New Orleans will enter the upcoming regular season with 10 players who filled substantial roles for their NBA teams in 2018-19, a group that obviously doesn’t even include the Pelicans’ three first-round picks, all drafted in the top 20. That means that even before factoring international forward Nicolo Melli into the conversation, on paper the total number of New Orleans players competing for minutes is over a dozen.
That extreme roster depth might make it more difficult for NBA analysts to predict an exact Pelicans rotation than anywhere else in the league, but fifth-year head coach Alvin Gentry and his staff will use the next two-plus weeks to determine the best lineups and combinations. New Orleans opens the regular season Oct. 22 in Toronto on TNT.
“Those kinds of things always work themselves out,” Gentry said of the rotation. “Obviously you can’t play 14 or 15 guys. It’s hard to play even 10. But somewhere along the line we’ll get it figured out. It seems to kind of work itself out anyway.”
Depth was a concern early in ’18-19 for New Orleans, but that was before injuries forced several players into larger than expected roles, resulting in a few late-season, silver-lining bright spots, such as rookie guard Frank Jackson (1,169 minutes played), Kenrich Williams (1,079) and Jahlil Okafor (935). All three players are back on the Pelicans’ roster, as are Jrue Holiday (team-high 2,402) and E’Twaun Moore (1,463). Meanwhile, the trade with the Los Angeles Lakers yielded the trio of Brandon Ingram (1,760), Josh Hart (1,715) and Lonzo Ball (1,423). Acquired in a trade from Utah, Derrick Favors logged nearly exactly the same minutes as Ingram at 1,766, a number expected to increase as Favors moves to starting center for the Pelicans. Free-agent pickup JJ Redick nearly duplicated Holiday’s workload, accumulating 2,379 minutes with Philadelphia.
“It’s going to be tough,” Williams said of narrowing down the rotation. “But we’ve got a bunch of selfless guys on this team, who don’t really care (about minutes). All we want to do is win.”
Other notes from Thursday’s Day 3 of training camp:
As he walked up to the media to be interviewed after practice, Melli smiled and joked with reporters, “Thanks. Thanks for posting that video (of Zion Williamson dunking over him Wednesday, a clip that seemed to be shown everywhere). My friends texted me immediately (to rib Melli).” …
Asked what it’s like to have to defend against the 6-foot-7, 285-pound Williamson, who has quick feet, can jump and is very strong with the ball, Melli responded, “I would say challenging. You have to play a little bit smarter than the (play) yesterday (that led to Williamson’s dunk). At 19 years old, it’s unbelievable how he can control his body, how big he is, how fast he can run, how high he can jump. It’s challenging for me.” …
One of Melli’s objectives in the reserve unit will be to bring other strengths and traits to the court than what Williamson provides. “Trying to be the backup of Zion, I need to play differently than him,” Melli said. “He’s somebody who attacks more in the paint and is more athletic (than me). I need to do something different, just open the court, link the team and play smart.” …
Asked about how he’s using training camp to learn about a roster full of new teammates, Melli pointed out that he is familiar with some Pelicans from watching them on TV. However, “It’s one thing to see them on the screen; it’s another to play with them. So every day I try to add one piece (of understanding tendencies).” …
Gentry on one of New Orleans’ defensive goals this season: “We need to be into the ball more. We were reacting to the offense more last year. We want to force them to react to us. We are really emphasizing pressure on the ball, just being active on the wings and in the post, where you don’t just let the ball come into (the low block and paint).”
