. There might be one slot open.

I'm not sold that we can't be better than Warriors, Dallas, Memphis and Portland either. We match up very well with Memphis and Portland in particular.

And this isn't even getting into other teams actually having injuries. I tend to think we're due to have a relatively healthy season ourselves.

[Jon1798]

As for everything else, geez, where to start. 504 was pretty much spot on with everything.

Pelicans have two pretty active communities already for fans, no one really posts over here.

Of course you don't think highly of our bench, you've got players in the wrong spots, players missing, and you don't know most of them. Just to flesh this out a little bit.......

PG- Jrue Holiday, Austin Rivers, Russ Smith
Jrue Holiday has already been practicing full go for weeks. He's an average to above average offensive point guard, but probably one of the 2 or 3 best defensive point guards in the game. Going from him to Brian Roberts was crippling in so many ways.

Austin made HUGE strides last year. Very good defensively again, great first step, good dribble drive. Still needs to finish better, and those darn free throws. Actually shot 3's at fair rate as well.

Russ Smith was a dynamic player on a great team in college. He had a very good summer league where he actually lead all of summer league in assists. He is really going to push for minutes.

SG- Eric Gordon, Jimmer Freddette (Tyreke Evans, Darius Miller)
Gordon needs to stay healthy. Period. He's a scorer, through and through. When healthy, a pretty pesky defender. I found that he wore down as the season went on and eventually they shut him down once things were out of hand. Now a year removed from cleaning up his knee, I think he has a shot to have a much better season.

Jimmer will play some, but the true backup is Tyreke. They are going to rotate Reke up to shooting guard, with Salmons probably the guy coming off the bench at SF. Tyreke at shooting guard was as good as just about any player in the league last year. The guy can truly dominate games at times. Plan is to slide him to 2, with Austin, Salmons, Davis and Ryan Anderson all around him. Shooters at every position(usually term lightly with Austin).

[Village Idiot]

I have them in the playoffs ahead of the Rockets, Nuggets, Suns and Kings. If that were to happen the Pelicans would end up givning the Rockets their pick as a consolation. At least the Rockets wouldn't have to give up a pick to the Lakers.