franco12 wrote:if Ball says he's not staying, and only agrees to take a one year deal- assuming he wants to come to NY, are the Pelicans ok with 3 draft picks, Kevin Knox and maybe Frank N?

Shoe is on the other foot, I take that deal vs losing him in a year, especially if I am still rebuilding.

Frank is a FA and no sign and trade at his cap hold.
Knox might still be a prospect both with our FO and others. Fans are emotional and void o all facts.
“He is lazy” is new. Coming out of college he was “has a low motor”. Well does a motor stay low forever? Might he just not have the ability despite effort to quicken his step or is he just like to lounge about the house in his robe? Triple has his take from his perspective as a former player and I respect it. Some others are moronic and just ride what they read. I’m not at practice, I’m not in the weight room, and I’m not the coach. I won’t mimic what I read as mine and pretend I’m an insider. Former players at a higher level than mine can see things I can’t and i respect it, but not digest as absolute truths.
What is true? What is on the court. If you have to stop and take a tempurture check Frank failed and logically move on under a different pay scale. I really wish him the best. Kevin if deemed a glimmer of hope either stays one more year because Kenny Payne sees it or he is trade fodder. CAA or not don’t matter. Payne had this kid out of high school and now again at what would be age 22. He can tell us. But he wont. Not his place to yet.

“Thibs kind of guy”. What is that? Let’s be real, he succeeded in exceeding every logical prediction and killed it with Payton. so lets just ask “is Ball better then Payton?”

Then we see DRose play and now its “thats the kind of PG we need”. But we lot a series bad. “OK, a younger version of DRose, does not have to be as good!”. THis is easy to type what we need isn’t it?

Real answer lies in “Chemistry”. All things the same thats one answer. Th other is where are we going and with who?” We building it with Randle for one year or 5? Is RJ a good player or potential beast? Is OBI part of a future speed team or trade fodder or we remain a Thibs same as it ever was slogFest team?
Naturally one call from a GM who wants to move a disgruntled player or a FA opportunity can change it all in a moment. THere are few master plans that really play out in reality. Teams have to dance to the music or look stupid.

I think Lonzo is one of many scenarios should the winds blow the right way. I could have started my diatribe with that sentence.

If we can add him without breaking the bank, he is potentially a nice third start player to add to RJ & Randle.

Add him to the Knicks against the Hawks, I think we come out ahead.

I'm sure he can develop his P&R game.

Welpee wrote:

smackeddog wrote:I've gone off him- Thibs seems to like attacking/scoring PGs, don't see how Lonzo fits with that.

I'm still on the fence. He's better than anything we currently have or likely to get, but is he worth the money we have to commit to?

No, he’s not. That hawks series put a lot of **** in perspective and we need an attacking pg who can catch and shoot.

Clean wrote:I wanted Lonzo but I have a few concerns. I like that he can help with the rebounding. I like his passing and his ability to run the break. I love how much he has improved his shooting. He is also young and will continue to improve overall . However, I hear he is not the best in PNR and that is a huge issue with me. As we have seen this year PNRs are very potent. I also hear he is not the best in half court at driving to the hoop. This is bad for our team. We need a guard who can break down the defense.

He has improved his shooting significantly. Maybe he can improve on pick and roll. It’s actually harder to improve at shooting

Philc1 wrote:

franco12 wrote:if Ball says he's not staying, and only agrees to take a one year deal- assuming he wants to come to NY, are the Pelicans ok with 3 draft picks, Kevin Knox and maybe Frank N?

Shoe is on the other foot, I take that deal vs losing him in a year, especially if I am still rebuilding.

Offer the Pelicans Knox and both our 1sts we have this year. It’s a very reasonable offer

Lonzo likes playing with Zion but his dad wants him in New York. It just makes sense on too many levels. Knicks are a better team and Lonzo in NYC as a Knick is marketing superstar

I would feel really good about our direction next year if we added Lonzo - is he perfect, no- but he is young, has upside and can make the game easier for RJ & Randle.

You have Rose and IQ off the bench for the back court, and then if we can retain Robinson, Taj, Noelle & Obi- you have the perfect blend of youth with upside and vet savvy to win games, help create winning habits and make Thibs happy!

And then we can add Zion later

Philc1 wrote:

franco12 wrote:if Ball says he's not staying, and only agrees to take a one year deal- assuming he wants to come to NY, are the Pelicans ok with 3 draft picks, Kevin Knox and maybe Frank N?

Shoe is on the other foot, I take that deal vs losing him in a year, especially if I am still rebuilding.

Offer the Pelicans Knox and both our 1sts we have this year. It’s a very reasonable offer

Lonzo likes playing with Zion but his dad wants him in New York. It just makes sense on too many levels. Knicks are a better team and Lonzo in NYC as a Knick is marketing superstar

MS wrote:He’s the toughest guy to gauge.

His shooting has really improved, they run the offense through Zion like we do through Randle, but Ingram is always dribbling so that takes away his creativity.

But, imagine the easy buckets he could get Obi and Mitch. You don’t have to give up anything for him and he’s young enough to improve.

But if we sign him to a big deal and he doesn’t work out we are pretty much stuck in the middle of the road.

We will still have a lot of cap room if we sign Ball. About $25-30 million leftover. Assuming we resign Burks/Bullock on the cheap which I think happens

Plus we have Bird rights we can use on Randle and Mitch after next season