New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Things this Core is Missing
The New Orleans Pelicans need to complement their young core.
The New Orleans Pelicans have one of the most talented and exciting young teams in the league with a core of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball.
The Pels will build around these three players, all of whom have divergent but compatible skill sets that should work together for years to come.
Related Story. A Trade with the Bucks that Makes Sense. light
But if you watched the eight bubble games, the Pelicans were somewhat exposed. These were tacitly playoff games, as teams had a lot of time to prepare and every game was meaningful.
It wasn’t hard for teams to figure out the Pelicans’ weaknesses on both ends and the Pels were punished by the same plays and plagued by the same problems in almost every game.
If you’ve been watching the playoffs, you can see that the Pels are not as close as some people think, especially defensively, where they were 20th in the NBA and even worse down the stretch.
If the Pelicans really want to make the leap to contender next season, they must make some additions to their core. Here are three things they need.
A Rim Protector
The Pelicans were just 14th in the NBA in blocked shots as a team, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Their overall numbers were boosted by the fact that some of their guards block shots, but the Pelicans didn’t have a single player to average at least a block a game, not one.
For those championing Derrick Favors as some kind of defensive savior, he is really only good at defending the post, is running in cement and can’t jump. He’s not a rim protector.
Jaxson Hayes might get there but for now he’s too easy to push around, falls for pump fakes every time and is often late to rotate from the weak side. He’s not a rim protector.
After Favors and Hayes whopping .9 blocks per game you have Jrue Holiday who gets .8 blocks per game.
During the bubble it was even worse. The Pelicans’ bigs didn’t get their first shot block until game four and only got four total after that, all by Nicolo Melli.
If Melli is your best rim protector, you are in big trouble, which is why the Pelicans were 28th in the NBA in points in the paint allowed.
They need a big who can block shots, it’s that simple and if they don’t find one they’ll be watching the playoffs from home again.