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In our ongoing NBA Front Office series, Tom Penn (general manager), George Karl (coach), Chad Ford (assistant GM), Amin Elhassan (scouting director) and Kevin Pelton (analytics director) are joined by NBA Front Office's senior consultant, David Thorpe. Today, the group weighs in on the New Orleans Pelicans and whether they can add some other pieces to help their young superstar, Anthony Davis.
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Tom Penn: As the New Orleans Pelicans' front office, we're in a unique position in that we have this seminal, special player whom we've got to align every personnel decision around. I remember the Chicago Bulls described their opportunity to build around Derrick Rose as finally giving them a clear direction. The Pelicans now sit in that space. So guys, what can we do to help Davis? What talent can we go get and surround him with that will make us a title contender? Who would be your two or three ideal complementary pieces for Davis? In what order should we acquire them? Or is there anyone on the roster who can be one of those pieces?
David Thorpe: I think we have a good point guard in Jrue Holiday. Davis is uniquely built as a power forward to block shots. I think he's leading the league in steals right now. He runs easily and effortlessly, he can run all day. So you don't worry about playing too fast. I think we could also come in with shooters all over the place. We're playing relatively quickly but not flying up and down. With a guy like Davis, we've got to race. Holiday played like that in high school -- he was the national player of the year and his AAU team played at breakneck speed. So I think he can play fast; I think it's something that the coaching staff should think about doing. Just try to pick up the pace. Take advantage of the fact that they have this incredibly athletic 4 who can run.
Chad Ford: I'm also concerned about our guard play and our wings. Ideally, whom would I put there? The guy New Orleans drafted years ago: Chris Paul. I think he would be the elite player to put on the floor that with Davis. Of course, Paul isn't going anywhere. I think Holiday is not the main problem; rather, I think the problem is at the wings. I would like to see better perimeter shooting, better players who can play off the ball -- players who are not spending the majority of the time pounding the ball into the ground, especially when you have Davis in the lineup. To me, we'd be much more effective if we filled the floor with shooters, where you throw the ball into Davis, then when he's double- or triple-teamed, he can kick out to open shooters. To me, Tyreke Evans was the signing I never understood.
Penn: Coach, who do you want next to Davis?
George Karl: I'm a Holiday guy, but I would turn him loose more. I would open up the court and let him be more of an attack dog. We have Ryan Anderson, and we have to get him involved much more. My feeling is maybe a veteran, maybe a backup point guard would be good to get. I don't know who that is, I don't know who is available and I don't think we need him tomorrow. But I think I would be looking for a veteran mentality, someone who's got championship experience and could make Holiday more aggressive, maybe playing him as an off-guard some. Because we need someone else to shoot 3s; it can't be only Anderson shooting 10 3s a game. There just seems to be too much on Anderson's shoulders right now to make a 3. So, Amin, go find me a veteran point guard.
Amin Elhassan: I'm pulling up my list right now. But our defense is terrible, too. Omer Asik, on paper, should be a great defensive player but he's been in and out of the lineup. The team has underachieved tremendously defensively. But as Chad said, the Evans deal really is the move that sent us backward, because all we did was add another ball-dominant, so-so defensive guy, not a good shooter. The other guy in that deal was Robin Lopez. And Lopez, while not as good a defender as Asik, is a much better overall complement to Davis. Davis can hit that little midrange jumper, and because he is a big body that bangs, and he can guard some of the pick-and-roll out in space. Lopez would have made life easier for Davis as he has done for LaMarcus Aldridge in Portland. We need an up-tempo, push-the-pace guard. I know our coaches think Holiday can do it, but I wonder if he can. It's been so long since he has played up-tempo, and he does kind of play at a measured pace. I think that's good at times, but unless he can show he's got another gear, that'll hold back the potential of this Davis-centric team.
Penn: Kevin, any thoughts? First on personnel and then talk a little about pace and whether this team should play faster, and what the numbers would say.
Kevin Pelton: What stood out to me watching us in Portland a few weeks ago was our difficulty in getting Davis involved in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, Evans' usage rate is higher than Davis', and that's not good. I would agree that the best way to get that up is to add or develop a point guard who really looks to create for his big man out of the pick-and-roll and surrounding that with shooters so defenses can't bring over a third player to stop Davis.
As far as pace, we're 21st in the league so far. We were last in pace in 2011-12 and 2012-13, Davis' rookie year. But we're still probably too slow. If you're going to play a bottom-10 pace and succeed, you need to have a great half-court defense. And as we've discussed, we do not. Our defensive rating ranks 24th, which is hard to justify for a team with both Asik and Davis.
Karl: Tom, since you're the money guy, I'm telling that you've got too much money in Eric Gordon and Evans. If you can trade either one of them tomorrow and get me something better, I'd appreciate it.
Penn: As we broke things down, I heard really strong arguments for Holiday. Sure, we'd love to get Paul, but I kind of like Holiday in the role we are talking about. Supplement him with a veteran point guard as you said, Coach. You're not going to get a better spread shooter than Anderson, and Asik is a pretty darn solid watch-your-back, do-all-the-dirty-work complementary piece. So it really does come down to the empty but heavy burden we're carrying with Gordon and Evans at the top of the money list. Gordon is making $15 million this year and then $15.5 million next, and Evans is on the books for $11 million this year plus two more at $10.7 million and $10.2 million, respectively. Your plea, Coach, is a common refrain this time of the season. It's a challenge finding the right time and place to move those guys. The good news is that both Gordon and Evans should be able to score the ball elsewhere. They're both pretty young. But who's got room for that much money this time of year?
Thorpe: Tom, can Philly help us, being below the salary-cap floor? Do they still have to make some moves to spend enough money this season?
Penn: Philly could take both of these guys, and their combined $17 million from the floor, and that might get Philly to the floor. They're so far below the floor, it's ridiculous.
Thorpe: Well, Philly doesn't have anyone who could help us immediately, but rookie K.J. McDaniels might be interesting because he was a second-round pick who has actually been one of the three or four best rookies this season. He is an athletic, aggressive wing defender; he's far more than Evans defensively, but he can't score like Evans can.
Elhassan: I would guess that Philadelphia would not be interested in Evans on a number of different levels. The long-term exposure financially, the fact that he doesn't play a style that they find to be important. And, in a weird way, he might make the Sixers too good in the short term.
Thorpe: If we get to mid-February, and Philly's so far behind everyone they can afford to win a few games, Evans is not going to help you win a lot more.
Elhassan: But then you're still stuck with him for two more years.
Penn: OK, so that's a good example of a move we'd have to make. We have to find a home to park that kind of money. And I don't know if anyone's got an idea on a different kind of player for a similar amount of money. Put it in the $8 million to $13 million range.
Thorpe: What about Tayshaun Prince at $7.7 million? He's starting to shoot 3s a little more now. I think Memphis played him almost too much but Dave Joerger really likes him. Maybe Memphis is looking for more bench scoring. Or, we'll get a third party involved. I don't think Prince is perfect for us, but he's clearly an upgrade over Luke Babbitt. Not to say Luke can't get better, but Prince is an upgrade. He brings a lot of veteran experience, championship experience, and as long as he's willing to shoot the 3 -- which, again, he's progressing on -- he's better than what we currently have.
Pelton: Prince is shooting 23 percent of his attempts from 3, up from 14 percent last season.
Elhassan: But Prince is about three years past his expiration date. At least Babbitt gives you shooting. You know, "OK, he'll hit a wide-open 3." Tayshaun can't even do that. And defensively, his best days are way, way behind him. The only advantage is you're done with his salary after this year. I think he just adds to the problems: We can't space the court without playing Anderson. And the Pelicans need someone who can legitimately space the court without being a huge detriment on the other end.
Ford: Yeah, this is a tough spot. This is one of those scenarios where we made one deal and everything went haywire. The Evans contract, or the Gordon contract, just made it harder to fix things right now.
Pelton: To me, that's where the deals they've made and particularly giving up their last two lottery picks has hurt them. This team has zero depth, so even though Gordon was playing terribly, his injury has hurt them substantially. They're 2-7 since he went out of the lineup.
Karl: We need more shooting. Neither Gordon nor Evans, for me, is the saving grace of this team. I think with Anderson, Davis, Holiday and Asik -- that's four good pieces. Honestly, I don't think it's time to panic. But I'll throw this out there: If we need a veteran, does Ray Allen like Cajun food? I mean, Allen with Davis, I kind of like that. But come February what we thought was a big untradable contract might be a piece that we can move.
Thorpe: I think Allen would love to come in and start somewhere but not just be the eighth man. I always thought that he was going to wait to see where he could go in and start. He played the past couple of years with the best player in the world, now he could go do it again in New Orleans. That'd be interesting.
Penn: Coach Karl hit the nail on the head for me. This is no time to panic. Davis is 21. Twenty-one. I just scratched my head at that. That's amazing. So, the rocket ship he's on, this is about being patiently aggressive. We have to just wait until that moment when they see that opportunity, and then make the big deal. And it might be the deal of addition by subtraction, first. We'd offload one of these big contracts and free up flexibility to add something later. That takes guts. It's hard to sell those.
Thorpe: I think more of a concern is us as management, coaches. We've got to make the playoffs to feel secure. That's why I don't think anyone should be afraid to do a one-year type of deal to help this team win this season. Some of these players have three-year contracts, but I don't have that long. We have to win now or we may not be here to see Davis at 23, 24, 25. So while there's no panic, and I think Coach makes a great point about January, February, all of a sudden some chips you may not think are open now may be open then.
You've got to be knocking on doors every day. Evaluating what opportunities you have while also trying to build your own team around Davis. Especially those core guys finding chemistry and finding a pattern that works -- and a style that works. Everyone that's not in a uniform is fighting for a job. When you employ the best player in the world in Anthony Davis, at this point that's what happens. There is pressure.