They've found their groove since acquiring CJ. I wouldn't count them out from beating their opponents in the play-in. Lakers have been awful, even with AD.
I didn't count them out, I said it's a real possibility. That being said they haven't had a chance to find any groove, they're playing under .500 ball with CJ but a lot of those games have been without Ingram who I would expect to be back soon. So yeah, no one is counting them out as far as getting the eighth seed goes, I just don't think it's the most likely outcome.
Luck isn't real. So I say that there's a chance that we lose the pick but a better chance that it conveys to us. That's our reality. I'm hoping if we lose it that Cronin is out as a GM candidate and we hire someone within a couple of weeks. I also hope that we really go all in this off season if we lose the Pelicans pick by doing whatever small thing it takes to get rid of the conditions on our pick going to the Bulls next year, so we have up to four future first rounders available to deal (our '25, '27 and '29 and the Bucks '25).
San Antonio wins in New Orleans and is now one game behind the Lakers and the pelicans in the win column. the Blazers play New Orleans and San Antonio twice more each this season. Edit: the Pelicans host the Lakers tomorrow afternoon and play the Lakers in LA again on April 1. The Pelicans are 1-0 against the Lakers this season. New Orleans lost the season series to the Spurs 1-3.
Since the Spurs are now only 1 game behind the Pelicans and we have 2 games left vs. both teams, do we “activate” players to try and win those games vs. the Pelicans and super tank vs. the Spurs?
It sucks that we play the Pelicans twice. Do we sacrifice our own chances of getting a top 4 pick to make sure the Pelicans don't get into the Play-in ?
We need to hope Sacramento keeps winning, and bring back 3 of our starters that are out for chronic gout, when we play the pelicans.
Yes. We want to win because if we don't get their pick, we're getting an absolutely trash pick from Milwaukee.
I think that in times like these we throw nuance out the window and go with the general philosophy of tanking. We do not activate players for the Pelicans games but continue to try and lose. We trust that the Lakers are getting healthy and even with the injuries to their two superstar players the Clippers have been better than the Pelicans so we let them win the games against us, improving our lottery chances and stay confident that the Lakers with AD will be too much for CJ's Pelicans and if they're not they won't get through the Clippers.
I say we try to lose every game. I just don't think NOLA can beat LA in a play in. Not with AD coming back and the refs blowing the whistles for the Lakers every time down the court.
