They drafted Shane Larkin out of Miami, but he broke his ankle in Summer League so they signed Israeli Gal Mekel to an entry-level deal for depth. Fine.
But why sign Ellis, Jose Calderon and Devin Harris? Talk about overkill for mediocrity in a stacked Western Conference.
There’s no way Ellis is worth $10 million a season, which is money that could have easily gone to a better player in Teague, as demonstrated earlier in this column.
Calderon had a really, really good season last year, leading the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage at 46.1 percent. But is giving a 31-year-old a four-year contract really a completely prudent choice? And what about signing a player in Devin Harris who they know is injured?
Brandan Wright has shown a lot of ability as a bench player, shooting 59.7 percent from the field last season and a really nice efficiency rate, but he’s never played more than 64 games in a season or more than 18 minutes per game in a season. That seems like a good deal of risk for $5 million per season.
Then Dallas signed 32-year-old Samuel Dalembert to a two-year contract to be their starting center. There’s no way this team is by any means a surefire playoff team in the Western Conference. Dallas set itself up for long-term mediocrity and a wasted final few seasons for Nowitzki.
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Too Much Urgency In New Orleans
New team name, new logo, a renewed vigor within the city and the fan base. I get that. But sometimes a team’s urgency can be misguided. This is one of those times.
There’s no question that Jrue Holiday is a very good player, even though he had a poor season by many standards last season. But the risk accrued in this trade is tremendous. New Orleans could have done more with the sixth overall pick it sent to the Sixers, and it gave up a first-round pick in the loaded 2014 draft that was only top-three protected, though some believe it’s top-five protected, which would still make this at best a poor risk.
In no particular order, the Thunder, Spurs, Grizzlies, Clippers, Warriors, Rockets and Nuggets are all clearly better than New Orleans. That leaves one playoff spot left for the rest of the Western Conference. The Pelicans will be in the lottery, and their pick in a critical draft won’t be theirs. That’s a big, desperate mistake.
Okay, so now the Pelicans at least have a very nice backcourt tandem with Holiday and Eric Gordon. Was there any real need to overpay Tyreke Evans at $11 million per season and trade away Greivis Vasquez (an improving affordable player who led the league in assists last season) and Robin Lopez (a 25-year-old on a good contract who’s only improving) for him? Not by a longshot.
So now New Orleans has a crowded backcourt, no first-round pick next year and a really, really slim chance to make the playoffs. It’s good that they’re trying, but they tried to take shortcuts to success that will backfire. Which is really a shame because the city deserves better.
Shlomo Sprung loves advanced statistics and the way they explain what happens on the court. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. His website is SprungOnSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
I get that the Mavs signed too many PGs but 2 of those guys are expected to play the 2 but seriously they won 41 games with mike James at PG, Dirk missed half the season, and the center and SG positions were horrible… Just a healthy Dirk puts them in playoffs but they also have a solid PG that shot 46% from 3 to run the pick and roll with Dirk, a R protecting center, and solid back ups at every position??? Someone is gonna get rich bettering the over on the Mavs record because the way they are being underestimated is CRAZY.
Dont disagree with any of this, really. Good analysis. I think Milwaukee just screwed the pooch on the reddick deal. THAT was desperation. Losing Tobias Harris was just stupid. Since then…ok, they are building around Sanders and Henson..assuming henson improves. And Illysova, who i like a lot. But they had to move jennings…and got a gamble in Knight. Now i think BK could still develop. There were flashes. But its not a great move. Then they drafted Giannis the Greek Freak. I know lots of people were impressed, but I was not one of them. Maybe someday….but not anytime soon. Then Dallas,. which is just Cuban’s arrogance. He is now the jerry jones of the NBA., TERRIBLE (cue bill walton’s voice…) HORRRRRRRIBLE. there are no words. A mess. ANd finally NOLO. Im glad this writer so clearly articulated what went down. You gave up a #1 pick in the most loaded draft in ten years. For Holiday…oh and this years first. Jrue holiday is a nice player. Not an elite player. He struggled repeatedly against good defenders (Rondo and conely and CP3)….but he’s young, so….maybe. But it was way too much. And then….THEN they go all in for Tyreke. Now….you have three guys…eric gordon, jrue and reke who all need the ball. It is just bad roster management. Maybe i will be proved wrong….but I dont like it and then they gave up Robin Lopez, who I predict is going to be a huge plus for the blazers. And oh yeah, Vasquez. At worst he is a solid back up. Now…one complaint, Denver is not clearly better than ANYONE right now….count them a lotto team. NOLO could make the playoffs…lakers, nuggets and utah are going to awful.