New Orleans Pelicans: Evaluating the race for the 8th seed
By Tim Burke
New Orleans Pelicans: Evaluating the teams chasing the 8th seed
Phoenix Suns
The darlings of the bubble. The Suns needed to be perfect in Orlando to have any chance of making the play-in game, they more than held up their end of the bargain going 8-0 but ultimately missed out on a spot.
Sensing an opportunity to get better the team sent Kelly Oubre Jr, Ricky Rubio, Jalen Lecque, and Ty Jerome to Oklahoma City to bring back the point god and former New Orleanian Chris Paul.
Only Ricky Rubio played any part in that bubble run with Phoenix and the Suns were able to upgrade that spot without getting rid of any key pieces. Paul is a better playmaker than Rubio and gives the Suns a credible threat from outside next to Devin Booker. Fans from the Crescent City may still have bitter feelings about Paul but he’s still one of the best leaders in the NBA and played a major part in getting the Thunder to the playoffs last season.
Another season of progress from Book (don’t call him Devin) and Deandre Ayton, as well as the supporting cast around them and Phoenix, could surprise many a team around the league. The Phoenix offense was just outside the top ten last season.
light. Related Story. Ranking the Southwest Division: Are Pels #1?
Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis was in the driver’s seat for the eighth seed last season but injuries hit them at the worst time as Jaren Jackson Jr and Brandon Clarke went down not long before the season hit pause. Add Justice Winslow getting hurt in practice before the restart and the Griz were in for a rough go of it in Orlando.
Ja Morant is arguably the most fun player on any team that will be discussed here (it’s between him and Zion), his missed dunks are as exciting as anything you’ll see on an NBA court. With a full season of professional ball under his belt, the Rookie of the Year winner will look to hit the ground running and prove those who say his ROTY award was undeserved wrong.
The Griz will be in a whole to begin the season as Jackson and Winslow will not be ready to play by Dec 22nd and the underhyped Clarke may miss some time early as well. This could lead to a near flip-flop from last season where the Pels were chasing Memphis from day one.
Memphis has built their roster around Morant, Jackson, and Clarke in really smart ways. They have three guards who would see time on most teams around the league in Dillon Brooks, De’Anthony Melton, and Tyus Jones. Jonas Valanciunas is a player a really like, he’s never going to be talked about among the mainstream fans but he does all the small things you’d want from a center, I think of him as being very similar to Steven Adams.