The NBA Finals show the New Orleans Pelicans two paths to a title

New Orleans Pelicans: Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ path to the NBA Finals

Free Agents, Trades and Bigs

I hate the Lakers. Can’t stand them. Hated watching them win a title and hate having to give them credit, but you have to give it when it is due.

The Lakers zagged against the grain this season and went big, adding free agents like Dwight Howard and putting out lineups that often featured LeBron James at point guard surrounded by four 7-footers.

They also built their roster through trades and free agency, not the draft. This is an option when you have LeBron, as every veteran in the league wants to play with him to chase a ring. Add Anthony Davis and suddenly you’ll have guys like Markieff Morris lining up to join your team on the cheap.

The Pelicans aren’t at that stage yet, but at some point they might be. With Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, the Pelicans should have veteran options lining up every year to take less money to play for a contender.

The Pelicans should be able to add veterans (like J.J. Redic) who want to be on a young, talented team chasing titles.

The Lakers also showed the Pelicans that small ball may not be the way of the future. Zion is already one of the best offensive rebounders in the game, so it would make some sense for the Pels to do as the Lakers did and go big.

Adding a big center next to Zion would allow the Pelicans to create mismatches all over the place and dominate the boards. Most people think they’ll do the opposite and go small, putting Zion at center, but the Lakers just showed us that might not be the way to win in the playoffs.

I’d like to see the Pels add some size so that they can compete with these big teams and create some mismatches of their own.

The NBA Finals featured two very good teams that were built in different ways, but both showed paths the New Orleans Pelicans could follow.