New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Things to Watch in Tonight’s Scrimmage vs. Nets

New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Things to watch for in the scrimmage vs. Nets.

“Yeah I’ll take the river down to still water and ride a pack of dogs…”

But which pack of dogs will the Pels ride?

With Zion Williamson still absent with a family emergency, another thing to watch out for is how Alvin Gentry handles his rotations.

Gentry is unlikely to tip his hand too much, but we can probably get a sense of how he plans to deploy certain lineups in different situations.

The first question is who is going to start in place of Zion?

The most likely answer is backup power forward Nicolo Melli, who gives the Pelicans the most balanced starting five alongside Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram and Derrick Favors.

But Gentry is sure to try loads of different combinations tonight to see what works.

He could go big by putting Jaxson Hayes or Favors at the four while the other plays center. He could go small, putting J.J. Redick or Josh Hart at the small forward position, Hayes at center and Ingram at power forward.

Small ball lineups featuring Zion at center and Ingram at the four were effective in short bursts this season, so it will be interesting to see if Gentry tries to go small without Zion.

Zion is the key to every lineup, as he can play just about anywhere and with any combination of players, but without him, it might be tougher to go small.

I’d like to see Gentry tinker with some giant lineups with Hayes, Favors and even Melli sharing the floor at the same time.

Will any of the backups make a case for the rotation? NAW? Sindarius Thornwell? Zylan Cheatham?

It would also be nice to see a Redick pick-and-roll out of small ball lineups, as this has the chance to be the Pels go-to play in the half court, even without Zion in the lineup.

Gentry certainly isn’t going to reveal everything, but we should get some sense of his Zion-less rotations and how he plans to use certain guys.