Pels Roster Fit

[HotelVitale]

[to
You will quickly lose him and he’s a perineal all-star for so many obvious reasons. Playing hardball with him would be a foolish move.

Could happen but it won't be for a year. Worst case is he takes the QO and maybe Pelicans give him the Nerlens treatment on his way out the door. Not exactly ideal for either side. More likely is he settles for 110M for the reasons I mentioned. Better than paying him 140M+. He'll probably still be overpaid @ 110 but at least he'll be tradeable if the fit with Zion turns out to be rough. Edit: would his contract even be insurable? Seems like a hell of a risk for Pelicans. That's worth something in concession.

There’s no ‘hard ball’ choice here for either side, this isnt haggling for mangos in Delhi. The Pels don’t have any leverage to lower the number he’d get in FA, only move is to wait to match offers. That’s just waiting to pay a player what you’re pretty sure he’d already get, and it screws up your own FA season since you have to wait around for weeks to know how much $ you can spend as players fly off the shelf. And giving a good young player 4 years instead of 5 hurts rather than helps most of the time. You can do it as a compromise but it’s not about being ‘tough’ so much as making a calculated decision about his worth to you. He’s going to get paid to play somewhere, just have to decide how much of that you want for your team.

Also yes obviously it would be insurable. The bar for that is like having no knees or having like 5 acl tears, way way higher than ingram’s bumps and bruises.

[Jabroni Lames]

Lonzo is a winner and his effect (as it was at Lakers) goes far beyond his stats. His passing, vision, 3 point shooting and defense don’t necessarily mean awesome stats but man does he create wins.

lol. What?

"Lavar... what is wrong with you?"

[Amare_1_Knicks]

I actually really like the roster fit in NO. If they were all healthy, they’d very likely be in the playoffs; hell, even through all of the injuries they’re still right on the cusp of making it in.

Looking at Zion as the centerpiece, the supporting cast around him is fairly ideal. Ingram as a secondary option(or even as a 1B to Zion’s 1A) does everything well and has improved his shooting substantially(40%). Moreover, he doesn’t even really occupy the same space as Zion. Then there’s Moore, Melli, Redick and Hart and who all shoot well. And finally, the playmaking of Ball and Holiday.

I suppose the fit with Hayes isn’t ideal, but I wouldn’t pull the plug until I see them play significant time together. Most teams obviously play 4, if not 5 out for most of the game so it may need addressing.

[Teal25]

NAW isn't good enough to be discussing how he fits with anyone. They need to build 100% around Zion all in and I think they've done that at this point looking at their offseason acquisitions.

Zo at PG is perfect next to Zion

Hart has emerged as the perfect SG to play next to both Zion and Zo

Ingram is only 22 so even as someone that thought he was terrible up until this year (I didn't believe in his jumper) I think he can continue to improve. His playmaking used to be the only thing I liked in his game. If he gets that mentality back and accepts not being the franchise player (and learns to defend but that's a stretch) he's a great scorer to pair with Zion since he can drive from the perimeter and shoot.

As far as Hayes goes he's not a perfect fit next to Zion but will be a great third big. It's 2020 so it's easy to find a big that's tall and can shoot to plug next to Zion. I halfway think swapping Ingram for Lauri and Porter might be a great way to get a better fit and talent upgrade but IDK how much Chicago wants to deal Porter even if Lauri is asking out and that's a good way to dump his contract.

This is the biggest issue of why I think they need to trade him. He clearly wants to be a number 1.

[Dacost]

How much is Ingram going to get paid???

I see him getting ALOT of money because of the weak F.A class.

[ProcessDoctor]

They have the best young group in the league by a wide margin. I wouldn't touch anything (except maybe Jrue) until next year's deadline after they have an offseason together.

Ball/Jrue
Jrue/JJ/NAW
Ingram
Zion/Favors
Favors/Hayes

[MKWB]

I think given how good Zion and Ingram have been, and other the core supporting pieces in place, I can see Griffin pushing some chips in for a core youngish player.

Myles Turner. Perfect fit to maximize Zion's skillset, and would elevate the defensive potential of the team massively.

Hayes+ NAW
to ORL

Turner
to Pelicans

A. Gordon + Bamba ,+ future LAL picks
to Indiana

[Papi_swav]

Put a stretch 5 next to Zion that can play defense, someone like Brook Lopez or Marc Gasol, but younger and more spry. I think Turner would be great next to him. Or just let Zion be the center, if Tucker can do it, I know Zion can. Get a wing to play the 4, like Rockets are doing with Covington and let Ingram man the 3 position. Ball, Jrue, Hart and Reddick hold down the guard positions. Hayes can be the first big off the bench. You can throw different lineups at teams and there is so much versatility with this roster.

I think they're alright, they're heading in the right direction. Just let these young boys play with each other and build chemistry. See what they have in 2 years or so. No need to put all their chips in now, their core is still 24 years old or younger. I really love their team and what they're doing. I'm a big fan of them and they're one of the fun teams to watch around the league. I'll be watching them.

[MKWB]

I think given how good Zion and Ingram have been, and other the core supporting pieces in place, I can see Griffin pushing some chips in for a core youngish player.

Myles Turner. Perfect fit to maximize Zion's skillset, and would elevate the defensive potential of the team massively.

Hayes+ NAW
to ORL

Turner
to Pelicans

A. Gordon + Bamba ,+ future LAL picks
to Indiana

Turner/ (Favors with MLE?)
Zion/ Melli
Ingram/ Didi
Jrue/ Redick
Ball/ Hart

= contender for next many years

[DreamTeam09]

I'd leave the team as is, they're really young outside of their 3 rotation vets.

I'd try and flip Jrue for a scoring 2gaurd or a stretch 5 somewhere. Thing is I think a lot of the game changers have already moved or won't be available untill 2021 beyond.

I'm a Dallas fan, THJ + Delon + 1st for Jrue

[kan_t]

Pelicans guards and forwards actually fits Zion. They have Lonzo who knows how to pass the ball to Zion. Ingram is one of the best shooting SF who could create his own shots. JJ, Moore and Hart all could provide spacing with 3 points shooting. And they have Jrue who is clearly their locker room leader and could do everything decently offensively and play all-defense.

The problem is Favors. They are caught in between. They need Favors interior defense but he's a terrible match with Zion offensively.

Another problem is Gentry. His scheme is great in offense in theory but it seems he doesn't know how to adjust his scheme. Sometime they just push pace for no reason and it creates lots of turnovers which are killing them.

Hayes and NAW are so young and raw that I would't think about 'fit' at this stage.

[kan_t]

How much is Ingram going to get paid???

I see him getting ALOT of money because of the weak F.A class.

At the same time not many teams reserve cap space for next season because as you said it's a weak FA class. Lots of them are preparing for the 21/22 FA class.

[Zion Wembanyama]

I'm only looking to move Jrue, Reddick and Miller at this point. Favors and Moore won't be retained. All our youth will remain, at least through their rookie deals.

[Duke4life831]

Pelicans guards and forwards actually fits Zion. They have Lonzo who knows how to pass the ball to Zion. Ingram is one of the best shooting SF who could create his own shots. JJ, Moore and Hart all could provide spacing with 3 points shooting. And they have Jrue who is clearly their locker room leader and could do everything decently offensively and play all-defense.

The problem is Favors. They are caught in between. They need Favors interior defense but he's a terrible match with Zion offensively.

Another problem is Gentry. His scheme is great in offense in theory but it seems he doesn't know how to adjust his scheme. Sometime they just push pace for no reason and it creates lots of turnovers which are killing them.

Hayes and NAW are so young and raw that I would't think about 'fit' at this stage.

I know its a small sample size at the moment but right now Zion's #1 pairing on the Pels right now (major rotation players) is Favors. Favors does a great job of knowing where to be and when to cut offensively where his presence doesn't really effect the lane for Zion.

[Overdrive71080]

I think keep the team as is but fire the coach, they need someone to come aboard that preaches defense but keeps the offensive schemes

[VanWest82]

yes obviously it would be insurable. The bar for that is like having no knees or having like 5 acl tears, way way higher than ingram’s bumps and bruises.

Ingram didn't just have bumps and bruises -- he had a blood clot. Others have suggested it would be fully insured regardless of whether he had another blood clot. Ok.

The Pels don’t have any leverage to lower the number he’d get in FA, only move is to wait to match offers.

Yes this is what I was suggesting Pelicans should do.

That’s just waiting to pay a player what you’re pretty sure he’d already get...

This is the part I'm having trouble with. There aren't a lot of teams with max cap space this summer, and some of them like Miami seem to be targeting 2021. It's certainly possible a team like Knicks or Charlotte will decide to tie up their cap space at the start of free agency and potentially miss out on other free agents, but I don't think it's so obvious that 100% someone will do it.

it screws up your own FA season since you have to wait around for weeks to know how much $ you can spend as players fly off the shelf. And giving a good young player 4 years instead of 5 hurts rather than helps most of the time.

I'm not sure I agree with the first statement. Pelicans will want to sign other players before doing Ingram's deal to take advantage of his cap hold. As soon as they offer him they're on the clock to get other signings done or that cap space disappears.

Raptors offered Siakam, a better player than Ingram, four years instead of five. Hasn't seemed to hurt them. Wolves giving Andrew Wiggins a fifth year definitely hurt though. TBD re Booker.

You can do it as a compromise but it’s not about being ‘tough’ so much as making a calculated decision about his worth to you. He’s going to get paid to play somewhere, just have to decide how much of that you want for your team.

No argument here. Maybe Pelicans see him as a max guy or believe he'll continue developing into a max guy. If so then they should offer him July 1st. Keep him happy. I'm just not sold that he's a difference maker, and would worry he'd become extremely hard to trade on a max. If it turns out he isn't a good fit with Zion that could become a problem. I just don't think it's as black and white as everyone is suggesting.