Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cajunsmike
He has one of the elite defenders in the league with him in the backcourt now in Jrue Holiday. He will also have two pretty good defenders down low to help him out in Randle and Davis. Randle was the one guy on last year's Lakers team who played defense well. Elfrid will have lots of pressure on him to perform as the other four starters return and they added Randle.
Sure, I think he has the opportunity to improve as he is just 24 years old. But I've never heard of Elfrid being considered an elite defender in the NBA, that may the opinion of over enthusiastic fans ,he has never been mentioned in the Top 3 All-Defensive NBA teams.
Regardless, I look forward to him playing in New Orleans and having the opportunity to attend a few games this season.
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MetryCajun
The Pels will have a good competitive team, but elfrid for Rondo and Randall for Boogie does not make them better. What Boogie signed for is ridiculous and shows the NBA has a major problem on its hands. It is hard to make fans sit through a 82 game schedule and 4 playoff rounds when you already know who will be the last 4 teams standing.
As for Elfrid, this is now his make or break year. If he can consistently link up with Davis and improve his defense he can reestablish himself as a starting NBA point guard. If not, he will become a journeyman.
No doubt that the Pelicans improved after Boogie went down, both in quality of wins and percentage. No doubt losing Rondo is a negative.
The way the team is structured I’m thinking we’re better off with Randel vs Boogie. Still a healthy Boogie is the better player in a vacuum. I just think Davis deferred too much to Boogie.
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
CajunT
Sure, I think he has the opportunity to improve as he is just 24 years old. But I've never heard of Elfrid being considered an elite defender in the NBA, that may the opinion of over enthusiastic fans ,he has never been mentioned in the Top 3 All-Defensive NBA teams.
Regardless, I look forward to him playing in New Orleans and having the opportunity to attend a few games this season.
When I said the Pels had an elite defender at guard, I meant Holiday. Payton is nowhere near him as a player on either offense or defense and likely never will be.
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
raginsaints
That's bull____. The Pelicans and Boogie definitely had discussions on an offer. Just because they didn't sit down and lay down an offer doesn't mean there wasn't an offer. He got his feelings hurt because he didn't get a max contract offer and made an emotional decision to cut ties with the Pelicans. That's on him.
There were talks but that doesn't mean there was an offer. The Pelicans offered him a 2 year - $40 million dollar deal before the end of last season between when he ruptured his tendon but before the end of the season. He declined and they took it off the table. I truly don't know if anything was offered as the Pels knew that he had no real interest on the market and it may have ____ed him off that they weren't willing to come to the table again. Don't know. We won't know until the front office is able to discuss it when there is no moratorium.
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cajun_lannister
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Lost in all of this is Anthony Davis’ role in free agency.<br><br>Source w/ team said if AD wanted Cousins back, GM Demps would have listened.<br><br>Davis liked the style the Pels started to play without Cousins, and he also liked the environment in the locker room more with Boogie absent.</p>— Andrew Doak (@AndrewDoak_WWL) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewDoak_WWL/status/1014205391121584131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I agree with that. They moved the ball around much better once Rondo was on the point as the sole handler. Remember, before Cousins' injury, he would often take the ball up the floor and hold it in the half court. Guys like Rondo are almost useless in that situation as they are not great shooters. Rondo was playing about 20 minutes a game and was not a factor. Once Boogie got hurt, he ran the point and was the catalyst.
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cajunsmike
. Pelicans initially offered a lot more than that though it may have been informal. He changed his story from they never made an offer to they never made a serious offer. Apparently to him, anything less than the max was not a "serious" offer. Not enough attention has been paid to what Randle can bring in my view. Last year he 16 and 8 while playing in all 82 games. Right now they are better inside than the team that swept the Blazers. Point guard is a different matter. For the first time in his career, EP will have true pressure to perform. He never has played on a playoff team and was just playing out the year by late February. Elevation of his performance compared to past may be the key to another successful season.
As I stated above, the Pelicans offered him a 2 year, $40 million deal after the injury last year but before the end of the season. They wanted to commit and lock him up. He didn't take that offer and they pulled it off the table. This is fact. Over the past week, the Pelicans were not as willing to commit when they saw he had few real options and Julius Randle was going to be available as he fits the system better and is younger, although we may only have him one year again as his second year of his contract is a player option. Losing Rondo sucks, it would have been nice to have him start with Jrue and bring Payton off the bench.
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
zephyr
I agree with that. They moved the ball around much better once Rondo was on the point as the sole handler. Remember, before Cousins' injury, he would often take the ball up the floor and hold it in the half court. Guys like Rondo are almost useless in that situation as they are not great shooters. Rondo was playing about 20 minutes a game and was not a factor. Once Boogie got hurt, he ran the point and was the catalyst.
....Removed from the talent and strategy, I think it is a dream come true for EP.......can you imagine coming from a too young HS grad from NO to UL where nobody knew who the hell he was.....so he shows up as a possible starter for the hometown Pels....I know he had some Summer camps in NO, but I hope this helps UL!!!
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Cajunsmike
. Pelicans initially offered a lot more than that though it may have been informal. He changed his story from they never made an offer to they never made a serious offer. Apparently to him, anything less than the max was not a "serious" offer. Not enough attention has been paid to what Randle can bring in my view. Last year he 16 and 8 while playing in all 82 games. Right now they are better inside than the team that swept the Blazers. Point guard is a different matter. For the first time in his career, EP will have true pressure to perform. He never has played on a playoff team and was just playing out the year by late February. Elevation of his performance compared to past may be the key to another successful season.
Below is a link to just one of the many stories about the contract offer last year. Again, that was before the end of the season, not in free agency. Boogie had no real suitors a couple of weeks ago due to the nature of his injury and whether he would even play this year.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...contract-offer
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Boomer
....Removed from the talent and strategy, I think it is a dream come true for EP.......can you imagine coming from a too young HS grad from NO to UL where nobody knew who the hell he was.....so he shows up as a possible starter for the hometown Pels....I know he had some Summer camps in NO, but I hope this helps UL!!!
Its a great story Boomer only if he succeeds. Like Mike said, there is a certain pressure for him to perform this year. I hope he's up to the challenge.
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cjr3888
Payton
Holiday
Randle
Mirotic
Davis
Not a bad starting five. Just need some quality depth on the bench with a shooter and veteran point guard to mentor Elfrid.
That won't be the starting five. Randle is not a SF and Moore started there later last year with Holiday and Rondo. Randle will likely come off the bench to spell Mirotic. The Pelicans need backup guard play in the worst way. Starters wise, they can play with anybody in the league, where they along with other mid level teams struggle is with the quality of the bench play. Frank Jackson and the rookie from Penn State are not going to be the answer.
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MetryCajun
The Pels will have a good competitive team, but elfrid for Rondo and Randall for Boogie does not make them better. What Boogie signed for is ridiculous and shows the NBA has a major problem on its hands. It is hard to make fans sit through a 82 game schedule and 4 playoff rounds when you already know who will be the last 4 teams standing.
As for Elfrid, this is now his make or break year. If he can consistently link up with Davis and improve his defense he can reestablish himself as a starting NBA point guard. If not, he will become a journeyman.
What is the major problem for the NBA you speak of? Just curious. Boogie signed for nearly the league minimum and the Warriors are already in the luxury tax. They took a gamble when nobody else wanted to. Its a risky play on their part IMO. Boogie does not fit their system well at all and is a high usage player who wants the ball in his hands. A LOT. He would have to really sacrifice a lot of his game for the greater good and I'm not sure he's about that. This could be one of those one year rental experiments that doesn't pan out. Kind of like the Isiah Thomas thing.
Re: Elfrid Payton Heading to New Orleans
in addition to that, if boogie has a bounce year from the injury and proves he is still a player, the warriors can only resign him next year for less than 7 million per year, which boogie wont do at that point. so this is the closest thing to a lock to being a one year rental.
