In a recent appearance on NBA.TV, New Orleans Pelicans’ executive vice president David Griffin predicted big things for his young team.
Like all fans of the New Orleans Pelicans, David Griffin is excited about the potential of the young team out of The Big Easy.
In an appearance on NBATV with Casey Stern and Grant Hill, Griffin talked about what his team has been doing during the hiatus, their work in the community and the state of their future.
Griffin was excited about the present and future of the team, but like all of us, lamented that he wouldn’t get to see more.
Catch @dg_riff on @NBATV with @CaseyStern and @realgranthill33 at 6 pm CT#PelicansPlayback will go live at 6:30 pm CT on our account! pic.twitter.com/oXvmaTCFq6
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) April 7, 2020
Griffin likes what his team has shown but thinks that they have only begun to tap into their immense talent.
Griffin is 100 percent correct.
Even before the return of Zion Williamson, the New Orleans Pelicans had turned things around, and once Zion arrived they took it to another level.
According to John Schuhmann of NBA.com, the New Orleans Pelicans starting lineup outscored opponents by 26.3 points per 100 possessions.
The Pelicans' lineup of Ball, Holiday, Ingram, Williamson & Favors has outscored its opponents by 26.3 points per 100 possessions, the best mark among 34 lineups that have played 200+ minutes: https://t.co/quct668a7J
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) April 8, 2020
Ranks 4th offensively & 2nd defensively among those lineups.
In case you were wondering, that is very good.
With the league shut down indefinitely, we may never know if the New Orleans Pelicans could have caught the Memphis Grizzlies.
In fact, so many questions may go unanswered if the season has to be cancelled, including whether Brandon Ingram will win Most Improved Player, or whether Zion could have caught Ja Morant for Rookie of the Year.
One thing that is not uncertain is the bright future of this New Orleans Pelicans team.
With a ton of young ascending talent and draft capital, the New Orleans Pelicans will be a team the rest of the NBA is going to dread.
David Griffin agrees. He said in the NBATV interview:
"“In the presence of Zion, we feel like we were just starting to scratch the surface of what we could be…We’ve obviously made it clear that we’re going to be a team to deal with in the future.”"
Like Griffin, fans wanted to see if this New Orleans Pelicans team could tap into that potential and take the first step towards a title, which is making the playoffs.
It’s potentially going to be a LONG offseason for the NBA, so fans will have to be patient.
In the meantime, players can work on their individual skills as fans are left to wonder what could have been if play does not resume.
We at Pelican Debrief are committed to bringing you coverage of the New Orleans Pelicans during the hiatus.
We appreciate your continued support during these trying times. Stay safe out there!