Kiwi Steve in the NBA #5: Trade Deadline Bonanza (But Not Really)
The trade deadline came and the trade deadline went. Months of speculation were brought to a conclusion. How would the New Orleans Pelicans add to and complement their young core? What moves could be in store to launch this 19-24 team into playoff contention? Would they find another bench scorer? Would there be some kind of fundamental re-jig to what Stan Van Gundy’s trying to achieve? Yeah nah...
That underpowered WojBomb didn’t land until about the last half hour of the trade window so it doesn’t mean they didn’t try to move him, or weren’t open to offers. Probably means the exact opposite of that. But they must not have gotten the worth that they expected/hoped for Lonzo Ball and, that being the case, with the dude playing really well at the moment for a young team that’ll benefit from continuity... might as well hang about. Sometimes no trade is the best trade.
Whether this time counts as sometimes is one we might not be able to decide until next season though. Lonzo Ball is in the last year of his rookie contract. He’s come on strong after a poor start since SVG started using him more off the ball. Lonzo’s done heaps of work on his shot and that’s paying off big time as he’s shot 42.4% from deep across his last 25 games. Whilst still averaging 6 assists and 4.5 rebounds and he’s a really good defender too, maybe the best defender in the Pelicans’ starting line-up (considering that Adams is not the most versatile). Absolutely no doubt that there were teams out there interested in him as well -the Knicks, Bulls, and Heat have all been mentioned plenty.
But ultimately no deal was forthcoming so Lonzo Ball will finish the season with the Pelicans and become a restricted free agent after that. Which means that the Pels can match whatever offers he ends up with but considering those offers are likely to be at least $20m per season (which is what he’s reportedly gonna demand)... a team that just gave Brandon Ingram a max extension and with Zion Williamson gonna need one of those himself in a couple years might feel like those numbers are difficult balance. Then again, he’s playing great basketball right now and you can always make the numbers work further down the line. Hmm, decisions decisions decisions.
Here’s the playbook for New Orleans:
Trade Lonzo Ball before the deadline (whoops, too late)
Sign-and-trade Lonzo Ball in the offseason
Re-sign/match any restricted offers for Lonzo Ball
Allow Lonzo Ball to leave in restricted free agency
Lonzo Ball’s father – the esteemed LaVar Ball – absolutely ripped on the idea of Lonzo staying in New Orleans recently. He basically said that Lonzo hates it there and that they’re using him completely wrong. The first bit is probably untrue. That’s just LaVar being a wild one, the dude plays it up for the cameras as we all well know. The second bit is partly true. As nice as he’s done in that 3&D role it’s a big change from the vision of the Lonzo Ball that was drafted second overall by the LA Lakers a few years back and it does feel like a waste of his potential not letting him handle the ball more often. But it’s only a waste of his potential. It’s undoubtedly the right call for the Pelicans - they’ve been much better with Power Point Zion and Lonzo chilling on the wings. Conclusion being that maybe Lonzo’s not the ideal fit for this team?
However he’s a pretty bloody decent one so as long as he’s happy to stick with this particular role in the offence. No dramas from a Pelicans perspective, who still control Ball’s fate as an RFA (plus they can offer him a five year deal when other teams can only offer him four... though doubt that’s preferred by either side of the bargaining table).
Sometimes people treat the NBA trade market like too much of an economic thing where it’s all about trading for positive value and assets. From that point of view it’s a no-brainer that they needed to trade him if there was any doubt about signing him long-term (which there clearly has been whether that’s what ends up happening or not), if only so that ‘they don’t let him got for nothing’. But assets are usually more valuable in theory than they are in practice and this way the Pels will at the very least still get 2-3 more months of good basketball from him. That’s not nothing.
If the offers coming back their way were only mid/late draft picks or players they don’t want then what’s the point? These things don’t always make sense in the way that NBA bloggers/tweeters like to think. If Lonzo/draft picks could be packaged into a trade for a star player then that’s one thing but the Pels already have a star player. And they already have the guy they hope will be his deputy too. That’s the hard part of team building. The types of players they need to make this work around Williamson/Ingram are veteran leaders and role players and spot shooters and those guys aren’t nearly as hard to acquire. They didn’t have to scrap too hard to get Steven Adams, did they? Free agency might just do the rest and you don’t need so-called assets for that.
Some of that chat is devil’s advocacy, to be honest. Time will tell what actually happens. At this stage it’s starting to feel a lot like we’re trending towards a situation which might be the worst of the lot where Lonzo Ball re-signs for way too much money and New Orleans are trapped with a roster that doesn’t quite work. Although the NBA has proven time and time again in recent years that no contract is untradeable, despite what anyone says. Whatever happens with Lonzo Ball, it’s gonna be a crucial and fascinating offseason for GM David Griffin and these Pelicans.
However they did make one trade this deadline day...
The deal there is that JJ Redick and Nicolo Melli head to Dallas in exchange for James Johnson, Wes Iwundu, and a second-round pick, plus a little bit of cash for a sweetener. Redick had been rumoured with a trade as much if not more than Lonzo. There were even ‘sources say’s about JJ wanting to return home to the east coast. Well, he’s ended up in Texas... which as far as the Pellies go is way better than the buyout that it was looking likely would happen otherwise. Plus they also get loose of Melli after he’d fallen beneath Jaxson Hayes in the big man standings, with Willy Hernangomez arguably also up there ahead of him.
Redick is the one who it sucks to lose. After his early shooting slump he’d responded beautifully to shoot 46.4% from three over his last fifteen games as a Pelican plus his pick and roll with Zion Williamson was pure disaster for any team that tried to defend it. The Pellies will have to find a way forward without the best shooter on their bench... but Redick had already missed a fair few games this season. A cheeky injury at the start of March proved a handy excuse to keep him inactive for the last eight games (he’d missed another four before that) so count that together with his early slump and they’re used to playing without him. This won’t be a shock to the system or a rattle to the gameplan. It was always accepted that he’d be leaving sooner rather than later. JJ has done his bit. Now it’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kira Lewis’ time.
In return the Pels pick up James Johnson, whose expiring veteran salary balances nicely with Redick’s and Melli’s – though without Melli’s inclusion, Johnson’s contract would have sent NOP into the luxury tax. Johnson was traded for by the Mavs to bring some defensive steel to their defence and the power forward has done okay in limited minutes. But Redick offers them way more with his shooting. Johnson is a tough one to envision opportunities for in New Orleans – and no sooner does the trade window close than the buyout market emerges – but NOP do have a similar need for defensive enforcers as the Mavs and Johnson can more than do a job at this stage of his career. Sweet as. Just a matter of finding a spot for him in a team that does not play with a traditional power forward.
Plus they also pick up Wes Iwundu who could be a really valuable squad member as a 26 year old wing who also plays good defence, an athletic player with room to improve in the right situation. Been terrible as a shooter for Dallas but he was much better back in Orlando. And he’s cheap. Under contract for next season but for less than two mill. That’s pretty important given they’ve got a rather expensive decision on the cards for Lonzo Ball coming up thanks to recent happenings. Oh yeah and they got that second round pick so that’s nice. Good for them.
Break Does Ya Good
It’s no secret that Steven Adams was struggling before the All Star break, a pesky ankle injury affecting his mobility (particularly on short recovery turnarounds) and keeping him from being the force that he’s capable of being. Safe to say he’s been a lot better since. Bit of time to heal, bit of time to gaze upon the wide open sky and reflect, and there ya go.
Steven Adams since the All Star Break:
7 GP | 27.3 MIN | 8.3 PTS (71.4 FG%, 57.1 FT%) | 10.3 REB (4.0 OFF) | 1.6 AST | +4.9 +/-
Steven Adams in the seven games prior to ASG:
7 GP | 23.9 MIN | 7.1 PTS (68.8 FG%, 35.3 FT%) | 8.3 REB (2.6 OFF) | 1.6 AST | -4.4 +/-
It’s nothing drastic and there are still blatant gaps in his performances. His hands just haven’t been very good this season, way too much fumbling for passes that end up out of play, but he looks so much healthier now. He’s not running through the mud. Moving smoothly and doing the job he’s there to do... which isn’t to score heaps of points and it’s not necessarily even to play huge minutes. There will be games where he’s benched in the fourth quarter because of reasons beyond his control – Steven Adams is a certain type of player and maybe that doesn’t always provide the ideal match-up in crunch time. But the minutes he does play are important minutes and when he’s been fit and healthy this season he’s made players around him better. That’s exactly what Stan Van Gundy is trying to see.
The Steven Adams Experience
Two things that are pretty characteristic of the fella to highlight right here. One is that along with various other specialities of his, such as screen assists and offensive rebound percentage and hair prominence and use of the word ‘mate’, Steven Adams is also right up there in the NBA stat books for politely debating calls with referees. Might even lead the league in it. Not so much that he’s arguing or complaining... he just has this habit of explaining himself to the ref and then trying to get an explanation back as to why it was called one way or the other.
Gotta imagine that refs must appreciate the level-headedness. Obviously players are going to respond in the heat of the moment sometimes but Adams gets away with pressing them like he does because it’s done respectfully and calmly. Like, this is my version of events now what’s yours? There’s also a school of thought sometimes that referees, being only human after all, might be influenced in some small way by that approach. You’re never going to convince them to change their minds but maybe the next rebound under the basket will come with more leniency afterwards, you never know. Probably not. From Adams’ perspective you’d imagine it’s more about trying to get an understanding of the call so that he himself can make adjustments mid-game.
Then the other thing is that next time you watch a Pelicans game, make sure to focus on Steven Adams for the second free throw of any set. The first one there’s no rebound to be had so everybody sorta hangs around like shoplifters trying to look like they’ve got innocent empty pockets. The second one however, that ball is live if it’s missed and Adams has a tendency to get sneaky with how he attacks them. There’s the ol’ bodyweight trick that he tries quite often where he gets his marker leaning in with force then steps out of the way and pushes past them on the outside. Then there’s also his Pest moves. Like leaning his forehead against a dude, maybe wiping a little sweat on him that way, or just generally being annoying. He’s got a few different tactics in his locker and it’s always worth watching how he goes about his business in that way. Good for a laugh or two.
The Boys
(Steve-o actually said in an interview earlier in the season that Willy Hernangomez (pronounced “Billy”) is probably his best mate on the team. The International Big Man Union, surely... to which Rudy Gobert is not invited since he hates anyone who was drafted ahead of him. But Hernangomez is a former teammate of mutual compadre Enes Kanter so there you go).
BOX SCORES
vs MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (L 135-105):
29 MIN | 13 PTS (6/10 FG, 1/2 FT) | 12 REB (5 OFF) | 1 STL | 1 TO | 1 PF
vs CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (W 116-82):
21 MIN | 10 PTS (5/5 FG) | 17 REB (3 OFF) | 2 AST | 3 TO | 1 PF
vs LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS (W 135-115):
20 MIN | 9 PTS (3/3 FG, 3/4 FT) | 8 REB (1 OFF) | 2 AST | 2 STL | 1 TO | 1 PF
at PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (L 125-124):
25 MIN | 4 PTS (2/4 FG) | 5 REB (4 OFF) | 2 AST | 1 STL | 2 TO | 4 PF
at PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (L 101-93):
35 MIN | 6 PTS (2/3 FG, 2/2 FT) | 10 REB (5 OFF) | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 TO | 5 PF
at DENVER NUGGETS (W 113-108):
36 MIN | 4 PTS (1/4 FG, 2/6 FT) | 13 REB (7 OFF) | 3 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK | 3 TO | 2 PF
vs LOS ANGELES LAKERS (W 128-111):
26 MIN | 12 PTS (6/6 FG) | 7 REB (1 OFF) | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 3 PF
SLAM DUNKS
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