Taking a look at the Performance of New Orleans Pelicans GM Dell Demps

As we head towards the end of the season and either a playoff berth or potential heartbreak, a common phrase is continuously being thrown around: “If Anthony Davis is this good, why aren’t the New Orleans Pelicans a playoff team? He has no help, Dell Demps must go!” In fact, even this week we got ESPN Insider rumor central post on the futures of Demps and Monty Williams.

We’ve all heard and read this claim made by Pelicans fans throughout the course of this season. Most of the time, it is a just a gut reaction to a close, playoff picture shaping loss made without any real evidence or basis behind it. So without any of that raw emotion, we are going to take a look at exactly what moves Demps has made, with a focus on recent history and AD centered trades, and breakdown just how good or bad of a job he has done for the team.

Demps’s job in the Anthony Davis world really began in December 2011 when he traded Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers. In return, the Pelicans received Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu, and a 2012 first-round draft pick. This trade looked more promising when it happened, as Gordon was billed as the next big thing at the shooting guard position, while Aminu was a young player with first round talent who just needed a bigger opportunity.

Unfortunately in the present day, the haul the Pelicans got back doesn’t seem like good value for a superstar, but this course of events lead the team to the first pick in the 2012 draft and eventually, Anthony Davis. Lottery conspiracies aside, this trade led us to Davis, and anything that results in a team gaining Anthony Davis can’t be seen as a total loss. A week after making the Paul trade, Demps signed Mexican-born Gustavo Ayon in an under the radar move that did not garner much attention. More on this in a minute. A day after this move, Demps acquired Greivis Vasquez for swingman Quincy Pondexter. Vasquez would become a starting point guard for the team and was productive in his stay in New Orleans. Both of these moves immediately following the Chris Paul trade benefitted the team in the short term while adding low cost assets who were increasing their value every time they stepped onto the court for the team.

In June 2012, Demps made his biggest contribution to the franchise by selecting Anthony Davis with the first overall pick in the draft. The pick was a no-brainer, and it landed the franchise a generational superstar upon which to build the team around for years to come. We all know just how good Davis is and what he is capable of becoming, and Demps did the right thing by making the easy choice in this draft. In the same draft, the team selected Austin Rivers with the 10^th overall pick. Rivers was immediately thrust into a position much too big for him, and he struggled just about his entire tenure in New Orleans.

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It was probably the right pick at the time, but Rivers has never proven to be more than a deep rotational guy on a good team. Demps must be knocked to some extent for this pick, as Rivers never could get going in New Orleans. The team made one more selection in that draft, selecting

with the 46

th

pick. Miller is no longer with the team and never showed he could stay in an NBA rotation, but he was a veteran college player with solid pedigree, so taking a chance on him with a late pick wasn’t a terrible move. All in all, the draft gained Davis, so it must be considered nothing but a positive.

Demps began work on building a team around Anthony Davis two weeks after the draft, when he flipped Gustavo Ayon to the Orlando Magic for forward Ryan Anderson in a sign-and-trade. Anderson had just come off a season in which he was named the most improved player in the NBA, and established himself as a premier three-point shooter in the league. He signed a very team friendly contract that pays him about eight million dollars per year, which is still one of the biggest bargains in the entire league. Demps capitalized on Orlando’s post Dwight Howard house cleaning phase, and acquired one of the league’s most undervalued assets for a player who cost the team nothing and was not even on the team at the beginning of the season. Anderson has been a consistent performer for the Pelicans since his arrival, and his ability to stretch the floor provides an aspect offensively that makes the team almost unguardable when at full strength. This move continues to be one of Demps’ best since being with the team, and is exactly the kind of trade that is praised in today’s NBA.

Shortly after acquiring Anderson, Demps realized the team was missing a true center, someone who could bang with the biggest centers in the league and allow Davis to play his natural position of power forward. Demps traded low cost assets Brad Miller and Jerome Dyson in a three-team trade that landed New Orleans center Robin Lopez. Lopez was a solid starter who could defend his position and allowed Davis to develop at the power forward position. Lopez was yet another young, low cost player that would move the rebuilding process along without jeopardizing any future flexibility. A small move the widely flew under the radar, but during his time in New Orleans, Lopez became known as a solid player and a good asset. Credit Demps for allowing him to build his trade value.

The next major move came in the 2013 draft, in which the Pelicans held the 6^th overall pick. There was much pre-draft speculation of just exactly what the Pelicans planned to do with the pick. It was one of the worst drafts in a decade, and there were question marks about nearly every player in the draft. In a draft night stunner, consensus top pick Nerlens Noel of Kentucky fell all the way to the Pelicans at 6, and the team selected him. We learned shortly thereafter that Noel would be shipped to Philadelphia, along with a 2014 first round pick, for All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday and a second round pick. The move signaled an organizational decision to speed up the rebuilding process to a certain extent, as Holiday would instantly make the team better in a quicker fashion than Noel. This trade is one of the most widely debated trades outside of the James Harden trade, and I am not going to debate each aspect of it now.

Overall, I think it was a good move, and one the benefits the Pelicans both now and in the future. The fact of the matter is anyone who is rushing to a decision about the trade, or calling for Demps’ head because of it is acting prematurely because Holiday has not played enough games with the core of the team to judge just how good they can be together. On the surface, trading the 6^th pick in the worst draft in a decade and a mid-lottery pick in the following draft for a 24 year old All-Star point guard seems like a win for the Pelicans. I realize there are financial implications that I am not diving into right now, but the bottom line is Demps took two assets, the 2013 and 2014 picks, and traded them at their peak value. The 2014 pick especially would never have more value than it did at that moment, and Demps saw that, capitalized on it, and it landed us Jrue.

The makeover in the 2013 summer continued, and once the free agency period began Demps went after another young target in Tyreke Evans. Evans was a restricted free agent, and Demps worked out a three team deal that landed Evans in a sign-and-trade. The cost was two assets that Demps previously acquired, built up their trade value, and then sold high on: Greivis Vasquez and Robin Lopez.

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Neither has ever had much value, and Demps saw an opportunity to take advantage of their peak value, and it landed the versatile swingman in Evans. Evans’ contract pays him 11 million per year, which is a bit of an overpay, but the fact is in today’s NBA, if you are a rebuilding team with cap space, you have to overpay a slight bit to get the established players you want. Just look to the Charlotte Hornets who did it with

, and the Boston Celtics who seemed destined to do it this summer in pursuit of a star player, for some some examples. Evans has been dynamic since coming to New Orleans, as his ability to play multiple positions has really helped the team especially with all the injuries the team has had. Whether or not Evans is a long term piece with Davis remains to be seen, but his numbers since joining the team are very respectable and right now he is a big reason the Pelicans are even in position to make the playoffs. A good move for Demps here.

This past summer, Demps again used his philosophy of selling assets at their peak value. Demps traded his 2015 first round draft pick, along with some salary filling players, to Houston in a three team trade that landed the Pelicans center Omer Asik. Asik is a defensive stalwart who anchors the paint for the Pelicans. Defensively, Asik can be dominant, and he is probably one of the best rim protectors in the league. There was a need at center, as the team needed someone of can bang bodies with the likes of Dwight Howard and Marc Gasol, while also allowing Davis to mostly play power forward. Asik was a defensive stalwart when he played for the Chicago Bulls, and with the right defenders around him he is truly elite. The Pelicans are a wing defender away from truly maximizing his full capabilities, and the idea of Asik, Davis, and Holiday, all elite defenders for their position, paired with a capable wing defender, could really make the Pelicans a solid defensive team. The pick that they sacrificed in exchanged for Asik would be somewhere in the 12-19 range, and at that point in the draft you most likely are getting just a potential rotation player anyway. Giving up that value for a quality starter in Asik who checks three boxes for the team, defense, rebounding, and shot blocking, is a deal Demps has to make. An Asik-Davis frontcourt has the potential to be the league’s best defensively and it is a move that landed the Pelicans a player keeping them in this season’s playoff race.

In midseason of this current year, Demps again made a move. He swung guards Russ Smith and Austin Rivers for swingman Quincy Pondexter and a second round draft pick. Pondexter filled a need for the Pelicans, a wing player who can defend and knock down perimeter shots. The cost was just two guards who were in and out of the rotation and were not going to be long term pieces in New Orleans. Pondexter has been nothing but positive for the Pelicans, as he has provided consistent play and a locker room presence that the team desperately needed. The team immediately improved when he arrived, even amid injuries to Holiday and Anderson. New Orleans gave up virtually nothing to get him, this trade was a no-brainer win for the Pelicans. 

Demps struck again about an hour before the trade deadline expired in February of this season when he sent swingman John Salmons for guard Norris Cole, center Justin Hamilton, and forward Shawne Williams. Cole is the only player still on the roster, and he has provided a spark for the team since his arrival. He filled a need at point guard with Holiday hurt, and has been a solid contributor for the Pelicans down the stretch in their push for the final playoff spot. Cole has been a plus defensively, and most importantly, he brings a winning pedigree to a locker room full of young players with little playoff experience. Cole won two NBA Championships with the Miami Heat, and if he can have some impact on the rest of our guys, by showing them what things champions do, little things that help a team win, than that is more of a plus than anything he will do on the court.

You are probably noticing a common theme with Demps’ work: flipping low cost assets at their peak value for young established players that can grow with Davis. This is a good strategy, and has worked well for him for the most part. Personally, I think it is silly to call for Demps’ head now, before his vision of the team can truly be fulfilled. I need at least a half season of the core pieces playing together before I can say I want him gone. I think his moves have been solid, and it is great to see him actually making things happen, compared to the days of Jeff Bower. I realize the ownership situation is much different, but it’s nice to hear the Pelicans in many more trade rumors than we ever were before Demps came aboard, it shows that he is trying. Most of the criticism that Demps receives revolves around sacrificing financial and future flexibility and trading away draft picks, but the salary cap is going to jump to nearly 90 million dollars in 2016, and every questionable contract on the Pelicans roster will seem like a bargain. Overall, I think Demps has done a solid job, and he should absolutely keep his job for next season.

Until his vision of the team is healthy and play at their full potential, it is impossible to fully judge Dell, and because of that, I think he deserves to stick around. We’ll see what ownership decides this summer.

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