Listen to the full conference call:
For a lot of us, this is the first time talking to you. Could you take us through the process of how and why you chose the Pelicans?
“One thing I really wanted to do when I became a free agent was I wanted to go somewhere that provided a place that I felt comfortable, a place that I could get better [and] a place that would allow me to grow. Dell (Demps) was a guy that I met early in the process of the draft. I wasn’t able to work out for the Pelicans, and I think at the time they had a second round pick, but the fact that he (Dell Demps) still wanted to come out and talk to me. We actually just met in the LAX airport. We had a talk, just a quick discussion about how the process works, about how just because I get drafted somewhere doesn’t mean it’s ever over. Every time I go out, I’m auditioning for another team, or the team I’m currently playing on, and when the opportunity came, he was really the first to reach out and talk to me about coming to New Orleans. He really wanted me to be a part of what he had going in New Orleans, and that just really stuck out to me, because there’s a lot of people that just came out that wanted to talk that I never had any type of relationship with even when I had the run at the end of the year. It was just something he always knew that could possibly happen and he wanted to see done in New Orleans, and it kind of made it easy for me and my agent because here’s a guy that believed in me three years ago when I came into this league. For him to still be here to this day and to want to give me an opportunity for my game to grow around some guys that I’m familiar with, it just made it really easy for me.”
How do you see yourself fitting into this offense? Do you see yourself playing both power forward and small forward? And as far as from an offensive standpoint, as far as your perimeter game, what do you see with this type of offense that you can deliver more than you did in Indiana?
“I’m just really – as far as playing positions – I really don’t care where I play. I’m willing to play the three (small forward) and the four (power forward), whatever is needed, whatever coach sees is the best fit for me. As far as the offense, this will be my chance to really expand from where I left off at last season. Spacing the floor is always a big key. Being able to push the ball in transition is one thing we want to do, we want to play fast. Talkingto coach[Phil] Weber about maybe even getting into the post sometimes. When I play the four, when we set screens, usually in the NBA what they do now is they switch. So, being able to get down in the post, being able to have a pull-up jumper, these are all things I wouldn’t say I wasn’t allowed to do, but with the Pacers, it was kind of just I did what kept me on the floor, now I’m in a position where I [need to] expand. To be able to shoot that spot-up three when AD’s (Anthony Davis) posting up or when Jrue’s (Holiday) driving and kicking, I got to be able to up-fake, and take the one dribble pull-up, I might not always be able to get to the rim. Just expand my game and always be comfortable learning about what we want to do offensively and learning from players that are doing it currently, I think that’s more exciting than what I did with the Pacers. So, I definitely want to expand my offensive game, but I’m clearly here to play and be our number one defender.”
How much did you factor in starting when you were looking as potential destinations in free agency, and what sort of conversations you had with the Pelicans about that?
“It definitely came up. For health reasons, a lot of opportunity was there the past couple years for this team. Being with a lot of different lineups, and being a guy that I’ve been healthy for the majority of my career, there’s opportunities to start here, of course, that was something that was huge to me too. I think the guys that you have returning, the opportunity to start, style of play, and Coach Gentry made it very easy to make this decision with the Pelicans. Of course, there were other teams that wanted me to play a certain role, and I believe that I play in the NBA to play the game. I love to play, I want to be on the court as much as possible and it definitely was the biggest thing to me, [to have] playing opportunity.”
Is there any pressure with your contract? Is there pressure to perform or do more than you’ve done?
“No, I don’t look at it as pressure, I look at it as opportunity. The contract give me the opportunity to play the game that I love to play, just more minutes. Once I started playing at the end of the season, when I was playing 22-25 minutes a game, playing in the playoffs as a guy that was making $1 million a year, I’m going to play that same way as far as going out there, doing what my team needs me to do. I was finishing games in the playoffs, regardless if you just wipe everyone’s contracts and just look at the minutes, I was finishing game seven of the playoffs, game six of the playoffs, playing against high caliber guys and not really worried about money. With the contract, what that does is it gives me an opportunity to get on the floor and play the game. Its’s kind of weird, I was just talking to C.J. McCollum not too long ago, and, you know, for his success, and our draft class and what’s happening, Alan Crabbe is another guy [who is having success]. I think with all the money coming into the NBA, a lot of the contracts, you know, people are just assuming that you get this amount of money, its way more than what people thought, but that’s kind of how the market is. The market is going to be like that, guys are going to make more money. The way I look at it is an opportunity to play the game. I just look at four years that I can play on an NBA team, and possibly start, and that’s all I was worried about.”
Where do you think you fit in best with Anthony Davis? How do you compliment him?
“I look at it from a defensive standpoint where he has the ability to guard – when we go small – every position. I feel like there’s not a position that he couldn’t guard. I kind of look at it like (playing with) Paul George. When me and Paul George were on the floor, whether our guys were setting screens for each other, whether they were setting away screens…any type of interaction that our guys came into, we were able to switch, and it made for an easy transition on defense as far as who we’re guarding. I think me and AD can do the same thing whether our men are in a pick-and-roll or have any interaction, we can switch those actions and he can guard anybody on the floor and I’ll try to do the same thing. Offensively, I want to be able to read him: whether he’s in the post, whether he’s on the wing. If he’s on the wing, like me and Coach (Phil) Weber were talking about, maybe I could a guy that goes into the post when he’s at the five and I’m at the four and he’s on the wing. Or if he’s posting up, maybe I can learn how to read him, play some cutting games or space the floor. Just learn how he wants to play, how he likes to score. That was one thing I was able to do in Indiana. I knew how Monta (Ellis) was getting to the rim. I knew what (George Hill) wanted to do. I knew what Paul wanted to do. I kind of was able to just read those guys from playing with them, and I hope to do the same thing with AD because he can do it from both areas of the floor. He can do it from the wing, he can do it from the post. He’s definitely a guy that is multi-dimensional and can give it to you any type of way. I definitely just want to get in practice, get in workouts, and be able to read how he plays.”
How would you describe your years in Indiana? Was it more of a learning experience? Was it difficult? What have you gained from that experience that you can use to your benefit here in New Orleans?
“It was definitely a learning experience, and it was a great learning experience. It really taught me that just because you get drafted, in certain situations things are not always going to just happen the way you want it to. This is a business; people come and go. I started off coming into a team that – I believe my rookie year we were the number one seed and had the best record in the NBA. It was a team that had just came back from the Eastern Conference Finals playing against the Miami Heat. Two years later, a majority of that team is fully different. I look at the team and what they’re doing this year…they’re doing a good job and I hope the team is different again. The game keeps changing. People keep changing and people are going to keep coming in and out of locker rooms. What I have to understand is just because I wasn’t playing at the time, to not stop working. I knew I was in a situation that whether I played or not last year that I was going to become a free agent regardless, and I wasn’t just going to sit around and mope about my situation. I definitely just tried to make the most of it (and) keep working. You never know. If something freak happens where a guy goes down and you have to play, it’s on you to be ready. You have one shot to be ready sometimes in this league and if you’re not, you can definitely find yourself out of this league. I think (David West) is a guy that really helped me out as well and he was the guy who kind of taught me to stay with it, stay professional regardless of your situation, because that could get you out of this league.”
Did shooting 57% from three and performing well in the playoff series against Toronto help your confidence coming into this season?
“Of course. When Coach inserted me back into the lineup and guys were kind of vouching for me to get back on the court, I think the thing that really took off for me was not worrying, trying to make something happen. Just being there, being aggressive, being assertive, whether it be defensively, rebounding. Whatever it was, I just stopped thinking and just started doing, and it kind of just led its way into me just being able to be effective for my team in the playoffs.”
Where do you feel like you are in the development of your three-point shooting? Is it something that comes naturally to you?
“I just think it started off as more mental for me. Just not thinking. They say a majority of this game is mental. I think early on in my first two seasons, I was so caught up in trying to be a three-point specialist, trying to be a ‘three guy’ who just sits there and waits for threes. That’s never really who I’ve been in the past. The thing I was able to do in my last season was just think about if I’m open. If I’m open, regardless of where I am on the floor, I’m just going to shoot it. I’m going to knock it down. I’ve been with guys like C.J. Miles, Paul George, C.J. Watson, George Hill. We’ve had enough guys around me that I should feel confident just competing with them in practice and drills that we do. I’ve worked hard enough to understand that when I shoot and I’m open, it should go in regardless of where I am, who’s closing out. If it’s too late, you’re too late. That’s what I’m going to try to do next year. Coach Gentry was showing me numbers of guys that came into his style of play and what they shot beforehand and what they shot playing for him. I’m definitely excited. I know I’m going to get a lot of open shot opportunities and a lot of chances to display an offensive game, but all-in-all I just want to knock down shots, space the floor for guys, and continue to play defense.”