THE BIG EASY!

The NO Pels have always been the smooth talking cool little brother at family shindigs that always has a new wacky business venture to pitch and calls everyone "brother" regardless of your position in society. Full of gusto, bright eyed and inspired to earn his spot among his peers! 

Horrible analogies aside the Pels have a savvy and championship caliber GM in Leeroy at the helm and has already made his mark with clear direction and winning moves. It's a clear youth movement down south for this lot and the future is bright on the backs of DM, Morant, Holiday, Knox and about half the leagues future first rounders. Jokes aside they have 9 all up over the next 4 years including 3 next draft that project to be in the 8-16 range and a late one courtesy of the Blazers. The have options a plenty to ether play the long game or put together a tasty package at any time jumping on the misfortune/consequences of horrible decisions at any point. 

THE STARS!


DM- The franchise guy. 23 and already putting up a healthy 26/4/3/1 line with splits of 46/40/86. He can do it all, score inside and out, gets to the line, underrated play maker and all the tools to be an elite defensive option. Leeroy has the luxury of being able to play him at the one or two and can carry an offence or be an elite second option alongside another star that would give opposing teams nightmares. 



Morant- The hype on this kid is real. The perfect running mate to DM in the back court. Lighting quick, elite passing game and a once in a generation type athlete. He'll settle in eventually from the expected bad shot selection here and there but it wont be long before these two form one of the most potent two way back courts in the league. 

Knox- Still super raw and super young. If he can put it together then the Pels will be laughing. Versatile, athletic with good size at the 3 and a promising offensive game. He has the tools to be at least above average on the other end and if that's your baseline then you cant complain. 

Holiday - I feel like the Holidays have at least 13 guys in the league at the moment and they all seem to know a thing or two about how to play ball. Lacking in size perhaps to ever see starter minutes but is shaping up to be a great complimentary guard off the bench. Can shoot, can pass. what more do you want. 

WE'LL SEE?...

Bridges - Elite 3nD potential. Already more then capable. Could be the perfect small ball 3/4 alongside Knox in the future. 

Bruno - A lot of promise and hype around this kid. Can rim run and has shown ability to protect the rim and crash the boards. Perfect for the kind of pace the Pels would want to run at with their back court. 

Bacon - Tasty name. Is a walking bucket. Can he put it all together? At worst he's your second scoring option off the bench as a solid 7th/8th man. 

Lee - A throw in from a recent deal with the Kings who obviously don't know how to evaluate young talent in the slightest. Chip on his shoulder and impressing along the way. 

TRAAADDEEZZZ?!

The Pels haven't been shy at all on the trade front and have made a handful of moves that have pretty much all been winners;...

Soooo they had Kawhi remember? Seems like a lifetime ago. They go bang get a suns first and DM along with some other fillers and that's essentially where it all began. No arguing Kawhi's impact but could DM eclipse him in due time? It's about as much value as you're getting when you deal a star player like that. 

They got Burks and a Bulls first first for sweet F A. Huge win. 

They get Knox and swap a SA first for a Utah one seemingly moving up from the 20-23 range to a lottery pick. Another Win. 

3 firsts, Covington, Dedmon and salary for Allen, Harris, Fournier. Get off Evans contract, nice. Harris a solid player but no use for them. Allen projects to be an elite big man prospect... Little bit of a head scratcher there but they get back Cov and multiple assets in the process. 

On trade Cov and Bell for ANOTHER FIRST, Bridges, B mac and Illy. B mac has been playing well and both him and Ersan have real value to contending teams. Bridges their forward of the future on the same timeline to replace Cov. Might not ever be the level of defender he is but definitely expected to be a level above on the other end. 

They think for about 2.5 seconds flat before sheepishly agreeing to a deal with the Kings to send Dedmon and Snell in return for Diengs contract, Ellington, Bacon a couple seconds and rights to Lee. Lee alone looks the goods and Dieng is essentially Dedmon but younger and the rest will undoubtedly be moved on for more assets. 

Conclusion: 

Was moving Kawhi the right move? We'll see... The dudes already being load managed and is approaching the other side of his prime.... Allen i really like and it would've been good to of kept him as they now lack any kind of legitimate options at the 5 spot... For now. The rest have been winning moves and for a guy who's generally pretty reserved on the trade front in previous years he's impressed me with the ability to adapt and hit the ground running. 

Other moves I could see them doing/What they should do;... Move all their vets at highest value. Take on expirings with of course the patent attached asset for his troubles. Trade forward in the draft late in the season when standings are more set. You'd want to have a big hand in the 2021 and 2022 draft as next years projects to be shallow. Take chances on guys that you can afford to wait on. 

Mitchell Robinson for Cavs 2020 first, NO 2022 and Bruno?...

Adams/Forbes for Dieng/Ersan/Holiday/Nets 21 first/SA 23 first?...

Bamba/Jackson/Batum for Bridges/Bruno/JJ NO 22 first, Orl 21 2nd, Kings 21 2nd?

Bryant/Anderson/Hero for Bridges/Knox/Dieng Cavs 20 1st, NO 22 first?

Who says no?




THE FUTURE!!?? 

That's obvious because this teams directional path to success is so clear. They could easily shed 30-40m in salary by next off season and their young core isn't going anywhere. The kids locked up, a stash of picks and anywhere from 30-50m space for this team when it matters with all their resources free to smash free agency?... about two thirds of the league are in dire straights salary wise and as soon as the cracks begin to show talent will be available at a low price and that's where Leeroy plans to make his mark. This is elite rebuilding at it's finest and outside of the sorcery laddas always summons rebuilding burning dumpster fires in 2 and a half weeks and a couple of other outliers over the years, I'd rate this as one of the best examples of how to fast track a rebuild.