Zion was signed by the Pelicans on the 20th June 2019 via the NBA draft. BI/Zo/Hart and 2 draft picks Hayes/NAW were traded in 6th July 2019.
Jrue was traded to the Bucks, Etwaun was not made an offer, Miller was traded to OKC, Jahlil signed with the Pistons, F Jackson and K Williams were not made qualifying offers to extend their contracts.
This makes Zion the longest tenured Pelican, which is 17 months but only one season.
I get that we’re a small market team but cmon the Zion effect can’t be worth 8 more National games than the western conference runner up
Their starting lineup:
-Lonzo Ball
-Brandon Ingram
-Eric Bledsoe
-Zion
-Steven Adams
This team has garbage spacing and is going to clog the lanes for Zion to operate. NO team in the league respect's Lonzo or fucking Bledsoe enough to to not camp in the paint.
I don't want to hear any moaning from small market teams when Zion inevitably requests a trade. The Pelicans have put the worst possible roster around their franchise talent.
With a nice trio of CP3/Booker/Ayton, do you think they're better than the Pelicans, Blazers, Spurs, and Grizzlies?
I think they're better than all but the Blazers, personally.
This is nuts to me honestly. Not only did Pelicans give up George Hill, Darius Miller and three other players to make this happen, they also gave a first round pick and two second round picks to OKC.
Anyone who's consistently watched Adams play over the last two years will tell you how alarming his decline has been. Its not just that he can't stay healthy, it's also that he has gotten worse every single year.
He has been a target of teams' schemes in the playoffs for three straight years now. Donovan Mitchell and Utah targeted him in the pick-n-roll, using Mitchell's speed to beat Adams to the rim in a foot race. Damian Lillard and Portland targeted OKC's drop coverage -- Adams had lost all his mobility on the perimeter by 2019 so OKC had been dropping him, Dame continually kept bombing threes coming off of screens. And then Houston targeted him last year on switches, constantly hunting that matchup.
Listen, Adams was great, elite even, for two seasons -- 2015-16 and 2016-17, but hi
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Not a great feeling for small markets. Both their lives have improved in seemingly every conceivable way after forcing themselves out.
Anthony Davis:
Pros - playing with bestie Lebron, living in LA, gaining more popularity (All-NBA first team and way more all-star votes), having an incredible playoffs.
Cons - some people on Reddit mad at him
Iguodala:
Pros - Fat new contract with the Heat, on a team with great chemistry and culture, contributing great minutes in his twilight years.
Cons - Ja Morant subtweets him
Zion plays best in a spaced-out offense. At times, that's gonna mean him playing at the 5 but he's not progressed far enough defensively where he could do that for 10-15 minutes a game. This is why the Pelicans need a stretch 5 who is also a good-to-elite rim protector. Someone who could live at the three point line and also cover up for Zion's defensive liabilities. There's not many of these players in the league. Brook Lopez, Kristaps Porzingis, Myles Turner, Jaren Jackson Jr, Al Horford, Maxi Kleber, Serge Ibaka and Daniel Theis. Of these players, only Turner, Horford, Kleber and Theis are 'gettable'. Of these players, Turner is the best.
However, the problem with big men, regardless of whether they can shoot the 3, is that they tend to slow down your offense. The Pelicans were one of the fastest teams in the league last season (tied 2nd in Hollinger's pace rankings) and that seemed to work pretty well when Zion was on the floor. Do they really want to sacrifice that to give som
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