Were Pelicans paying attention to Warriors’ blueprint?

The New Orleans Pelicans have an important offseason ahead. Were they paying attention to the blueprint laid out by the Golden State Warriors?

With the offseason almost in full force and the draft behind us, the New Orleans Pelicans are coming close to some franchise changing decisions. Those all have been picked apart from trades, to ownership, to free agency.

One question not focused on is surrounding the ultimate goal of winning a championship. New Orleans hasn’t made the best decisions in previous years; were they paying attention to how they should proceed this time around?

The Pelicans should have been paying close attention to last season as free agency approaches. New Orleans has had the tendency to follow the acts of those that have won, which is fair. What isn’t is when the parts don’t mix, aren’t comparable, or are often injured.

The NBA season had many highlights and fun moments this year, but how can you not focus on the last team standing? Outside of watching Kevin Durant’s first championship this year, and the Golden State Warriors dominance there was much more to notice.

More importantly for Pelican fans, how to compete and one day beat that team. There’s zero surprise the Warriors won, and possibly little about the fashion in which they won. Golden State was predicted to win it all every since KD joined.

With more than likely four future Hall of Famers on the roster, not even LeBron James could come close to stopping them. The only thing that could have gotten in their way is chemistry, one of the Warriors’ biggest advantages in their current run.

Some foolishly thought KD would all of a sudden become selfish.

“There’s only one ball.”

“Somebody’s going to have to take a back seat.”

These were all things said, and it became true as Klay Thompson was the victim — a willing victim though, en route to his second championship. Sounds like an even trade for Klay once all was said and done.

So the question is, how do you beat them? Can you count on the roster looking slightly worse going into next season? Pretty much everybody will be back.

If certain players don’t re-sign, Golden State will sign other veterans chasing a ring for David West money.

The answer overall is in the teams that beat the Warriors last year. It’s even further cemented in the teams that beat them more than once.

The key is to slow them down, control the pace of the game and the paint. Teams got lost once they tried to play the Warriors game of space and pace. You couldn’t play that game before KD, you damn sure can’t now.

This is where the Pelicans come in to play.

The Finals proved that even with the best player in the world, a team simply cannot play Golden State’s style and keep up. The regular season proved they’ll outlast you over four quarters. A good majority of the teams that beat GS had the ability to make games half-court focused.

Most of those teams also had premier big men. Memphis, Cleveland and San Antonio all beat Golden State at least twice last season. Those teams all respectively finished in the bottom half of the NBA in pace.

The Pelicans finished ninth and won’t be primarily a half-court team in head coach Alvin Gentry’s system. They should, however, have the best frontcourt tandem in basketball if healthy. Not many teams can come close to a seat at the table in that conversation.

New Orleans should also adapt, and be able to play slower effectively with a training camp, pre-season and a full offseason of roster construction.

Throw in Gentry confirming DeMarcus Cousins’ role as a point center next season and we could be looking at quite the monster.

The tools are there for them to maximize the level of basketball that gives Golden State its biggest issues.

The Pelicans tried to zig recently and become a miniature version of the Warriors, hiring Gentry. They tried to go small, play space and pace. They thought Omer Asik could play an Andrew Bogut role.

Some thought Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, could support Anthony Davis like the Warriors’ supporting cast supports its main star.

Last season, we saw Solomon Hill and E’Twaun Moore try the same thing.

The difference is that Klay, Draymond Green and, heck, even Andre Iguodala were easily better fits and players. Throw in their KD signing and there was for sure no way to match up in a similar fashion with Golden State.

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The DeMarcus Cousins trade allowed the Pelicans to do the smart thing and go against the grain. It’s the best chance at being competitive and building a team to beat Golden State one day. It won’t happen in one year and a slew of things have to fall in New Orleans’ favor.

There’s no guarantee they’ll even come close, as they’re miles away from even some of the playoff teams from last season. That doesn’t mean they can’t shoot for the stars while climbing steps. These chances at superstar tandems don’t come often in the NBA.

Selling their tandem short or taking it for granted cannon happen. The Pelicans must take advantage at their newfound chance at relevance.

In battle, sometimes you can’t match the strength of your opponent. You must attack them in areas they lack.

For New Orleans they have some strengths that can irritate any team now in basketball. Their decisions now will dictate their success and the promise of basketball period in NOLA. The hope in the end is that they were just paying attention.

Next: Pelicans interested in Rondo?

Maybe Russell Westbrook indeed said it best: “Don’t do they, do you.”