S50 Breaking Free; Pelicans Presser

[NickMalone77]

Pels Media Day!

You ever just get the realization that burning yourself at both ends is just exhausting, draining, and just really exasperating? Now, after doing this for 50 seasons, and literal years, that brain would tell you to “shut the hell up” because you’re addicted to this thing that you’ve cared about more than some actual past relationships, or memories that are real embarrassing to tell in public so you just write it down in a diary, or notebook, and just forget about it. Or try to at least and the brain has a funny way of reminding you every so often mentally, that just will never go away.

Shut up, brain...

People fumble words in front of another person out of fear or mental instability. Take your pick, really. Excuses. Inane ramblings. At the end of the day, your brain is consistently using brain cells on certain thoughts, fears, emotions, reactions, on how to deal when you’re in front of another person. One bullet point comes to mind and then the brain can make that thought completely disappear.

Season 50...

You analyze everything. You have stats. You see the same faces. You wave, and social distance, if you’re in the middle of a pandemic even though you’re in front of a mini webcam that is streaming and broadcasting your face for various reporters, fans in New Orleans, New York City, hell, even a country like Malaysia if people were so curious to click on a button on a webpage or link off a social media platform. Ain’t technology simplistic, and great?

Hey everybody...

The red light on the camera is just blinking. It hasn’t started yet. All you see is a reflection of your face. There’s other blank screens on the application. It can feel like an abyss before the light remains on for recording purposes. You’re almost frantically searching for another sound. Even if it’s water dripping from a leaky faucet in the bathroom next door. You just want to know that something is happening.

So, who’s ready for some Pelicans basketball?

Hell of an intro... You’d kill it at the Belaggio with that opener... Then you notice faces pop up in those empty boxes littered across the screens. You see the attendance pop up with various reporters from around the league, eager to ask questions about the team and all the change that’s taken place in a fast offseason.

I’m very excited.

Once again, only a secret genius would come up with that material. The light goes from blinking, to a piercing, and consistent red.

So where do I begin...

Your brain starts to flash up memories of Game 5 & 6 in Chicago and New Orleans of the conference finals. How close your team came to the finals only to fall to a better team. Through no fault of Jordan Johnson and Ben Franklin, I knew it was the end of the road. This tandem, trio, had taken my team to heights I didn’t expect it would take me when they signed their contracts. It was a lot of fun chasing those riders in the sky. The 60 + win seasons, two game 7’s against a great TWolves team, and 2 wins away from an NBA Title. The chase was over. But I can’t stop smiling after all this time.

I feel like a kid again...

There’s that youthful vigor. That childlike joy of handling the team for that very first season. What an idiot I was. Calling out far more experienced GM’s when all I had was a background in writing about wrestling promos. Who, in any right mind, would trust a guy like me, to ever run a basketball team in an online computer game, with random strangers, from another state, that you didn’t even know... But had an affinity for the same pro basketball team you enjoyed.

I finally feel free...

With this being the end of the road for this team, you reach a realization that you have to let the game work for you. You constantly compete not just with others, but with yourself to prove something to yourself that you belong. Belong to what? Belong to this idea that you’re a great GM in a computer game where 25 other guys are all striving for the same thing? It doesn’t exactly work out that way due to paying the tax, breaking down teams, finding the right moment for a trade to materialize. It’s all different. But your brain is telling you it has to be this or that. The world isn’t always black and white. People play this game for different motives and reasoning but they play it because it’s a genuine joy getting to play it and talk to a majority of the people playing it with you.

I know I’m not a man of many words...

So what do you do when your brain can’t quite find the words to describe what you did this past offseason? You have that internal moment where you’re tired of trying to prove something to somebody and it turns your whole perspective, mood, who you are as a person and gives you the wake up alarm to snap out of it. You don’t need to be that person. That’s when you can finally...

Break free.

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: You had a hell of a team with Jordan Johnson and Ben Franklin, and adding Stoll as a third made your team all the fiercer. When you look around the league now, how do you think your team would stack up if you hadn't sold off Johnson and Franklin, and how hard was it to come to that decision?

[ajburman4]

With the departures of Johnson and Franklin, do you see any players on the roster with the potential to fill their shoes, or is a full rebuild on the horizon?

[NickMalone77]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: You had a hell of a team with Jordan Johnson and Ben Franklin, and adding Stoll as a third made your team all the fiercer. When you look around the league now, how do you think your team would stack up if you hadn't sold off Johnson and Franklin, and how hard was it to come to that decision?

Great question. I think we would’ve had to have gone into the tax a third time. I think it would’ve been difficult (even with all of our current firsts), building a team up of that ilk again. Could it have been done, and sustainable? Possibly. Brad Dodge was going to be another year older, another year slower. Franklin and Jordan would’ve still been great players but it’s hard to build a front court again with just 20 mil. Especially when the options during FA weren’t great or ideal. Look at the division we’re in now. There’s a challenge every single night from the Nets, Thunder, Lakers, Wizards, and Raptors.... All quality teams. Every one of them posing different challenges. I’m not saying we couldn’t have put up a fight, but sometimes, it’s better to let the chaos play out from the outside before you jump back into the fray. That’s when I knew the best decision was to step back and rebuild. It’s a great feeling not having to look at a negative training camp where everyone on the team takes a hit.

[NickMalone77]

With the departures of Johnson and Franklin, do you see any players on the roster with the potential to fill their shoes, or is a full rebuild on the horizon?

Another great question. Replacing Jordan and Franklin is almost impossible considering how much of a legacy they established here in such a short amount of time. Can it be done? Possibly. I think we have a great young core now of young guys that are hungry and looking forward to the challenge of standing out. That’s kinda what I wanted and was hoping to achieve when I originally posted the trade block bump. I wanted a can’t miss prospect to go along with a potential lotto pick for Jordan Johnson. We fielded a lot of calls with some enticing offers for Jordan but Utah presented the best one. Gabauer is 24-25 and has many of the same tools as Deuce Fortre. Gerry Folse looks like a young stud And is only 20-21 years old. We are hopeful both can be long term pieces for us going forward. Much in the same breath as a Tasmin Mitchell. Mitchell is 26 and is strong in a lot of areas of what you need to be successful in the front court. It’s a different team for sure but this is where the fun comes in in looking out how and where the team fits and just seeing where the chips fall and stack up. Take the time for the time to mold.

[K-100]

What are your expectations for Ken Quackenbush this season and beyond?

[NickMalone77]

What are your expectations for Ken Quackenbush this season and beyond?

At age 22, I don’t expect Ken to be a finished product. I think he was unhappy with the Knicks and relied on too heavily to do the bulk load of the scoring coming off the bench. I think he has the chance here to let the game slow down for him. I definitely think he can be an offensive option for us down the line and he’s gonna get plenty of chances to highlight his offensive game as a starter. This is a young team and we are gonna take our time building and crafting this new team now from the ground up. Ken is apart of our core and we are hopeful he can grow and expand his game with us long term.

[greepleairport]

Once your tax resets, you have a number of young prospects and you cannot insure them all. Have you started picking favorites yet Vs potential selling pieces? Or are you waiting to see how the season goes?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NickMalone77]

Once your tax resets, you have a number of young prospects and you cannot insure them all. Have you started picking favorites yet Vs potential selling pieces? Or are you waiting to see how the season goes?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Definitely going to take a wait and see approach. Having a veteran laden team for so long was a trade off where I sacrificed the ability to insure what you guys I had on the roster for sure fire wins. You don’t want to have a team in tax hell only to have just a “pretty good” team that knows deep down it isn’t deep enough to reach the finals. TC was very beneficial for us. The hunger is gonna define itself in who stands out. We are excited to see who sticks and takes advantage of these opportunities.