Pelicans enter another rebuilding phase with much at stake

“Life comes at you pretty fast…” – Ferris Bueller

I’m sure everyone watching the NBA would second that emotion after a crazy start to its annual free agent feeding frenzy.

The New Orleans Pelicans didn’t avoid the madness as Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins both took their talents elsewhere, while local product Elfrid Payton and former Los Angeles Lakers big man Julius Randle step in and attempt to fill the rather large shoes left behind.

There are still plenty of moves to be made in this offseason, but what transpired on July 2, 2018 will go down as one of the defining moments in the history of the franchise. That isn’t hyperbole.

After stressing how much the team wanted to retain its core, General Manager Dell Demps has remade the Pelicans for the fourth time.

Demps has taken a gamble that, if it works, keeps New Orleans moving forward after making only its third playoff appearance during his tenure. If it doesn’t, he and Alvin Gentry will certainly be gone and the odds of Anthony Davis leaving for potentially greener pastures will be higher than at any point of his career.

Hearing that signing Payton was the first move made by the Pelicans in free agency was a big surprise.

Point guard wasn’t looked at as the No. 1 priority for the team by most observers, including myself.

Elfrid Payton is an odd choice to replace Rondo as the Pels’ starting point. Payton, though only 24 years old, is a former lottery pick who will be playing for his third team in less than six months.

The former John Ehret and UL Lafayette standout has been a disappointment thus far in his career. Last season, he hit rock bottom after being traded from Orlando to Phoenix for a second round pick and then being released by the Suns after the season.

Payton has struggled to find consistency in any area of his game. Offensively, he posted double figures in assists seven times in 63 games (11 percent). In comparison, Rondo had 22 such games in 65 contests (34 percent).

He is a poor outside shooter, making less than 30 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc for his career; and he isn’t any better from the free throw line, with a career 62 percent mark there.

But defensively is where Payton has been the biggest disaster. Among guards that played at least 50 games and averaged 25 minutes per game, Payton finished dead last in defensive rating.

For a team that fought its way to become elite defensively over the final months of the season, this is a head scratcher.

Maybe coming home will revitalize Payton’s game. The Pelicans hedged their bet by signing him to a one-year deal, but this is a critical year for New Orleans and point guard is a premium position, particularly in the Western Conference.

My gut told me that re-signing Rondo, who resurrected his career in helping lead New Orleans’ late season surge and its run to the Western Conference Semifinals, would be a relatively easy thing to do. He wanted to stay and the Pelicans wanted to keep him.

It has been reported that Rondo was seeking the full mid-level exemption of $8.8 million from the team, but that New Orleans made an offer more than $2 million less.

At 32 years of age and with 12 seasons of basketball under his belt, Rondo knows that his career is drawing to a close. Taking $9 million to join LeBron and the Lakers was his best financial option.

Rondo wasn’t perfect in New Orleans, but he brought leadership, experience, and an uncanny feel for the game to the court. Those intangibles will be hard to replace, with Payton or anyone else the Pelicans bring in.

Losing Rondo to not one, but two of his biggest rivals in the Lakers and LeBron was a surprise; what happened with Cousins was an absolute shocker.

The possibility of Boogie leaving New Orleans wasn’t unforeseen, but the manner of his exit and his destination were gut punches to the Pelicans organization and its fan base.

Once Cousins tore his Achilles’ tendon against the Houston Rockets in late January, everything changed for both sides. Cousins was no longer a guaranteed max contract player and the Pelicans had to prepare for any and every outcome.

Despite what has been reported by a number of outlets, the Pelicans and Cousins had many conversations about contract figures. Basically, Cousins and his camp didn’t like the numbers and an understanding was reached that he could shop for a better deal, including the possibility of a sign and trade.

Before the injury, many GMs had decided they would take a hard pass on Cousins based on his reputation up to that point of his career. The injury made that decision even easier. Cousins found no market and called the Golden State Warriors himself to offer his services for one season at the low, low price of $5.3 million.

Let’s just take a moment to put that into perspective. Alexis Ajinca and DeMarcus Cousins will basically be getting paid the same thing next season. Wow.

Cousins also took some time to burn whatever bridge there was between the Pelicans and himself by saying that Demps told him that he didn’t want Boogie at all. That is not Demps’ style and I doubt those where his words.

Anyway, Cousins is gone and the Pelicans “did it big” for a grand total of 59 games and 31 wins with Boogie and The Brow on the floor together.

Cousins will be replaced by Randle, a job he seems quite capable of handling. Last season with Los Angeles, Randle played in all 82 games, averaging a career-high 16.1 points per game to go along with 8.0 rebounds while shooting nearly 56 percent from the floor.

In three full seasons since breaking his leg on opening night of his rookie year, he has appeared in 237 of a possible 246 games, starting in 182. He average a double-double during 2015-16, and his player efficiency rating of 19.9 would have been third best on the Pelicans last season.

At 6-foot-9 and 250 pounds, Randle can play both power forward and small ball center. He is very good on the offensive glass, and as a ball handler and passer.

In the short and long run, Randle could prove to be an upgrade. He’s 23 years old with plenty of potential for growth.

Still, the Pelicans remain with question marks at the small forward and point guard positions. With the hard cap standing in his way, can Demps and the rest of the front office find the answers?

Stay tuned.