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New Orleans Pelicans 2028-2029 Season Preview

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Ramcus
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New Orleans Pelicans 2028-2029 Season Preview

Post by Ramcus »

New Orleans Pelicans 2028-2029 CSL Season Preview

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Fresh off a deep postseason run, the New Orleans Pelicans are looking to repeat their playoff success in the upcoming season, with some new faces and some returning faces. They were looking to replicate the magic of last season's mid-season trade, all while adding value where possible. So let's take a look at what New Orleans did throughout the offseason.

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The Draft. Coming up to the draft, New Orleans had little interest in the 2nd Round Pick[from Minnesota] that they owned. They had thoroughly scouted the expected draft range throughout the regular season, and were left rather unimpressed by the selection of talent remaining near the bottom of the 2nd Round. Although they looked for trades across the league, New Orleans reportedly had minimal success in trade talks. That's why, with the 48th pick of the 2028 CSL draft, the New Orleans Pelicans selected Marko Guduric, the 6'6 wing out of Serbia. Out of all the remaining prospects left available to draft, New Orleans felt that Guduric had the most potential to solidify himself as a consistent CSL player throughout his career due to his two-way abilities and his well-roundedness as a combo guard. After some rather delayed contract discussions, Guduric eventually signed a 3-year contract with the team.

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Free Agency. In free agency, New Orleans's main goal was to, if possible, replicate some of the success of their mid-season acquisitions. Justin Anderson and Julius Randle played vital roles throughout the Pelicans' playoff run. This free agency, the Pelicans signed Joe Ingles to fill-in in Anderson's role, and resigned Nassir Little to a 4-year max contract. They also signed an entirely new bench unit, composed of both new and returning players. Jordan Adams, Austin Rivers, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Emmanuel Terry were signed as new players, while Jawun Evans and Ivica Zubac saw a return on minimum contracts. Despite some minor, but expected, tribulations, the Pelicans moved on from free agency with everything as expected.

Training Camp and the rest of the offseason was relatively uninspiring for the Pelicans. Reddish, Johnson, and Terry all saw minor improvements during training camp, while HC Renard Grant drilled them and the rest of the squad with defensive rotations. Still, for a relatively quiet offseason for the Pelicans, the team is optimistic about their future in the league. Their bench unit is relatively impressive, and arguably an upgrade to last season's, while retaining the cohesive starting unit. In DDS:PB19, one of my main goals in creating this team was the ability to be flexible both offensively and defensively. I did this through utilizing Fultz and Markkanen as opposing offensive talents; Fultz played the role of a high-volume floor spacer, or a creative pick-and-roll ball handler, while Markkanen played the role of an elite post-scoring threat, or a 3-way offensive talent capable of popping out or rolling hard. Little was an odd pick at the end of the day, but proved to be an efficient post-scoring weapon, which means I could afford to play him next to Markkanen despite his[Little's] offensive ineffectiveness. All-in-all, the 3 players formed a capable offensive core, able to play in multiple different systems when needed.

Starting Lineup:
Markelle Fultz | Cameron Reddish | Nassir Little | Lauri Markkanen | Mohamed Bamba
Bench Lineup:
Jawun Evans | Jordan Adams | Joe Ingles | Michael Kidd-Gilchrist | Ivica Zubac
Austin Rivers | Marko Guduric | Juan Toscano-Anderson | Jaylen Johnson | Emmanuel Terry

We really like the flexibility of both the starting lineup and the bench lineup. Especially our bench unit, where backup point guard through to power forward are all capable if not elite defenders, and Zubac is capable offensive option. We're really excited for this upcoming season, despite the engine transition. Hoping to make some noise in the playoffs again.
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WillyJakkz
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Re: New Orleans Pelicans 2028-2029 Season Preview

Post by WillyJakkz »

You've got a really nice team and have done an outstanding job with those guys making progress every single year, great work.

I like the Joe Inglis pickup, will be interesting to see how he fits into the system as he should provide more shots for Lauri given his high PAS. Always liked this guy.

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PG L Ball | SG A Edwards | SF K Middleton |
PF W Kessler | C M Williams

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cb4raptorscb4
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Re: New Orleans Pelicans 2028-2029 Season Preview

Post by cb4raptorscb4 »

This is a very interesting team. Guys like Fultz, Little, and Reddish have always been tainted a bit in their early days as being inefficient so it will be interesting to continue watching their progress. Young starting lineup with some good vets on the bench.
Golden State Warriors
Kris Dunn | PJ Dozier | Ding Yanyuhang | Kevon Looney | Chimezie Metu
Devonte Graham | Nimrod Levi | Tariq Owens | Johnny Hamilton
'23: 34-48 (5-8 as GM)
'24: 40-42, 1st Round Exit
'25: 50-32, Championship Round Loss (4-3)
'26: 48-34, 1st Round Exit
'27: 44-38, Missed Playoffs
'28: 39-43, 1st Round Exit
'29: 57-25, Championship Round Loss (4-2)
'30: 48-34, Conference Finals Loss (4-1)

Vann_the_Red
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Re: New Orleans Pelicans 2028-2029 Season Preview

Post by Vann_the_Red »

Promising core and solid vets. I like it.

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OneNole
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Re: New Orleans Pelicans 2028-2029 Season Preview

Post by OneNole »

your front court depth is so bad, i wonder if you will be better off playing little at pf some and give some extra minutes to ingles.
FINALLY a logical HC Rule our work is done

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hardenwithnod
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Re: New Orleans Pelicans 2028-2029 Season Preview

Post by hardenwithnod »

The front court depth is a concern, but I really like how the rest of the team is shaping up here. Curious to see how this team will adapt to the engine change, as it has some good balance all around.
Big changes are coming in D.C.

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