It's All About The Benjamin's Bay-Bay! (Pels Presser)

[NickMalone77]

It pays to have that cash in the bank. You don't get the nickname "Max Malone" penny pinching. But what is it about the city of New Orleans that sets it apart from New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles? People will say the food, the rich cultural history brought about by the French that settled in the 1700's, or even Bourbon Street. Truth is, any city in America could become the next big market if it has the resources, economy, and climate.

A private jet lands on an empty tarmac in the middle of a desert.

So when you look at the NBA climate of SLOE, New Orleans has one championship to its entire franchise history. Less than a handful of division banners. A plethora of talent have certainly passed through the franchise in certain eras and stages. We've had a fine team but never to one that was dominant from beginning to end or ever the best team in our conference. You can spend years rebuilding, hoping each prospect that's drafted as a lotto pick pans out only to have TC cripple your hopes and dreams in one fell swoop of pain. You can slime newer GM's that are unaware of overtly nice gestures for future trade inquires and hope some are unaware of the bucket of basketballs off to the left of the shot. Or, you can spend your way to a heavy tax bill while producing results that are nice and adequate but never satisfactory of what the end goal should be every year.

To win a championship!

A 2037 Silver Maserati glides with ease off on the dirt, and sandy gravel, into the distance towards the desolate stretch of a grayish strip with markings for a tarmac. The wind barely moves the needles off the cactus as the sun is beating down on the waterless desert located somewhere in Arizona.

We tried our best despite difficult circumstances of dealing with an injury that was close to the post season. We lost in the first round unfortunately. No excuses and the Clippers were the better team. We've had a successful team over the last few years but with only 3-4 players under contract going into the offseason, we knew we had some restructuring to do. We held Deuce's team option and he's been an exemplary teammate and member of the Pels these last few years since coming over in a trade with Utah. Jordan Johnson was our big splash last offseason and he's been nothing short of amazing since ending his time in Phoenix. We valued Corey Brooks contributions to the club this past year and he was instrumental in helping us find a solution to an issue we'll address later in this moment in time.

The plane hangar door slowly opens up allowing the Pelicans front office to roll out of the private Jet. From the plane, the outline and shape of the Maserati come into focus. You can make out Jordan Johnson in the driver seat along with an agent, dressed in a professional looking suit, sitting on the passenger side.

So with that and some 50+ million in the bank, we looked at the draft and thought about possibly moving up. We put in a few calls but there really wasn't anything that fruitful or enticing to sacrifice future assets to move up a few spots. We liked Harland Cain as a potential 3 and D type guard that can grow and get some rotational minutes. At that point of the draft (#16) you're just looking for the right kind of player that can MAYBE be a decent at a few skills. You're just applying a different lipstick to the same pig and hoping he produces enough bacon for a feast. Cain could definitely be a valued defender off the bench after a few years and hopefully his offensive game will grow after playing with a few of the veterans on the team currently. So three turned to 4 after the draft.

The Maserati pulls up next to the Jet on the Tarmac. Jordan Johnson takes the keys out of the ignition and smiles as he finds Nick Malone with a few of the other front office staff standing in front of the Jet stairs on the Tarmac and the rest of the staff standing next to Malone. Nick looks at his watch and just laughs knowing Free Agency has now officially started.

We had Jarrett Allen's bird rights after a trade with the Dallas Mavericks. He was instrumental in being that second talent next to Jordan that helped give our team even a chance against the Clippers. We needed another big body in the paint next to Forte and he enjoyed his time in NOLA enough to come back on a short-term and favorable deal commiserate with his talent level and veteran leadership on and off the court. We filled out the rest of the roster with valued veterans looking to play a part in the depth mechanisms of this roster with the likes of AC Williams, Josh Hart, Darwin Novotny, Joseph McKnight, among others. But no FA signing had more of an impact that brining in Ben Franklin.

Coming out of the passenger side of the vehicle is Ben Franklin and his agent. Jordan puts his arm around his best friend and is giddy to have been apart of this arrangement. They approach Nick Malone and shake hands and exchange small pleasantries. Nick then grabs a briefcase being held by one of the front office staffers and opens up the briefcase to show Ben crisp 100 dollar bills in a multitude of stacks.

It's all about the Benjamin's, baby.

[false9]

With the talent on hand, is anything short of a title this season a failure?

[NOLa.]

Suns already had both Ben and Johnson on their team with arguably just as good talent. What makes your team different compared to the Suns in previous seasons where your goals of championship or bust are set?

[NickMalone77]

With the talent on hand, is anything short of a title this season a failure?

I'd say anything short of a Finals APPEARANCE is a failure. Never at one time has this team had more than one purple top talent on this roster and now it has two. We also haven't been to a finals since the 2015-16 season. There's holes on this team for sure and I feel like there's still a deal out there that can put us over the top. What that is and how that is to be done is unknown at this point but I'm sure there will be SOMETHING that can be arranged by the trade deadline.

[NickMalone77]

Suns already had both Ben and Johnson on their team with arguably just as good talent. What makes your team different compared to the Suns in previous seasons where your goals of championship or bust are set?

I think the team is more well rounded than Phoenix. I think there's a more centered and focused plan that can get the best out of both JJ and Franklin together where it's THEIR team. Franklins' versatile range on offense and defense will be key to making this engine roar. JJ can dominate offensively while Allen and Forte punish teams in and around the paint. Haddock can get them the basketball and this team will be successful. It's just a matter of the team gelling with enough time to see the how they'll perform with one another cohesion speaking.

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: What do you say to tampering allegations that Jordan Johnson and Ben Franklin had both agreed to come to play for the Pelicans during Jordan Johnson's free agency period?

[Keepit100]

How do you see the Pelicans' PG/SG rotation competing against other potent backcourts in the divison/conference? Is this where you see yourself targeting players via trade to beef up the bench or are you just interested in acquiring the best player available and let the chips fall where they may?

[NickMalone77]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: What do you say to tampering allegations that Jordan Johnson and Ben Franklin had both agreed to come to play for the Pelicans during Jordan Johnson's free agency period?

What players discuss is between themselves. If New Orleans is that much more appealing to them than every other NBA destination, I welcome them to the French Quarter among all the other parishes and towns that Louisiana has to offer.

[NickMalone77]

How do you see the Pelicans' PG/SG rotation competing against other potent backcourts in the divison/conference? Is this where you see yourself targeting players via trade to beef up the bench or are you just interested in acquiring the best player available and let the chips fall where they may?

I feel like playing Jordan Johnson at the 2 could fit in well to our advantage if that's the card we wanted to play given his size and offensive scoring abilities. Haddock won't take up much usage and will be able to get the other 4 options the ball. But also, if there's a deal that is appealing and makes sense, we could also move Franklin to the 4 and Johnson at the 3 and let the new acquisition play the 2. Adding Franklin forces other teams hands to try and defend and that'll be a difficult challenge for our opponents on most nights.

[greepleairport]

You mention how long it has been since your last finals appearance and how you’re better set now than ever to make a return appearance. What would you have done differently to return to the finals sooner if you could replay the last 20+ seasons?


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[Sources]

You mention how long it has been since your last finals appearance and how you’re better set now than ever to make a return appearance. What would you have done differently to return to the finals sooner if you could replay the last 20+ seasons?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would have tried to put better players around my team and strike at the iron while hot in the trade market.

[Darth Vegito]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: What do you say to tampering allegations that Jordan Johnson and Ben Franklin had both agreed to come to play for the Pelicans during Jordan Johnson's free agency period?

What players discuss is between themselves. If New Orleans is that much more appealing to them than every other NBA destination, I welcome them to the French Quarter among all the other parishes and towns that Louisiana has to offer.

When will Louisiana join the rest of the nation and have counties instead of parishes? It's not cute anymore.

[JNR]

GWR: This is your most talented team in quite some time, but I want to hear about your favorite team you've ever had, and what this team would have to do to take their place?

[78#]

Do you feel you have enough depth this season to go for a deep run? How great is this team in your opinion?

[NickMalone77]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: What do you say to tampering allegations that Jordan Johnson and Ben Franklin had both agreed to come to play for the Pelicans during Jordan Johnson's free agency period?

What players discuss is between themselves. If New Orleans is that much more appealing to them than every other NBA destination, I welcome them to the French Quarter among all the other parishes and towns that Louisiana has to offer.

When will Louisiana join the rest of the nation and have counties instead of parishes? It's not cute anymore.

When they remove all French and catholic symbols away from the cities. Idk... seems like a local government type issue.

[NickMalone77]

GWR: This is your most talented team in quite some time, but I want to hear about your favorite team you've ever had, and what this team would have to do to take their place?

Favorite team? The team that won it all in 2015-16. Idk what they would have to do honestly considering how built from the ground that team was with the likes of Damian Lillard leading the way. The #2 draft pick getting his first ring before Anthony Davis. Blake Griffin being acquired the season before for a pair of rookies really helped to make our team go. You combine that with Tobias Harris and Greg Monroe, both instrumental defensively and playing key roles that year around the perimeter and in the paint. Then the acquisition midway through the year for Ron Artest to tie it all together. Plus the tribulations of that post season going through 2 game 7 series. To top it? Idk if anything ever could.

But this years team I think shares a good bit of characteristics with that team. You have the stars in Jordan and Franklin, Allen, Forte, and Haddock all do their parts defensively and do the little things you need a veteran team to excel at. Then you supply enough depth so the team doesn’t get tired. I think this team can be special, don’t get me wrong but toppling that mountain the 1st time is what dreams are made of.

[NickMalone77]

Do you feel you have enough depth this season to go for a deep run? How great is this team in your opinion?

AC Williams, Josh Hart, Joe McKnight, all veterans that came here with a chance to be apart of something special. Harland Cain gets to learn from them on what it takes to grow from the ground up in this league. People sleep on Menendez but he is a skilled backup also and I think that’ll matter when we are in the middle of the season. People are gonna obviously focus on Jordan and Franklin doing all the heavy lifting for this team but the backbone and depth of this team will help us sustain leads and secure a lot of games this year.

On how special this team can be? I’d be disappointed if this team wasn’t representing the Omega conference in the Finals. That’s not to take a shot at the quality of competition we’ll be facing this year but we are looking forward to the challenge of taking on some other great teams this year with the likes of the TWolves, the Suns, and I guess our battle tested rival, the LA Clippers.

[NickMalone77]

You mention how long it has been since your last finals appearance and how you’re better set now than ever to make a return appearance. What would you have done differently to return to the finals sooner if you could replay the last 20+ seasons?


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What sources said.

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: What made you go after Johnson first, and then Franklin, when most expected them to be automatic supermaxes?

[Eazy P]

What is your secret to get superstars to come play in Small Market New Orleans?

[NickMalone77]

Random Reporter: What made you go after Johnson first, and then Franklin, when most expected them to be automatic supermaxes?

Honestly figured I wouldn’t be the only team throwing a max at Jordan Johnson’s table. Figured most in the league would have. Same deal with Franklin. If you have the cap capital to go after guys like that and can afford to do so and improve your team overnight, gotta do it. Having them on the team makes it infinitely more impressive and attractive to other FAs than if they weren’t.

[NickMalone77]

What is your secret to get superstars to come play in Small Market New Orleans?

The market size doesn’t matter. Any city that’s worthy Of consideration will have everything a superstar needs and then some.