![]() And once it happens, watch the Pelicans climb.NBA professional basketball team season 2021–22 New Orleans Pelicans season Most of the above will all still apply with any quality bouncy center. With Gobert at centre, they make small compromises on timelines, floor spacing and salary flexibility in order to make massive upgrades that will pay dividends in each of the short, medium and long terms.Īnd if it is not to be Gobert specifically, then, someone. Over the course of a long regular season - one in which Zion, considering his injury history, will need managing and rest - the Pelicans will be able to stay competitive while managing work loads appropriately. Gobert's weak side lob presence will be of eternal benefit to the McCollum/Williamson two-man game, and his weak side help defense will cure a lot of his ills on that front. The benefits to Zion as an individual will therefore come on both ends. And if opposing teams go small instead to try to counter Williamson's bounce, Gobert in the dunker spot will feast more than Valanciunas ever could. When the time comes to go small, the team can do that, too, using that phalanx of rangy forwards and either Zion or Rudy at the five. This is a league now of defensive flexibility, and when considering all options after adding a true shotblocker at the five spot, the Pelicans will have that. Yet in Nance, Hayes (if he stays), Trey Murphy, Brandon Ingram and the excellent defensive rookie Herb Jones in tow in the front court, they can get creative and they can get weird. The immediate concern with a Zion/Gobert frontcourt is perimeter defense, not something either does particularly well. A team looking for an option over the top and a defender in the back line could surely find no better fit than a two-time Defensive Player of the Year around whom the phrase "vertical spacing" was literally devised. ![]() Perhaps more to the point, if the team is prepared to go for a lob threat and shot-blocker instead of (or in addition to) Jonas Valanciunas, why not dream a little bigger and go for Rudy Gobert?Īs discussed elsewhere, Gobert will almost certainly be available this summer, as the Jazz need to rethink a team on the descent. Hayes offers a frontcourt transition option, a permanent lob threat and some rangy defense, particularly on switches, yet he is a poor rebounder whose improvements in key areas in his three years to date has been slow. 680% true shooting percentage, the product of nearly half of all his made shots being dunks - the results on his jump shot, while promising, are too early to be conclusive. Although his extremely rare combination of size and mobility sees him effective in a few ways - as evidenced by his seemingly effortless. However, the idea that 2019 first-round pick Jaxson Hayes could be the perfect partner is looking ambitious. In addition to being one of the game's best rebounders and a finisher in the paint, he has also become a decent stretch five in recent seasons, and while seeing him move out to that range a la Brook Lopez would see him get away from the offensive rebounding and deep-catch game he is a master at, it nevertheless adds dimensions to the team. Valanciunas ticks some of those boxes, to be sure. After that, some slight rejigging, plus the return to health of Zion, and they could start moving up quickly. Nevertheless, while it might be impossible to find the player to tick every box, they should be able to find players who tick at least some. And the problem with that is, every other team is looking for that kind of player, too. ![]() ![]() In tandem, then, the Pelicans require a paint defender who can also defend in space and clear the glass at a high rate, while also not overly clogging the paint for Zion and adding floor spacing.
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