
2. The team’s depth from 1-3 is paper-thin
With Rajon Rondo now a Laker, the only true point guard on the roster is Elfrid Payton. This is the same Elfrid Payton who is now on his third team in the past 12 months, cast aside after posting a -4.0 net rating with the Orlando Magic and an admittedly unreliable (since Phoenix was tanking) but still completely dismal -11.6 net rating with the Phoenix Suns.
Jrue Holiday excelled last year playing alongside Rajon Rondo, and this year Holiday will likely start at shooting guard alongside Payton, filling in for him at point guard when their minutes are staggered.
Beyond those two, the Pelicans can ride E’Twaun Moore and Darius Miller for big minutes, play 35-year-old Jarrett Jack or the unproven Frank Jackson (who is not a natural point guard and had trouble creating for others during his lone season at Duke), or hope Ian Clark can build on a moderately successful 2017-18 and handle more than the 19.7 minutes per game he logged. (The less said about Solomon Hill, the better.)
Now that the signings are official, let's look at the Pelicans depth chart in GIF form.
— The Bird Writes (@thebirdwrites) July 9, 2018
Replacing Rondo with Payton, who somehow is an even bigger negative on defense and who can’t shoot 3s OR free throws (Payton has never shot 70 percent from the foul line in his career), doesn’t help the team much either, barring massive and unexpected improvement from the fifth-year point guard.
This team is devoid of playmakers, and for as passable as Moore and Miller were playing alongside Anthony Davis last year, they are not going to get it done against upper-echelon teams. The Pelicans’ main need this offseason was a capable wing, and they did not address that at all.
Now the team will reap what it sowed, trotting out only four proven rotation players and a bunch of question marks on how they’ll fill 48 minutes at point guard, shooting guard and small forward.