Game 15: New Orleans Pelicans (4-10) vs. Dallas Mavericks (7-7) | 7:30pm CST

[KillerLeft]

Everything is all good after a win, but tbh this game we didnt learn much. Well take the win.

I do enjoy seeing Grimes and Naji continue fitting in this team. I think its clear now for anyone on the fence that we've upgraded from djj although i loved him on the team.

Also, Kyrie. He's so good.

Good stuff. They've absolutely upgraded DJJ, however...setting aside the skills they've added with the new guys, it's important to understand that they've essentially replaced DJJ with an aggregate of two players, or even three, when you consider that Thompson is the guy actually taking his rotation spot. 

It would be one thing if Marshall could do everything DJJ could do, but in reality they are very different players, as are Thompson and DJJ. 

Thompson adds shooting and general offensive skill that DJJ didn't have, yes, and he's not a bad defender. I'd put him just outside of the group of 5 "plus" defenders in the extended rotation during this early season stretch.

Marshall brings a ton of grit, and is a fine defender, but not as versatile, defensively, as DJJ was. He guards bigger players a little better, probably, but just isn't quick enough to get around screens and cut off dribble drives like DJJ was doing by the end of his year here. Like Thompson, he is an IMMENSE upgrade over DJJ, offensively, and we've already seen how that can manifest, as he's literally playing PG through portions of each game. Pretty well, most nights. He's a surprisingly good driver, he makes good reads, can pass accurately with either hand, doesn't play out of control and is shockingly dangerous as a downhill scorer, both inside and from the midrange. The only thing that's missing is his 3-ball, and I feel like that will come with time here in this offense. After all, it did for DJJ. I think that at some point this season Marshall will be AT LEAST as reliable from 3 as DJJ and PJW were in the playoffs last year, and hopefully more reliable than that. 

None of the three new guys in this conversation are even remotely the athlete DJJ is, but Grimes is the one who actually "replaces" what DJJ's eventual, successful role was: perimeter, on-ball defender. He's not as long as DJJ, but he can do it very effectively because his instincts are preternatural and his feet are QUICK. The problem (and the reason I'm harping on this aggregate thing) is that he seems to be the third most likely of the new trio to be ensconced in the rotation. 

I feel very, very strongly that if Grimes can't get into the rotation consistently (and I mean high in it, like top 8, not just "when we need some defense"), this team is going to have a lower ceiling than last year's when the dust clears. I'm not saying that if he doesn't end up there, it will automatically be Kidd's fault. Grimes has agency and accountability in this situation, and I'm sure Kidd is hoping he works out just as much as we. 

That kind of means that Marshall has to play well on offense, ironically, because when you do the math and realize that the end result rotation when games matter is only going to have 8-9 guys in it (someone will suggest they'll play 10 in the playoffs, but I doubt it), you very quickly realize that Grimes' spot must come at the detriment to either Kleber, Gafford (this is an entirely different conversation I'll save for another day) or (more likely),  BOTH (not one of, but both) Hardy and Dinwiddie. If they need one of those guys to be in the playoff rotation to run the offense, Grimes' path to consistent burn is even harder.

There's a lot Kidd has to figure out.