Root like hell for the Spurs to pass NO for 9th, and the Clips to keep hold of 8th cuz the Lakers are done.
Pels fans are loving the fact that they traded for CJ and gave up the worse of the two picks they had in this year's draft.
I'm rooting for New Orleans to lose to improve that pick.... However, fuck the Lakers! Always happy to see them lose. I'm so happy to see them suck this year. I hope they lose the final game of the season to a Nuggets team resting their starters and fall out of the play in.
that's funny....right now, the Lakers pick is 9th and their pick is 10th. Earlier today that was reversed
Earlier this season Pelicans we're deep in the lottery and Lakers were .500 so yeah they'd be pretty excited to have those spots now flipped.
The Pelicans were at full strength tonight so what did we learn? If the Pelicans have to beat the Lakers with a healthy LeBron and AD to advance in the play ins they're not going to get it done. The thing about that is that the Lakers have by far the hardest schedule out of them, the Pelicans and the Spurs. So the Lakers are going to have to beat some really good teams in order to make the play ins. They could do it but it's now looking very likely that the Pelicans will play the Spurs in the first play in game and will likely get the Lakers first rounder too. I still think it's unlikely that the Pelicans actually get through both play in games and into the playoffs and their pick conveying to the Grizz instead of us but we'll just have to wait and see. Our front office can only sit our best guys and try to get the best pick possible for us at this point. The Pelicans' pick is out of our control.
This situation is really simple to me. We stay the course and play for the highest pick we can get. If the Pelicans defy the odds and make the playoffs we get a new GM by the time the first round is over and that GM decides what we do with our draft pick and whether or not we do what it takes to remove the protections from the pick we owe the Bulls and tap into our reservoir of first rounders that would then be available to us. The fact is that if the Pelicans make the playoffs then Cronin completely mismanaged his chance at piloting this roster and setting a course for its future. At that point it should be very obvious to everyone that we need a new vision for this team and where it's headed. So we'll just have to hire the best person available to build this roster around Dame, Ant or both and make the best trades or picks or whatever it is that they see that we need.
no way the Lakers make the play-in, look at that schedule. They're done. It’s gonna be Pelicans vs Spurs. I assume the Pelicans will beat them, they have just more talent than the Spurs. And i wouldn’t be surprised if they beat the Clippers after that. Right now i'm expecting the pick to not convey to the Blazers
Watching the end of that game ... yeesh. First off, everyone but LeBron was shooting for the Lakers in the last 2:30. Second, they started panicking and chucking 3s too early. Third, I couldn't believe the lineup Vogel was using at the end. Then I looked at their bench and I thought "Man, none of these guys are worth playing in this situation." Talk about a terribly constructed roster.
I'm not losing sleep over it just yet. They still have to play out the regular season and win two play-in games, at least one on the road and potentially the other against LeBron. Plus, the Pelicans drive their fans crazy with how inconsistent they are. They look great one night and can lose to just about anyone the next. Even playing better with CJ they still are the most up-and-down team in the NBA right now.
I was a bit surprised at the time with the protections on the pick, that he didn't require either the Pelican's pick, or one of the Lakers picks. Getting the Milwaukie pick as a backup so far down the road.....not very impressive.
Just horrendous actually. The fact is that if this pick which was either going to be a lottery pick or not convey didn't convey we should have gotten something better not worse because that most likely meant that the Pelicans got better than expected value out of the players who were moved. So I really would have expected the worst out of their 2024 picks and the Bucks pick they gave us. Those picks collectively would have about the same value as this year's pick if it conveyed because they'll both likely be outside of the lottery and they're both future firsts instead of having an immediate impact on the roster. Regardless of what anyone in here wants to say about if I had a realistic idea of what value our players had that we moved we definitely moved them for less value than we could have and Cronin acted desperately in both trades taking far too little for Norm and RoCo and then making a major gamble in what he took back for CJ and Larry. If that gamble doesn't pay off, that has to be the last decision he gets to make for this team... I mean besides the decision he made to send a very talented 23 year old to the Jazz for a player on the decline that just had a season ending injury that will probably further slow him down and a second rounder.
I will say that one thing has just brightened my mood when it comes to this pick conveying to us. It seems the Clippers are targeting having PG13 and Norm back before the play ins. George is playing light four on four ball and getting shots up which with an elbow injury has to be the last step before being back. Norm seems a little further out because he's just now starting to get shots up and hasn't been cleared for contact yet, but he's not in a walking boot anymore so his foot is taking his full weight. I mean if Paul George is playing for the Clippers they might not even play the Pelicans in the play in tourney. They might just beat the Wolves and then the Pelicans would have to deal with the Wolves. Basically what I'm saying is that it's looking like a lock that the Pelicans will be outmatched in their second play in game, if they can even get past the Spurs or Lakers.
