Author Topic: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans  (Read 9352 times)

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Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #60 on: June 17, 2021, 03:57:05 PM »

Offline Ogaju

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If Zion was a stock, I would short the crap out of him.  He’s gonna get injured and then become a shell of his former self.

I realize at this point beggars can’t be choosers, but there’s a big list of young star players I’d take over Zion.  I definitely wouldn’t be itching to shove my chips in the middle of table with him unless it was my only choice

Yup....Kemba, TL, one first and a second. If they cry at that add Romeo.

Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #61 on: June 17, 2021, 04:00:26 PM »

Offline jbpats

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If Zion was a stock, I would short the crap out of him.  He’s gonna get injured and then become a shell of his former self.

I realize at this point beggars can’t be choosers, but there’s a big list of young star players I’d take over Zion.  I definitely wouldn’t be itching to shove my chips in the middle of table with him unless it was my only choice

Yup....Kemba, TL, one first and a second. If they cry at that add Romeo.

this is a joke, take what is arguably the worst contract in the NBA, a player who is ALWAYS hurt and another player who has missed the majority of their career due to injury for a rising star in the NBA. Do people forget Zion started the all star game this year, for the West?

Our argument, Zion will get hurt eventually, so take our stiffs who are already always hurt!

I'd guarantee that at least a dozen teams will come with better offers to Nola for Zion then Kemba, TL and an added bonus of Langford

Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #62 on: June 17, 2021, 04:32:07 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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That said, if young star players are going to start forcing their way out before their rookie deals are even up, the NBA is in a very precarious spot.

Why should small market teams feel that they will ever be able to obtain and hold onto young star players?

Does the NBA care? 

Easy to fix. Get rid of maximum contracts. Get rid of the draft. Get rid of rookie scale contracts. Keep the salary cap.

Players will follow the money. Talent will be better distributed throughout the league. Good for fans.

Good management will matter more so competence will be a bigger deciding factor in outcomes which is ideal.

And players have more freedom over choosing where they want to play which is ideal for them.

Fans no longer have to watch tanking teams because without the draft there is no upside to tanking. So teams are always competing and trying their best to win. Good for fans.

Okay for owners. More difficult in that you have to hire better front office personnel and hold them accountable to a better degree. But manageable. For all the benefits for players and fans? It is doable.


I assume the NBAPA would not go for this because it would inevitably place a ton of downward pressure on the average annual earnings of the vast majority of players.
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Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #63 on: June 17, 2021, 04:49:19 PM »

Online Birdman

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Sick of NFL, MLB & NBA players crying all the time bout everything..I trade places with any athletes making millions playing a sport
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Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #64 on: June 17, 2021, 04:53:04 PM »

Offline Who

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That said, if young star players are going to start forcing their way out before their rookie deals are even up, the NBA is in a very precarious spot.

Why should small market teams feel that they will ever be able to obtain and hold onto young star players?

Does the NBA care? 

Easy to fix. Get rid of maximum contracts. Get rid of the draft. Get rid of rookie scale contracts. Keep the salary cap.

Players will follow the money. Talent will be better distributed throughout the league. Good for fans.

Good management will matter more so competence will be a bigger deciding factor in outcomes which is ideal.

And players have more freedom over choosing where they want to play which is ideal for them.

Fans no longer have to watch tanking teams because without the draft there is no upside to tanking. So teams are always competing and trying their best to win. Good for fans.

Okay for owners. More difficult in that you have to hire better front office personnel and hold them accountable to a better degree. But manageable. For all the benefits for players and fans? It is doable.


I assume the NBAPA would not go for this because it would inevitably place a ton of downward pressure on the average annual earnings of the vast majority of players.

Yep. Socialism wins out.

Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #65 on: June 17, 2021, 04:57:15 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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They should sell that franchise and then move it.

That said, if young star players are going to start forcing their way out before their rookie deals are even up, the NBA is in a very precarious spot.

Why should small market teams feel that they will ever be able to obtain and hold onto young star players?

Does the NBA care? 

Is Silver's vision of the NBA a league where ~20 small market teams spend up to the 90% of the cap on middle of the road players and compete to win about half their games, while the other 8-10 teams in bigger markets horde all the stars and aim to win meaningful games in the post-season?

On top of that, Silver's goal long term is to expand the league internationally. How can you successfully do that when the mid and small market teams currently in the league can't even manage to compete?

Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #66 on: June 17, 2021, 05:06:01 PM »

Online Moranis

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  Zion is a 2nd year player, expecting them to really compete seems strange.
By compete, what I am looking for is along the lines of OKC's first playoff push.

In Durant's first two seasons, OKC was terrible. One of the five worst teams both years. They had amassed some great young talent (Durant, Jeff Green, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka) and now it was time to start moving forwards.

In the meantime, Durant had also transitioned from a young player who did not effect winning (one of the worst defenders in the league + shot selection and scoring efficiency needed to grow) into one who had a huge effect on winning. This happened in his 3rd year.

In New Orleans they do not have the exact same situation.

Firstly, Zion did not take 3 years to learn how to impact winning. He did that from day one. He turned NOP into a near .500 team (over 24 games) while on the court his rookie year despite being on a minutes restriction (only 27-28mpg).

Secondly, this team does not have quite the breadth of young talent that OKC has but it does have a lot. It has two elite young stars in Zion & Ingram (rather than 3) and some good young talent in Lonzo & Jaxson Hayes (vs J.Green, Ibaka) plus another good pick in 2020 draft to add to it. There is a clear foundation to be built upon.

This is not a team starting from scratch. It is already well along it's building stage similar to OKC in it's 3rd year. NOP is not ready to win a title or even to compete for one. But it is ready to compete for the playoffs. To start learning about how to win in pressure environments. To learn how hard they are going to have to work in order to win a title together.

And in order to become more attractive as an up-and-coming power in order to attract a 3rd star via free agency or a trade somewhere further down the line.
You don't really have this all that accurate and using weird things to support your position.  The Pelicans were 11-13 in Zion's 24 starts as a rookie, which was only slightly better than they were without him (46% vs. 40% win percentage).  He just isn't ready to win.  He is a terrible defender, much like Durant.  He has no offensive range and limited offensive skills.  He is an ok rebounder and passer, but far from polished or elite.  His basketball IQ at this point is almost non existent.  Zion is a beast in the paint, but he is no where near a guy ready to compete as the lead dog on a competitive team.  He is 20 years old and in year 2.  He shouldn't be, but putting these sort of unrealistic expectations on him and the team has led you down this weird path. 
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Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #67 on: June 17, 2021, 05:06:15 PM »

Offline 86MaxwellSmart

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Their first blunder was naming the team The Pelicans...SMH not a cool name.
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Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #68 on: June 17, 2021, 05:14:18 PM »

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Their first blunder was naming the team The Pelicans...SMH not a cool name.
I know! Probably worst name in sports
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Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #69 on: June 17, 2021, 05:17:57 PM »

Offline Ogaju

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If Zion was a stock, I would short the crap out of him.  He’s gonna get injured and then become a shell of his former self.

I realize at this point beggars can’t be choosers, but there’s a big list of young star players I’d take over Zion.  I definitely wouldn’t be itching to shove my chips in the middle of table with him unless it was my only choice

Yup....Kemba, TL, one first and a second. If they cry at that add Romeo.

this is a joke, take what is arguably the worst contract in the NBA, a player who is ALWAYS hurt and another player who has missed the majority of their career due to injury for a rising star in the NBA. Do people forget Zion started the all star game this year, for the West?

Our argument, Zion will get hurt eventually, so take our stiffs who are already always hurt!

I'd guarantee that at least a dozen teams will come with better offers to Nola for Zion then Kemba, TL and an added bonus of Langford

they can have him.

Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #70 on: June 17, 2021, 05:52:07 PM »

Offline ETNCeltics

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NO should hold the line.

If NO loses him, where do they go? How can they sell fans on anything? They can't hold onto AD, can't hold onto Zion, what's the point in having a franchise there?

The league's going to have to address this in the years to come. Fans are going to eventually stop supporting franchises that have no chance to compete.

Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #71 on: June 17, 2021, 06:29:09 PM »

Offline Who

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NO should hold the line.

If NO loses him, where do they go? How can they sell fans on anything? They can't hold onto AD, can't hold onto Zion, what's the point in having a franchise there?

The league's going to have to address this in the years to come. Fans are going to eventually stop supporting franchises that have no chance to compete.

Not just Anthony Davis. Chris Paul too. Both cases of long term mismanagement (aka avoidable).

It would heartbreaking to see a 3rd franchise player level talent in Zion force his way out.

I don't think they are there yet but they are on a bad track and if they do not get off this track soon, this is exactly where they will end up. And it will come down to two factors (1) mismanagement by GM (2) ownership failure to hold GM accountable (fire & replace him).

Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #72 on: June 17, 2021, 06:37:15 PM »

Offline Ed Monix

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Their first blunder was naming the team The Pelicans...SMH not a cool name.

It is physically upsetting when I read ‘The New Orleans Pelicans’ while in conservative white Utah, their basketball team are called ‘The Jazz’.

If I were the Benson’s I’d have changed the name to ‘The Saints’ as they also own the NFL team. You could also package ticket sales to encourage supporters towards the NBA team.
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Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #73 on: June 17, 2021, 06:37:55 PM »

Offline W8ting2McHale

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NO should hold the line.

If NO loses him, where do they go? How can they sell fans on anything? They can't hold onto AD, can't hold onto Zion, what's the point in having a franchise there?

The league's going to have to address this in the years to come. Fans are going to eventually stop supporting franchises that have no chance to compete.

This, and I don’t think New Orleans is any Mecca for the players. Ingram and Ball weren’t thrilled with leaving LA, and the rest that were traded there came from other small markets like Oklahoma City. Not a lot of big names looking to sign as free agents there.

New Orleans might be a step above OK City, but the “night life” is strictly tourist generated and “the music scene” is a product of that too. It is certainly not Miami, NYC, or LA in that regard, I would probably rate it alongside Cleveland and Memphis and not any higher. It is built on a humid, sweaty swamp and has huge districts wallowing in poverty.

Aside from that; get rid of the draft and let the players sign where they want? Like the NCAA? I guess Brad would have an advantage there as GM, but I think that’s a terrible idea.

Imagine if you will (despite the pleas not to consider big vs small market teams) what is going to happen. LA is a basketball icon to this generation. 17 championships. Miami and NY have their own draws of bright lights, or beaches, or low taxes, or big endorsement deals. If you want to see what that will look like; imagine Alabama and The Ohio State University, and every now and then a Clemson or Oklahoma gets to join the party. Boston might sniff the VIP area once a decade.

Finally, is this coming from Zion? Or just his family? Is this like Minkah Fitzpatrick‘s mom getting him traded out of Miami a couple of years ago, or like AD’s dad seeing LA beaches in his future?

Re: Zion's Family Wants him Out of New Orleans
« Reply #74 on: June 17, 2021, 06:40:42 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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Their first blunder was naming the team The Pelicans...SMH not a cool name.

It still physically upsets me when I see the ‘New Orleans Pelicans’ and Utah are called ‘The Jazz’.

If I were the Benson’s I’d have changed the name to ‘The Saints’ as they also own the NFL team. You could also package ticket sales to encourage supporters towards the NBA team.

They should go with the New Orleans Vampires. The marketing potential would be great!