The New Orleans Pelicans start a key home-stand Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets. Their next five games overall may indeed say a lot about their future prospects in entirety. Some believe their recent Florida back-to-back stretch may have shown them a formula as a team. If it didn’t they sure appeared to exercise some demons on both sides of the basketball. Before we get ahead of ourselves though, the Nets are in town. For more insight on Brooklyn, we brought in the editor of “Nothin’ but Nets” Kunal Kohl’s. Our conversation was truly a blast, and we hope you enjoy the latest installment of Outsider’s Perspective.
1. The Brooklyn Nets may be a long way from being a playoff team. However, that hasn’t stopped them from being competitive. After losing Jeremy Lin and D’Angelo Russell how have the Nets stayed a tough matchup?
“A lot of the Nets success can be attributed to the fact that some of their players are really exceeding expectations. Guys like Spencer Dinwiddie, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, and Joe Harris have stepped up in Lin and Russell’s absence. It also helps that they’re one of the faster paced teams in the league, being fourth in ice this season.”
2. We’re big fans of guards/small forwards that can do anything at the Pelican Debrief. Talk a little bit about two of the Nets current young wings in Rondae-Hollis-Jefferson and Caris LeVert. How good can they be?
“Hollis-Jefferson and LeVert are both going off this season. LeVert hasn’t hit that sophomore slump and provides some great scoring and is a super underrated passer. RHJ is the better of the two, in my opinion. Not only can he score, but he’s a tenacious rebounder and a pesky defender. As for how good they can be, I think LeVert will reach his ceiling in the next two seasons. He’s going to be a solid 15 points and 4 assists type of guy. As for RHJ, he could be a fringe All-Star in a weak Eastern Conference.”
3. What do you think of the Jahlil Okafor addition? What can he bring to Brooklyn that is missing? Where does he fit?
“I actually predicted the Okafor trade back in October. I like it. He provides scoring down low, which the Nets need. But I don’t think trading Trevor Booker, who was one of the leading rebounders on the team, was necessary. Okafor isn’t a great rebounder and that’s been one of the Nets biggest weaknesses. And we’ll have to see where he fits once he gets back into shape. An in-shape Okafor can be a great starting five.
4. What’s the biggest misconception about the Nets this season
“I think the biggest misconception about the Nets is that they’re a basement team in the East. There are a lot of talented guys on the team and if it wasn’t for injuries, they might have been in the playoff hunt right now. Even now, they’re only 5.5 games behind the eight seed. All it takes is one good month and they could get back into the chase.”
5. Outside Perspective on Pelicans
The Pelicans have the best front-court in the league with Boogie and The Brow. I’m a little surprised that they aren’t better defensively since the two should be able to shut down everybody in the paint. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see them as a six seed in the playoffs.
Next: Three Keys To A Pelicans Victory Over Brooklyn
That’s a wrap for our time with Kunal Kohli. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @TheKunalKohli and the Nets @NetsBlogFS. Stay tuned for the next episode and follow us as well @PelicanDebrief.