AD wants out in NOLA

[CajunRebel]

Their best season isn’t good. I watch a lotta games and the best seats those along the sidelines up rarely have 75% occupancy. CMike had commented about her reluctance to sell due to her love of basketball. My comment are about a woman who in business was bouncing checks.

I’m saying that the Pelicans cannot indefinitely not put a winning product together. Winning isn’t putting together an occasional playoff spot. They’ve got to be a force. The Mrs. Benson doesn’t need the Pelicans to retain all the goodies from the Saints deal.

The Pels aren’t losing money. Revenue sharing keeps them in the black. They aren’t going anywhere.

[CajunEXPRESS]

The Pels aren't losing money. Revenue sharing keeps them in the black. They aren't going anywhere.

Excuse me, but I don’t recall the sharing changing since Benson took over. The previous owner was losing double digit millions. Granted he was a terrible owner and maybe he was mostly at fault.

We have no factual knowledge of the profit they’re making or not. But the actual fans in the stadium aren’t overcoming double digit millions loses.

I’m hopeful that I’m wrong and they’re here forever. I’m just not sold on their financial strength.

[GeauxLouisiana]

Excuse me, but I don't recall the sharing changing since Benson took over. The previous owner was losing double digit millions. Granted he was a terrible owner and maybe he was mostly at fault.

We have no factual knowledge of the profit they're making or not. But the actual fans in the stadium aren't overcoming double digit millions loses.

I'm hopeful that I'm wrong and they're here forever. I'm just not sold on their financial strength.

So we have no factual knowledge of the profit they are making or not. But you know that the previous owner was losing double digit millions?

This report from espn says the Pels lost money before revenue sharing, but are in the black after receiving their share.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...eason-now-what

[zephyr]

Pels need to work a deal with the Celtics pronto. Put the deal in place, make it happen after the date that enables the Celtics to keep Kyrie and sign AD.

Heyward or Tatum plus 4 first round draft picks. Make it happen. Obviously Tatum would be the clear choice, but Heyward and 4 picks will be good enough as well.

Tatum is not on the table and we're not going to get 4 draft picks with him even if he were. They will wait until July to make any moves unless someone comes out of the woodwork and offers something that is too good to pass up.

[zephyr]

Their best season isn’t good. I watch a lotta games and the best seats those along the sidelines up rarely have 75% occupancy. CMike had commented about her reluctance to sell due to her love of basketball. My comment are about a woman who in business was bouncing checks.

I’m saying that the Pelicans cannot indefinitely not put a winning product together. Winning isn’t putting together an occasional playoff spot. They’ve got to be a force. The Mrs. Benson doesn’t need the Pelicans to retain all the goodies from the Saints deal.

I think you are wrong about the attendance. I attend games fairly frequently and the stadium is much more filled than you think. The pelicans are 12th leaguewide in attendance this year and average 93% occupancy in those games.

[zephyr]

I don't buy that when they are healthy, they are better than most teams ahead of them. Which body of work gives you this belief? They have a roster of miss matched pieces that don't fit together well. During the playoff run last year, once Cousins went down they had Mirotac, Davis and Holiday that played well as a core, played the most minutes and scored for them. They've lost Cousins that didn't play during that stretch, added Peyton and Randle they haven't played close to that level. Yes injuries have been part of the problem, but there is no talent or depth on the bench. The model of building around 1 superstar player is now failed twice with Chris Paul and Davis. Time to change the way they have built and rebuild this franchise.

Davis is their most valuable piece, a legitimate Top 5 or 7 player in the NBA today. His is under contract until next summer, so there is no need to trade him before the deadline. You can trade him this summer or put a package around him during the draft. I would like to see this franchise build around a core of good young players and build a team around them, instead of building a team around one super star. Between Boston and LA, there is enough young pieces and draft picks to do exactly that, build around a group of young players like Tatum, Brown, Ingram, Ball, Kuzma and draft picks. They would be exiting to watch and could be very competitive with the right group of veterans very quickly. And they could manage the salary line much easier. JMO

With their full roster they are 13-5. I'm not talking about the top teams in the conference. I'm speaking of teams like the Clippers, Spurs, Mavericks, Jazz etc..

[zephyr]

Boston is not giving as much as the Pels are asking. Pels wont win through the draft. Again, we had a generational talent that walks after 6 years because management refused to or was inept enough to put enough pieces around him to compete. Buy 1-2 year contracts and win now.

I disagree. I think we have to do it like the Warriors did. They are a small market team that had little attractiveness before Steph and Klay got there. They were smart in the draft and they obviously hit it big with those guys. You are right that the Pels have been inept in getting good free agents to come to town and they've failed in the draft outside of Davis. Solomon Hill is getting paid roughly $15 million to be a situational player. Bad move. They kept Asik way too long with a big price tag before dumping him for nothing. They have still not been able to fill the void at the wing position which they've lacked big time since Trevor Ariza left. They've drafted guys like Diallo, Frank Jackson, Hield ( Not bad but gave him up for a one year player in Cousins) when they could have made better choices. I agree that the front office has been a joke and they are cap heavy at the top of their roster and have not made the moves for younger players who could make an impact but the bottomline is that you are seeing it firsthand that the bigger free agents just don't want to come to NO, even with Davis around. I think the draft is where we need to make an impact but the problem is that we don't have a lot of great pics right now due to previous trades. Its a tough situation.

[Turbine]

The Pels aren’t losing money. Revenue sharing keeps them in the black. They aren’t going anywhere.

Last week Freakonomics published a Mark Cuban interview in which he unspecifically said teams across the league can and do lose money.

[KajunKrazy]

Just saw the title of this thread and thought Tulane or UNOs athletics director wanted to leave. I quit following the NBA in the 90s. The NBA was so much better to watch back in the 80s.

[CajunVic]

Just saw the title of this thread and thought Tulane or UNOs athletics director wanted to leave. I quit following the NBA in the 90s. The NBA was so much better to watch back in the 80s.

Starting to be a common thread with you.