{"id":85845,"date":"2024-07-15T01:25:06","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T05:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=85845"},"modified":"2024-07-15T01:25:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T05:25:06","slug":"pelicans-david-griffin-reveals-big-desire-for-2024-25-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/15\/pelicans-david-griffin-reveals-big-desire-for-2024-25-season\/","title":{"rendered":"David Griffin Reveals Pelicans\u2019 Big Desire For Next Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin doesn\u2019t spend his time hiding under a rock. In fact, he\u2019s very aware of what\u2019s said about his team. It should come as no surprise then that the 50-year-old directly addressed a common criticism of his roster when answering questions about how he plans to continue shaping his team.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I know everybody thinks we have to invest in the center position a little bit,\u201d Griffin acknowledges.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">&#8220;I know everybody thinks we have to invest in the center position a little bit. We actually are really excited about what we have now. We are excited to play small and fast&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; David Griffin on the Pelicans center situation <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fFgDxUVtgz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/fFgDxUVtgz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PelsFilmRoom\/status\/1811879233809187105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe actually are really excited about what we have now. We are excited to play small and fast.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>David Griffin Reveals Pelicans\u2019 Big Desire For Next Season<\/h2>\n<p>Frankly, the Pelicans have little choice but to emphasize pace next season.<\/p>\n<p>The addition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murrade01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dejounte Murray<\/a> didn\u2019t just <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/28\/pelicans-hawks-execute-highly-anticipated-offseason-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">bring in a player<\/a> who could zip the ball around the court. If New Orleans wanted a low-usage floor general, they could have targeted the likes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lowryky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Lowry<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jonesty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyus Jones<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dunnkr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kris Dunn<\/a> in free agency. Instead, they added a lead guard who loves to score.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI think when you look at what we did last year and the things we struggled with in terms of closing out close games, one of the things we\u2019re most excited about with Dejounte is that\u2019s something that\u2019s he\u2019s really comfortable with\u2026 He\u2019s going to put people in position to succeed whether he\u2019s the one taking the shot or creating for somebody else\u2026\u201d \u2014 David Griffin<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This could lead to Murray stepping on the toes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mccolcj01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CJ McCollum<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/ingrabr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Ingram<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/willizi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zion Williamson<\/a>. After all, there\u2019s only one ball. However, teams with multiple high-octane scorers avoid that pitfall by playing faster. In the halfcourt, this requires quicker decision-making and ball-movement. The ability to create turnovers becomes more important because defensive events and fastbreak opportunities energy the team while generating easy points.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, a lead-footed center like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/valanjo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonas Valanciunas<\/a> would\u2019ve become a square peg in a round hole. Instead, the Pelicans need a big man like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/missiyv01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yves Missi<\/a>, the 21st overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. At 6-foot-11, Missi\u2019s fluidity and explosiveness make him a terrific rim-runner. In the open court, the 20-year-old gets up and down the court like a gazelle, helping New Orleans play fast.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/theisda01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daniel Theis<\/a>, who the Pelicans <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/08\/pelicans-add-a-much-needed-center-in-free-agency-daniel-theis\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">signed last week<\/a>, isn\u2019t winning any track meets. However, he\u2019s surprisingly light on his feet, so he can play at a quicker pace. Indeed, due to his experience and ability to stretch the floor, he may start the season.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, they\u2019re still a young team. To that point, Missi\u2019s youth and upside fit the bill in New Orleans. Nonetheless, the Pelicans are now a legitimate playoff contender. As a result, Theis\u2019s background holds weight, the German big man having played 40 postseason games for the Boston Celtics.<\/p>\n<p>Whether they start Missi or Theis, they should be tough to beat though. In the end, the strength of the team lies in their Big Four. Murray, McCollum, Ingram, and Williamson\u2019s production can match that of any team\u2019s stars. If their chemistry holds up, the West may see another surprise team making a championship run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin doesn\u2019t spend his time hiding under a rock. In fact, he\u2019s very aware of what\u2019s said about his team. It should come as no surprise then that the 50-year-old directly addressed a common criticism of his roster when answering questions about how he plans to continue shaping [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":85933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1608,62,3],"tags":[1494,996,1262,297,4557,4774,49284],"class_list":["post-85845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pelicans","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-daniel-theis","tag-david-griffin","tag-dejounte-murray","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-offseason","tag-rumors","tag-yves-missi"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}