Knowing now that AD is a money, ring chaser, would you still of wanted to have won the lottery?

[UNCNYC]

Yes I wish we had him. I still think he is a good guy, he is just a good guy who wants be rich and win a title lol. He and kemba would had definately attracted one more star and I think we would have won it all or at least been second behind the warriors.

[JMAC3]

I would obviously want Davis, he is heads and shoulders better then MKG. I do look forward to seeing him on another team to see if finds success. It’s been said in here a few times, he hasn’t done much with the talent he has been given.

Some of that falls on the Pelicans organization, but people are throwing the last 2 years and the next 3 at him in trades and he hasn’t won. Put LeBron or Greek or Harden or Durant on the Pelicans the last 5 years. You don’t think they would of won more games? I am just not sure his impact is high as people make it seem.


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[316Hornets]

I would obviously want Davis, he is heads and shoulders better then MKG. I do look forward to seeing him on another team to see if finds success. It’s been said in here a few times, he hasn’t done much with the talent he has been given.

Some of that falls on the Pelicans organization, but people are throwing the last 2 years and the next 3 at him in trades and he hasn’t won. Put LeBron or Greek or Harden or Durant on the Pelicans the last 5 years. You don’t think they would of won more games? I am just not sure his impact is high as people make it seem.


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People think I'm crazy, but the guy has serious tunnel vision. It just isn't conducive to winning big games.

[tondi123]

You always want a top 10 player. If you screw it up and they leave then so be it. Its still better than any of the other options.

[Rich4114]

This whole question is just painful. I’ve never thought about the domino affects of having AD instead of MKG that draft. I’ve only thought about just having AD. We likely don’t make a series of other moves that dug our hole deeper. Ugh. Would have spent our free agency money elsewhere and certainly drafted differently. Probably would have competed as a top 4 seed most of the last few years too.

[countryboi]

its better to have loved and lost

[JMAC3]

Obviously you take him over MKG, but I think a team is about to overpay for a guy who has never won. I’m not talking about championships, just winning seasons in the nba. What other top 5 talent has struggled to consistently win in the nba?


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[BigSlam]

I've never understood the "for a guy who has never won" thing.

I look at it this way:
You could be an extremely high performer in your company - true high end talent. You go in to the office every day and do everything you can to position yourself to be successful and operate at a very high and consistent rate. You are a model employee never b*tching or moaning. You come in, hard hat on, and do your work.

But as an employee, you don't handle the companies finances or dictate who they hire or determine the strategy/direction of the company and as it turns out, the company isn't profitable and is failing.

How does that reflect poorly on you? You are an ingredient in the cake - not the whole cake.

If any of us worked for a company and we were really good at what we do and in high demand and the company was going down the toilet, wouldn't we all look to change companies?

How would it make sense for someone like Davis to remain in the same situation he has remained in over the past 7 years and continue to experience the same thing moving forward?

Same with Kemba. He gives his all, he represents our team SO well and is universally loved around the league. How is it his fault that we can't draft for sh*t, never seem to have the right head coach, dial out bad contracts or make suffocating trades?

[JMAC3]

I've never understood the "for a guy who has never won" thing.

I look at it this way:
You could be an extremely high performer in your company - true high end talent. You go in to the office every day and do everything you can to position yourself to be successful and operate at a very high and consistent rate. You are a model employee never b*tching or moaning. You come in, hard hat on, and do your work.

But as an employee, you don't handle the companies finances or dictate who they hire or determine the strategy/direction of the company and as it turns out, the company isn't profitable and is failing.

How does that reflect poorly on you? You are an ingredient in the cake - not the whole cake.

If any of us worked for a company and we were really good at what we do and in high demand and the company was going down the toilet, wouldn't we all look to change companies?

How would it make sense for someone like Davis to remain in the same situation he has remained in over the past 7 years and continue to experience the same thing moving forward?

Same with Kemba. He gives his all, he represents our team SO well and is universally loved around the league. How is it his fault that we can't draft for sh*t, never seem to have the right head coach, dial out bad contracts or make suffocating trades?

Ask yourself this... if Kemba played with Jrue Holiday, Demarcus Cousins, Nikola Mirotic, Julius Randle... how many games do we win?

Do you think Greek Freak or Harden played on Pelicans instead of Davis... they still aren’t in the playoffs?

I’m not taking anything away from his personal accolades, he is a great individual player. Pair him with LeBron and of course he will win. Just worrisome that he hasn’t been able to win being the best player on his team.

I just don’t think if you put him on the bucks instead of Greek they are 1st in the east....


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[BigSlam]

I've never understood the "for a guy who has never won" thing.

I look at it this way:
You could be an extremely high performer in your company - true high end talent. You go in to the office every day and do everything you can to position yourself to be successful and operate at a very high and consistent rate. You are a model employee never b*tching or moaning. You come in, hard hat on, and do your work.

But as an employee, you don't handle the companies finances or dictate who they hire or determine the strategy/direction of the company and as it turns out, the company isn't profitable and is failing.

How does that reflect poorly on you? You are an ingredient in the cake - not the whole cake.

If any of us worked for a company and we were really good at what we do and in high demand and the company was going down the toilet, wouldn't we all look to change companies?

How would it make sense for someone like Davis to remain in the same situation he has remained in over the past 7 years and continue to experience the same thing moving forward?

Same with Kemba. He gives his all, he represents our team SO well and is universally loved around the league. How is it his fault that we can't draft for sh*t, never seem to have the right head coach, dial out bad contracts or make suffocating trades?

Ask yourself this... if Kemba played with Jrue Holiday, Demarcus Cousins, Nikola Mirotic, Julius Randle... how many games do we win?

Do you think Greek Freak or Harden played on Pelicans instead of Davis... they still aren’t in the playoffs?

I’m not taking anything away from his personal accolades, he is a great individual player. Pair him with LeBron and of course he will win. Just worrisome that he hasn’t been able to win being the best player on his team.

I just don’t think if you put him on the bucks instead of Greek they are 1st in the east....


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Cousins barely played half a season with New Orleans in '17-'18, then tore his achilles tendon. He played 17 games before that. Then HE went ring chasing leaving Davis high and dry.

Those other players are bit players and I don't think they would do much more around Kemba than the current players Kemba is surrounded with accomplishes.

Davis didn't sign Hill or Moore to those contracts.
He didn't trade Hield + a future first and a future second round draft pick of a half season of Cousins.
All he did was play as hard as he could every night and do the very best he could.

I player doesn't make a team. A team is the sum of all parts.

[Hornet Mania]

I've never understood the "for a guy who has never won" thing.

I look at it this way:
You could be an extremely high performer in your company - true high end talent. You go in to the office every day and do everything you can to position yourself to be successful and operate at a very high and consistent rate. You are a model employee never b*tching or moaning. You come in, hard hat on, and do your work.

But as an employee, you don't handle the companies finances or dictate who they hire or determine the strategy/direction of the company and as it turns out, the company isn't profitable and is failing.

How does that reflect poorly on you? You are an ingredient in the cake - not the whole cake.

If any of us worked for a company and we were really good at what we do and in high demand and the company was going down the toilet, wouldn't we all look to change companies?

How would it make sense for someone like Davis to remain in the same situation he has remained in over the past 7 years and continue to experience the same thing moving forward?

Same with Kemba. He gives his all, he represents our team SO well and is universally loved around the league. How is it his fault that we can't draft for sh*t, never seem to have the right head coach, dial out bad contracts or make suffocating trades?

Stats (including advanced stats) outstripping real-world impact is a real phenomenon. Now I don't think Davis is all 'empty stats', but I also don't see a great argument for him being a top 5 player. It puzzles me that it seems to be simply assumed he's on the short list when considering the handful of best players in the league, he's definitely a great talent but I don't see him as being on the same tier as Harden/Giannis/Durant/Curry/Kawhi. Maybe I am dramatically overrating his supporting cast but I've seen top 5 (even just top 10) talents do more with less many times in the past.

I think there is a real possibility Davis is 'only' a top 15ish player in impact with top 5 stats. Time will tell, I'm sure wherever he lands next will be considered in contention as soon as he arrives so the bad team excuse will no longer apply.

[BigSlam]

It puzzles me that it seems to be simply assumed he's on the short list when considering the handful of best players in the league, he's definitely a great talent but I don't see him as being on the same tier as Harden/Giannis/Durant/Curry/Kawhi.

I don't know.

What has Harden done? And who has he played with (Durant, Westbrook and Adams then Paul, Ariza, Capella). Sure, his individuals numbers jump out, but you guys are discounting the individual numbers of Davis. Harden has ALWAYS had better talent around him than Davis.
Durant is flushed with talent in Golden State, but couldn't get it done in OKC when he was also surrounded by talent - does that drop his tier?
Curry is with a franchise who has drafted out of this world over the past 8 years and then added top end talent as well. You think if you took Davis off the Pelicans and dropped in Curry they would be world beaters?
Kawhi rode in San An with so many greats in Duncan and Manu and Parker - not to mention Pop, and a really well run franchise. The Raps are doing well this year (started white hot, cooled off of late) but they have been around .650 - .750 at the end of each of the past 4 seasons or so - and Kawhi has only played half the season this season so far.
And yes, I think that the Bucks would do just as well, if not better, with Davis than Greek - mainly because Davis can play outside AND inside. The Bucks are a really well put together balanced team with depth.

It's a TEAM sport. Daivs doesn't suck because his teams/franchise has sucked.

Just like Kemba. It's not Kemba's fault. He can't get it all done on his own. He needs a competent franchise/front office as well.

[Rich4114]

This is an interesting debate. On one hand, he hasn’t been very successful at winning but on the other his teams haven’t helped him much. I think if you traded Kemba for Giannis or Kemba for Harden or Kemba for AD, the results of our team wins would look the same.

What I think this says that outside of the rare exception (Lebron), no one single player elevates a team beyond a certain point. Especially a big in a wing driven league.

Wasn’t NOP easily in the second round of the playoffs when it was AD and Cousins at one point? You basically need two or more stars to win in this league OR have just the right combination of players like the Bucks/Pacers/Celtics.

So you can win with one A level talent surrounded by mostly B’s and a C. But you can’t replicate that with one A level talent and a bunch of C’s or D’s. Unless you’re Lebron that is because he does so much of so many things all at the highest levels.

Looking at our team, it’s one A level player surrounded by mostly C’s that occasionally elevate their game to a B. But they’re all paid like B’s or A’s. Horrible. You look at NOP’s roster and it’s very similar.

[tondi123]

I like the guy but there's no way I'm making him off limits if we need to move him. He's not shown nearly enough to be at that level.

[Teal25]

Yes. The Pelicans are a mess. i think he wouldn't have left Charlotte since Kemba could've helped him. MJ could have some sway too.

Didn't he supposedly want to come here too? Im probably making that up.

Not sure if he did but his twin sister tweeted that his mom wanted him to come here after the lottery.