New Orleans Pelicans Summer League: Thoughts from Loss to Suns

The New Orleans Pelicans entered the Las Vegas Summer League with fairly low expectations. Without any recent lottery picks or young NBA rotation players on the roster, New Orleans wasn’t expected to be all that competitive this summer. Then play started and the Pelicans collection of talented D-League players carried them to an undefeated 3-0 record in pool play and a trip to the semifinals of the Summer League Championship Tournament on Sunday night where the magic came to an end with a 93-87 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Bryce Dejuan-Jones led the Pelicans with 25 points while Seth Curry chipped in with 21 and Lazeric Jones had 15. Ultimately though it wasn’t enough to overcome an outstanding 31 point effort from the Suns recent lottery pick Devin Booker. Some observations for the final time this summer:

Talent Mattered:

While the Pelicans did have a pretty good Summer League roster like I mentioned in the observations of the quarterfinal win, the Suns had a better one. With two recent lottery picks in Booker and TJ Warren and the young Archie Goodwin who saw some important minutes for the Suns this season, Phoenix had one of the better rosters the Pelicans faced all summer. In the end the Pelicans just didn’t have an answer for Booker who used his size and shooting to rain jumpers all over the Pelicans.

Burned Curry:

Tonight was a perfect example of the worries with Seth Curry as he was torched defensively. It wasn’t just Booker that lit up Curry either. Late in the game the Pelicans tried Curry on Mike James, a young player out of Mercer and James scored on him as well. Curry won’t ever be asked to be a stopper at the NBA level but he is going to need to get stops here and there to be playable. Figuring out if he can is the biggest question when deciding whether or not to give him an NBA roster spot.

Birch Struggled as Well:

I have been a big fan of Khem Birch all summer but he struggled a bit tonight defending Josh Harrellson. Jorts is a big guy and he gave Birch problems on the offensive glass at times.Birch also struggled in traffic both to catch and finish which is my biggest worry with him in regards to the NBA. Birch fumbles the ball a ton, especially off of offensive rebounds and while he won’t need to be a double-digit scorer he needs to be able to catch and finish consistently to fill the role a team would want him to play as a third or fourth big going forward.

Dejuan-Jones Does His Thing:

Bryce Dejuan-Jones had a great ending to a fairly impressive Summer League stint with his 25 points including a fantastic third quarter. At times during his time in Vegas, Dejuan-Jones looked like a potential NBA bench scorer who comes in when his team really needs a jolt in the arm. While that potential probably won’t ever be reached, Dejuan-Jones probably earned himself a job somewhere either in Europe or the D-League which I’m sure was a goal of his.

Edwin Heading Away:

Fuquan Edwin didn’t have the greatest end to his summer with a 2-9 shooting performance and reports are that he signed a deal in Israel for the upcoming season that includes an NBA out. While Edwin definitely did not earn an NBA contract with his play in Vegas he seemed to have earned a training camp invite with someone. He is definitely a name to watch as the Pelicans start to make decisions on who to invite to camp.

It Was Fun Now We Wait:

There is no longer any basketball on the docket for a bit which stinks. Considering how the Pelicans roster could have been for Vegas though, this was a very fun time and should have fans excited for the regular season. This team will clearly look way different from last season, even with all the same faces returning on the court. Like many of you, we here at PD cannot wait.

Make sure to keep checking in daily for plenty of fun content as we get ready for the 2015-2016 season and beyond.

Next: Thoughts from the Pelicans last win this summer

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New Orleans Pelicans Summer League: Observations from Loss to Phoenix Suns

By Matt Cianfrone | Jul 19, 2015