During a post-trade press conference Friday morning, David Griffin listed some of the bottom-line rankings that paint an accurate picture of the New Orleans Pelicans’ 2020-21 performance so far.
“We’re 13th-best in the league in scoring differential, eighth-best in the West,” Griffin said. “We’ve got the seventh-best offense in the league, but unfortunately the 28th defense.”
It would not require James Naismith, Red Auerbach or any other basketball sage to pinpoint where the Pelicans (19-24) must improve over their remaining 29 games of this regular season and beyond. Inconsistency on defense has resulted in peaks and valleys throughout the campaign, pushing them out of the current top 10 of the Western Conference standings.
With that in mind, Griffin acquired two defensive-minded veterans prior to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, adding James Johnson, 34, and Wes Iwundu, 26, in a trade with Dallas. JJ Redick and Nicolo Melli were sent to the Mavericks in the deal.
“What we were very happy to do was add two guys to our roster that are extremely competitive, defensive-oriented players,” Griffin said of Johnson and Iwundu. “I mentioned that we are 28th on the season defensively, and while we have turned the corner a little bit, (ranking) eighth in the last six games, it’s certainly not something where we believe we have anywhere near enough grit and edge on that side of the court. Both of these guys have that. Wes in the form of a very young, developing kid himself, who is far from a finished product. And James Johnson, who has proven over the breadth of his career that he can guard multiple positions, having actually defended threes, fours, fives. He is offensively a very capable player as well. So we’re excited about what he may be able to offer the rotation.”
Other notes from this morning:
Griffin on Redick and Melli: “We traded two players that we love as human beings. We had a very rich and full experience with them. We enjoyed JJ a great deal on a human level. I for one will continue to listen to (Redick’s) podcast. Putting him in a highly competitive and contending environment was very important for us. Nicolo was in a situation where he’s going to be well-embraced by his team. We felt like because they were not currently rotation pieces for us, we needed to do what we could to improve on the defensive side of the ball.” …
Lonzo Ball was downgraded to doubtful this morning on the team’s injury report. Johnson and Iwundu are listed as out, due to not being with the team yet. …
Brandon Ingram on the Johnson addition: “He brings some toughness to the team. Also spreading the floor and being able to knock down the three ball and being able to cause some mismatches. He’s able to guard a lot of positions, so he brings a lot of versatility. Of course he’s been in the league for a while now, so he brings some veteran leadership that we need to push forward our young guys.” …
Ingram has matched up against Iwundu at small forward in various games over the past four seasons. He said of Iwundu, “I know he’s a really good defender on the wing. And he can definitely spread the floor, knock down the mid-range too. Of course, we need some help off the bench, even in our starting lineup, at the defensive end. He’ll help bring our defense together. He’s going to be another athletic wing we have that can go in transition and get buckets.”
DENVER SCOUTING REPORT
Offensive efficiency rank: 5 (116.5)
Defensive efficiency rank: 17 (111.9)
Net rating: 6 (+4.6)
Streak: Lost 1
Go-to guy: Nikola Jokic is not only Denver’s best player and leading scorer (27.0 ppg), but he’s also moved into frontrunner status as league MVP, with NBA.com’s weekly ladder placing him in the No. 1 slot a week ago. He is putting up numbers not produced by a center in a long time, averaging 11.3 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 1.6 steals, combined with mile-high efficiency, at 57 percent from the field, 42 percent on threes and 87 percent on free throws. His passing ability makes the Nuggets a constant threat to generate easy baskets on cuts to the rim.
On the rise: Michael Porter Jr. has been on a tear in recent weeks, improving his numbers across the board in eight games played since the All-Star break. The explosive forward averaged 14.6 points and 7.0 rebounds prior to the midseason hiatus, but is at 20.6 and 8.5 in those categories since March 12. The 22-year-old Missouri product has scored at least 17 points in nine straight games. Like Jokic, the second-year pro is shooting over 50 percent from the field and 40 percent on three-pointers.
PREVIOUS GAME STARTING LINEUPS
DENVER (26-18, 5TH IN WEST)
Wednesday loss at Toronto
Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Michael Porter Jr., Paul Millsap, Nikola Jokic
Notes: This group is 6-4 overall, starting each of the last seven games, including a Sunday home loss to New Orleans. The Nuggets are 4-3 in that recent span. … Denver’s most common starting lineup this season went 10-4 and featured Gary Harris instead of Porter at one of the wing positions, but Harris was traded Thursday to Orlando. … Denver is just 1.5 games behind the fourth-place Lakers (28-17) in the Western Conference standings.
NEW ORLEANS (19-24, 12TH IN WEST)
Tuesday win vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Steven Adams
Notes: This group is 3-0, with wins over Sacramento, Denver and the Lakers. … In five starts this season, Alexander-Walker is averaging 19.2 points, shooting 56 percent from the field and 44 percent on three-pointers. … New Orleans is two games behind No. 10 Golden State (22-23) for the final play-in spot. The Pelicans are essentially tied for 11th in the West with Sacramento (20-25), but the Kings have a slightly better winning percentage in two more total games played.
PELICANS KEYS TO VICTORY PRESENTED BY FANDUEL
THIRTY-THIRTY CLUB
It’s extremely difficult for a defense to stop both of them, but Denver will try to figure out a way to at least slow down Ingram and/or Williamson, because each New Orleans starting forward made a huge impact Sunday, tallying 30 points apiece. Ingram was vital in crunch time, scoring eight points in the final two minutes, including a pair of aggressive three-point plays.
BENCH BOOST
Josh Hart’s all-around performance of 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists highlighted a solid performance by New Orleans’ second unit in Sunday’s quality road win. The Pelicans’ backups outscored (23-17) and outrebounded (15-9) their Nuggets counterparts. Every NOLA sub also finished as a positive in plus-minus (one of those four players, Nicolo Melli, was traded to Dallas on Thursday).
FOCUS
Hey, remember this basketball-playing thing? Trade-deadline week sometimes makes it easy to forget that – regardless of the moves each NBA team makes – everyone still needs to get back on the court immediately, often competing in very important games. That’s the case for New Orleans, which has little margin for error as it tries to make progress in the West standings.