With the Pelicans bereft of tradable assets and the potential of losing DeMarcus Cousins after this season without a significant roster improvement, swinging for the fences in the Paul George sweepstakes may be their only choice.
We just watched the Golden State Warriors complete what will go down as a historic 3-year run, with 2 titles (possibly 3 had they not blown a 3–1 lead,) and the most successful stretch of regular season basketball in NBA history.
With that, the Warriors have reached the most logical conclusion of what, ironically, LeBron James started in Miami. No, it’s not the superteam shit.
The Warriors have reached small-ball nirvana
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The Miami Heat started it when they played 4 wings around Chris Bosh. The Warriors perfected it. Small ball isn’t just about spacing the floor, nor is it just about length, and skill. It’s about all of that boiling in this kettle pot of basketball goodness, sprinkled with a bit of unselfishness, and dashed with a pinch of fun.
The copycat league already started way back in 2014–15, when the Warriors were just beginning this domination. But if there’s anything we can learn from the Cavs-Dubs III, it’s this: you can’t beat the Warriors at their own game.
David Griffin built the Cavs to fight fire with fire: they wanted to play fast, they wanted to shoot, and they wanted to score a lot of points. They came into the 2017 NBA Finals series with a 120.7 offensive rating, a historic tally entering the Finals. You’d think they’d have enough fire power to match the Warriors. They did finish the 2017 Finals with a 111.6 offensive rating, which would have been enough in any other year. But this isn’t just any other year. It’s the Warriors’ year.
So while everybody is following the Warriors’ path, grabbing perimeter-oriented players, left and right, the Pelicans are doubling down on the road less traveled by trading for DeMarcus Cousins — a burly superstar who was languishing on a so-so team just like Davis. The Pelicans are going big when everyone is trying to go small.(Nico Baguio)
