The foundation for a very good New Orleans team is already in place, in the form of league MVP nominee Anthony Davis, All-Defensive first-team guard Jrue Holiday and sharpshooting returnees such as Nikola Mirotic (46 percent three-point shooting in playoff sweep vs. Portland) and E’Twaun Moore (team-best 42.5 percent on treys in 2017-18 regular season). Pelicans training camp will focus on integrating a handful of new roster members to the mix, including a few who will fill prominent roles in Alvin Gentry’s rotation.
“We’ll use this training camp to try different lineup combinations and see how they work,” Pelicans GM Dell Demps said in a Friday press conference. “We have five preseason games to get a good understanding of what we can and can’t do. We also have good competition, with 19 (total) guys. We have some roster spots for guys to make our team.”
Six days before New Orleans begins its preseason slate Sunday at Chicago (6 p.m., NBA TV), a look at some of the team’s newcomers and what to watch for over the next few weeks, leading up to the Oct. 17 regular season opener in Houston:
Julius Randle
One of the bigger questions surrounding the free-agent signee from the Lakers is how much he’ll be on the floor in pairings with Davis and/or Mirotic. Davis averaged 36 minutes per game last season, while Mirotic logged 29 after joining the Pelicans in a trade (but 36 in the playoffs). Randle averaged 27 with the Lakers, starting 49 times. How will New Orleans divvy up the frontcourt minutes? Will the Pelicans at times go with big lineups that feature the 6-11 Davis, 6-10 Mirotic and 6-9 Randle?
“I think it will figure itself out,” Demps said. “The good thing is we’re going to play a fast pace, so guys are going to need a breather. One of the things that can help us is we don’t have to play guys extended minutes, because we’ll have depth. These guys are team-first and talented. We have a common goal to win.”
On how much the Pelicans may go with big lineups, Demps noted, “(The coaching staff is) having conversations about that. It’s something they’re going to try in camp.”
Elfrid Payton
Payton has started 84 percent of his games (253 of 300 appearances) over a four-year NBA career, but has not yet been on a playoff team. As is the case with all point guards, his leadership on and off the floor could be vital for the Pelicans. A pass-first floor general like predecessor Rajon Rondo, getting teammates the ball in the right spots will be at the top of Payton’s job description.
“He doesn’t speak a lot, but when he does, it’s from the heart,” Demps described of the New Orleans native. “You can see he’s competitive. Just watching him interact with the guys, he has a quiet leadership that is underrated. I think he’s going to really fit in well.”
Jahlil Okafor
The three-year NBA center looks noticeably slimmer than when he entered the NBA as the No. 3 overall pick in the ’15 draft for Philadelphia. Okafor remarked recently that he expects the improved conditioning will help him in Gentry’s fast-paced attack.
“He came into our offseason workouts in phenomenal shape, really focused,” Demps said. “We want to let camp decide (his potential role). He’s been playing at a really high level. It will be fun to watch how he plays in our style during preseason games. He’s definitely coming in to prove something. He wants to prove to the world that he’s a good NBA player.”
Jarrett Jack
A self-described “big Jarrett Jack fan,” Demps appreciates the point guard so much that he has now acquired him three separate times (a trade in ’10, an in-season signing in ’17). Quietly, Jack enjoyed a very good season with New York in ’17-18, highlighted partly by two excellent games vs. New Orleans.
“He’s been a leader his entire life,” Demps said. “He has a great presence among his teammates, but he also can play basketball. He made a big shot for the Knicks against us last year, to beat us late in a game.”
Jack averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 assists in two games against New Orleans, featuring a Knicks road win and a Pelicans overtime triumph at MSG that required a double-digit fourth-quarter comeback.
Frank Jackson
He’s technically not a new Pelican, but the 2017 second-round pick was sidelined for all of what would’ve been his rookie season due to foot surgery. In what’s been a bad-luck beginning to his pro career, he sprained an ankle just 13 minutes into his summer debut in Las Vegas, but excelled during that brief stint on the court (13 points).
“We’ve been bringing Frank along slowly,” Demps said of the Duke product. “He’s looked good in his workouts. We’ll have some minor restrictions on him in training camp, just because we want to be safe. He hasn’t played basketball competitively in over a year. Right now he’s cleared to go, and we’ll see how it goes in camp.”