New Orleans Pelicans: 5 reasons team’s hype is the real-deal
By Willie Lutz
Favors, Holiday, and Redick are great veterans
On a team with so many young players, including at least four first-year players on their roster, they’ll need veterans to lean on when the going gets tough.
If you drew the names of three veterans out of a hat and got Derrick Favors, Jrue Holiday, and J.J. Redick, you’d feel like you hit the mini lottery.
All three will likely be called on as starters on opening night. Unless Gentry thinks Ball is a better fit next to Holiday in starting lineups or health gets in the way, it’ll probably stay that way for most of the year.
Holiday is going to be the rock for this team. They’ll lean on him when times get tough and they’ll thrive with him when their motors are churning.
New to the city but entering his fourteenth year in the NBA, J.J. Redick is the oldest New Orleans Pelicans player by four full years. His goal is to make the playoffs again, a mark he’s never missed in his career.
Interestingly, Favors requested to be traded to New Orleans this offseason, so he’s probably excited to start making an impression with a new franchise.
Favors will provide a sturdy interior presence alongside Zion Williamson, allowing the rookie to get better looks in the paint.
These guys can be pillars of a playoff team, but the New Orleans Pelicans have a roster where they can play better team basketball if their veterans find comfort in a smaller role. Not to say the trio should sacrifice any shots, but none of them is going to be asked to play hero ball.