#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Will this finally be the year?

Usually, that's a pretty morose question to ask. The days of Damian Lillard, and Blake Griffin, and Greg Monroe, have long since passed. All we've had to show for it the last few years was a stench of missing the playoffs these last three years. Our struggle hasn't come without benefit though. Buddy, Ekbert, and Damion, have all blossomed into players we hoped they would turn into when they were drafted, or acquired. Some have struggled, but we've steadily increased our win total over the last three years to finally be on the precipice of the playoffs once again. So I ask the important question again that only time has the real answer to.

Will this finally be the year?

With our record being what it was, we were slated with the 13th pick in the last draft. San Antonio had more interest in making that pick than we did so a trade was possible to bring in a stretch forward in James Webster. Webster's unique skill set was enticing enough to bring him in as an option for some minutes behind the three or 4. He won't play much defense but he can certainly help us more than waiting on prospect #13 to develop a few years from now and the options left in that draft at that spot weren't exciting enough to buy back in. We knew the ownership situation with the Knicks was also left up in the air with the league. We also knew Elfrid never really fit in the way we hoped down here and was looking to leave during FA. So, that brought up a need to bring in a point guard. A trade arose with the Knicks and we brought in long time vet, Ish Smith. Ish is a more than capable guy to be a lead point guard still even if he was a step slower than last year. Sent out some cash considerations along with Lawrence Arbogast and we had our new point guard, for now.

Will this finally be the year?

With our cap situation being what it was, we tried being aggressive to fix our issues at the 1 and the three. We threw out multiple offers out there that we thought were cost efficient and worth it to pursue to many of the top free agents and even medium sized free agents. A lot of spurned advances but we were fortunate to sign Rodney Hood and bring in Patrick Riordan. In Hood's case, he may start at the three or play important 6 man minutes behind James Pearsall. Riordan will be one of the first guards off the bench and with his skill set, we see him as more of a 2 than a 1 even with the height difference. We were able to take advantage of the Flemming Cheeks process and fill out the rest of our roster with vets that were cast aside often due to budget cuts. Now that we have our roster, we're imagining our roster and depth to resemble something a little like this...

C: Ekbert/Hawes
PF: McNary/Webster
SF: Hood-Pearsall/DeRozan
SG: Buddy/Riordan
PG: Ish/Dinwiddie

Will this finally be the year?

You're probably tired of me thinking that, so here's a happy picture of a Pelican.

Who would you say poses the biggest challenge in your division, and do you feel your team is the favorites to win the division this season?


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NOLa. wrote: Sun Aug 12, 2018 8:08 am Who would you say poses the biggest challenge in your division, and do you feel your team is the favorites to win the division this season?


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I felt like this team has always had the capabilities to win the division but for one reason or another, faulted. The Grizzlies improved through their tax program, Spurs got more prospects, Rockets retained Al Horford, and Mavs stayed the same but are still tough. I'll say the biggest competition is the Mavs. Al Horford has to stop playing eventually.

I think our team has a really good mix but we're missing one or two ingredients to make it special. I'm hopeful we could address our holes around the trade deadline.

What inspired you to bring Ish in from New York?

WigNosy wrote: Sun Aug 12, 2018 9:09 am What inspired you to bring Ish in from New York?

Stability and familiarity. For many years when he was with Minnesota, we faced off against him a great bit when we were an active part of the playoffs. Ish is still a stable force that can run the first unit and is on a one year deal. We feared with our lack of cap space going into free agency that we wouldn't be serious suitors for top point guards so we had to be proactive before the FA market to secure a lead guard that can run the first unit.

Ish still has the speed and passing abilities to not be an open faucet at the position. If there's an opportunity to improve the position elsewhere, we'll listen and explore.

The pelicans have an impressive collection of frontcourt talent. Do you think that Buddy Hield, Ish Smith and Rodney Hood are talented enough to help the Pels earn a high seed this season?

The Pelicans are looking really solid this year. What area do you see has the biggest room for improvement?

Wombataholic wrote: Sun Aug 12, 2018 11:33 am The pelicans have an impressive collection of frontcourt talent. Do you think that Buddy Hield, Ish Smith and Rodney Hood are talented enough to help the Pels earn a high seed this season?

Buddy will definitely be an anchor for our backcourt. He’s a foundation piece and really, we view him as one of the best two guards in the league. He’ll be a a hound dog on defense and cool as a cucumber around the basket.

Ish will be a sage and calming voice on the court and in the locker room. Ish can still find the lanes and cut to find an open shooter that’ll be important to help progress Ekbert and Damion along the way.

Rodney will be important to try and stretch the floor. He’s a good shooter that might just see a bulk of the minutes at the three this year ahead. We were hoping to sign him as soon as free agency started and we were glad we did at the price we put in front of him.

As far as a high seee goes, I don’t think we are among the upper eschelon teams within the conference just yet. That has to be earned. We are hopeful this year that we can be in the mix, finish above .500, and make the playoffs. Then anything can happen. We are happy with the way our team is progressing.

garbageman wrote: Sun Aug 12, 2018 12:52 pm The Pelicans are looking really solid this year. What area do you see has the biggest room for improvement?

I think we will need probably an addition in the backcourt long term that can play with Buddy. Most of our guys outside of two-three on the roster are contracted past this season. We would like to add another talent or two along the way but we also have to keep in the back of our minds the impending free agency next year for McNary and Winkler and keeping them around long term too.

A year later how do you feel about the Mcnary deal ?

With Winkler, McNary, and Pearsall all in a contract year, what exactly are you hoping to see from each of them this year to prove their value to you?

ballsohard wrote: Mon Aug 13, 2018 1:14 am A year later how do you feel about the Mcnary deal ?

Bucks got a championship and we've got a guy that can possibly be a multi time all star and a key contributor to a very successful franchise if he's able to put in the work consistently. McNary is ready to get the season going and we're excited to see how he's progressed.

Xist2Inspire wrote: Mon Aug 13, 2018 1:20 am With Winkler, McNary, and Pearsall all in a contract year, what exactly are you hoping to see from each of them this year to prove their value to you?

Pearsall has one more year left after this one but the majority of the book is open for next season. We know Ekbert will be a highly coveted (max) RFA and McNary will get every dollar he deserves. We hope both will play like the stars we expect them to be. Hoping Pearsall can also do a little bit of everything either coming off the bench or playing off the first unit.

Being that the Pelicans have not made the playoffs the past few years, do you feel any sort of pressure for your squad to perform this year? Also, are there any positions that you feel like you need to improve on to get to your goal of the post season?


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