New Orleans Pelicans
"Alvin Gentry can bounce back to a degree. Last year they had to play so many players that aren't even close to NBA-caliber offensive players. The offense will not be as shitty. Just flat-out, they had way, way too many guys who were not even close to good enough. It'll be a lot better this year. I don't know if it'll be to the level people want, but it'll be a lot better. ... They have Jrue Holiday, but he's going to miss some time. So Tim Frazier's their starting point guard at the start of the year. I love Timmy, he'll play OK. But not ideal when your starting point guard is a backup. ... At the two guard, Tyreke Evans. Is he hurt again? Google that before you write the previews. I think he might be hurt again. [But] Tyreke's solid. If they can find enough other guys who can shoot to put out there with him, he could be decent anchoring the second unit. ... Buddy Hield can shoot, don't think he's going to be all that good of an NBA player. If they expect him to create for other people, or be really hard to guard, or impact the game defensively, I don't see that coming. But Eric Gordon made a lot of shots for them last year, and they needed someone to do that. Buddy is a very good spot-up shooter, he's decent shooter off some movement. But if people are expecting him to be an All-Star type guy, that's not realistic. ... At the 3, Quincy Pondexter I think is still injured too, so that's not good. ... They signed Solomon Hill, and he's an OK player. He's sort of a poor man's Jae Crowder, but with kind of a bad attitude. But he's OK. ... They signed Lance Stephenson also, so he's in this weird two-three mix. Lance is sort of like Tyreke Evans in a lot of ways. If I'm them, I'm a little worried about the mixture I'm concocting there, but that’s their call. ... Man, what Lance Stephenson, Tyreke Evans, and Solomon Hill are going to be getting up to in the evenings in New Orleans. ... Anthony Davis is going to play better, and, I don't know. They still have Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca, I guess? That's not good. ... I worry about Anthony Davis' body, what he's doing to take care of his body. He doesn't look like he's in a shape a lot of times, and then he's hurt a lot. It's concerning. But the guy can shoot, he's athletic, he's long. He oughta have a bounce back year. ... But I don't really like the team around him. Who else did they sign? E'Tuan Moore? Terrence Jones, Kendrick Perkins. ... You can put Terrence Jones in the interesting evening activities club ... Yeah, E'Tuan Moore's OK, Solomon Hill's OK, they have more OK NBA players than they did last year. Quincy Pondexter will be OK if he plays ... I don't really think they've concocted a recipe for great success, but they could push .500 with good health. ... In the West it's going to go Warriors, Spurs, Clippers. Thunder, Trail Blazers, the Jazz, will be in competition for the 4-seed. ... New Orleans can be competitive with Dallas and Memphis for the eighth seed, they'll be right there."
