New Orleans Pelicans: 2016 Offseason Grades

Overall

Heading into the summer, the New Orleans Pelicans really needed to trade Tyreke Evans, pawn off Omer Asik on someone and let Eric Gordon leave in free agency. Perhaps those first two were never realistic possibilities, but the front office’s inability to put a superior supporting cast around their franchise player stands out all the same.

With Evans constantly banged up and Asik’s contract being an albatross in the wake of his all-time low value, it may be awhile before the Pellies are able to move into an era where the Brow is the best player on a surefire playoff team, let alone a championship-caliber contender.

I mean, just take a look at what he’ll have to work with in 2016-17:

On the one hand, you could look at that projected depth chart and notice there’s a better balance to it. New Orleans lost two of their best three-point shooters in Gordon and Ryan Anderson this summer, but they also added youth, defense, some perimeter shooting and depth to replace them.

The only problem is New Orleans’ entire roster outside of Anthony Davis is made up of a bunch of Alonzo Gees: players who have the base skill set and are young enough to believe in, but for whatever reason, wind up topping out as below-average rotation players in this league.

Think about it: Would anyone be surprised to see Solomon Hill only put up marginally improved numbers as a starter? Would anyone be shocked if E’Twaun Moore is unable to step out of his shell and become more than a third-string point guard? You could ask the same of Galloway, Frazier and T-Jones too.

The worst part is, if these players don’t work out in a worst-case scenario, the length of some of their contracts could become a problem, even if they’re far more movable than Asik’s nightmare deal. None of these individual deals were bad, per se, but as a whole, they’re a bit underwhelming.

The Pelicans really had a glass half-empty, glass half-full kind of summer. If you believe Hill’s playoff success is sustainable, if you believe Moore is due for a breakout year in an expanded role, and if you believe Jones can stay healthy and have a resurgent season, then New Orleans probably feels like a playoff threat.

But most of the Pelicans’ summer consisted of gathering players who have room to grow in theory, but could just as easily fail to do so as a mismatched bunch trying to all take on expanded roles at the same time.

More hoops habit: Houston Rockets: 2016 Offseason Grades

For a franchise that needs to be doing everything in its power to assemble a contender around a once-in-a-lifetime player like Davis, signing players like Hill and Moore to four-year deals isn’t exactly getting the job done.

Grade: C-