Chris Dodson Articles - Page 18

With no offense to the California Classic or Salt Lake City Summer League events, the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League event is the league’s marquee offseason event. Every team is represented and fans from around the world flock to Sin City to see the newest batch of rookies. Hope springs eternal in the desert and […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have been fairly active in the NBA’s trading markets to churn up a new roster around Zion Williamson for next season. Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., and E.J. Liddell are out. Dejounte Murray is in. However, there are still some roster spots to fill. The front office is now shopping the […]

It’s wheels up for one of the wildest two weeks in basketball! The 2K25 2024 Summer League New Orleans Pelicans Summer League squad has been made official. Some familiar faces will be leading the team while helping rookies Yves Missi and Antonio Reeves adjust to the pro game. The Pelicans know the game plan for […]

The 2024 NBA Draft is old news. Preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics basketball tournament is at full throttle with the qualifiers all settled. The NBA’s next 82-game slate will not begin until late October, giving fans and front offices plenty of time to get adjusted to new rosters. At the same time, the 2025 […]

To borrow a phrase from The Wire‘s Avon Barksdale, NBA players only do two years when it comes to Summer League action, their first and their last. Only rookies and second-year players are required (with some exemptions) to make an appearance in a Summer League session. This creates a dynamic where four-year college veterans with […]

Basketball in the Big Easy has a long, storied, yet sometimes interrupted history. The ABA’s Buccaneers had a run in the late 1960s. The Jazz were raised in New Orleans in the latter half of the 1970s. The Crescent City couldn’t find a professional game again until the Hornets came to town in 2002. It […]

Deal-making in the NBA between the end of the NBA Finals and the league’s July 6 moratorium is built on trust. Nothing becomes official until NBA HQ opens back up for business and processes the transactions. Seemingly everything is on the table for a few weeks but options start disappearing once those handshake agreements are […]

Gauging if a player is an 82-game player or 16-gamer has become one of the biggest challenges for NBA scouting departments. Some considered focal points of the game plan to start the season are phased out before the NBA Playoffs tip off. Rookies are largely immune to these categorizations thanks to the most talented prospects […]

The NBA’s wheeling and dealing season has been heating up for a while but now everything can be officially filed with the league. Some negotiations are expanding while others are being wrapped up quickly now that the July 6 moratorium has been lifted. The New Orleans Pelicans are in the middle of the action on […]

EVP David Griffin was not kidding about the New Orleans Pelicans operating with a sense of urgency this offseason. He reached a deal with the Atlanta Hawks for Dejounte Murray before most of the 2024 NBA Draft’s dust settled. The lack of a point guard issue is seemingly solved as far as the front office […]

NBA Summer League action is about more than just the games. Hoops fans making the pilgrimage to Las Vegas are fueled by the hope and promise of newly drafted rookies. Mistakes are supposed to be made going into a new job, something the newest New Orleans Pelicans in Yves Missi and Antonio Reeves should keep […]

The New Orleans Pelicans came out of the 2024 NBA Draft with Yves Missi and Antonio Reeves but still need a starting center on the roster. Unrestricted free agent Jonas Valanciunas is leaving some big shoes to fill. As the front office strategizes for the upcoming season, they face the challenge of finding a center […]

The year-round scouting and media contingent that follows the league can start looking forward to Las Vegas vacations now that the 2024 NBA Draft is in the books. Some downtime pleasures can be enjoyed before getting back on the grind of scoping out the 2025 class. The incoming rookies and second-year players contractually obligated to […]

The 2024 NBA Draft is officially a wrap. Now the league’s front offices can focus in on free agency plans while the incoming rookies plan Summer League vacations. The New Orleans Pelicans have largely avoided making splashes in free agency, instead, honing in on the trade market to make upgrades or cash in on disgruntled […]

The 2024 NBA Draft class was largely derided as weak and lacking top-end talent for years. The hype usually picks up considerably in the last 48 hours before the first name is called and front offices always find a way to spin their selection as a franchise positive once the festivities are over. The New […]

The 2024 NBA Draft’s first round is in the books. Thirty incoming rookies are waking up knowing they will be leading a team during NBA Summer League action. Another 28 will be called upon but the New Orleans Pelicans will likely leave Brooklyn with only one new roster addition. GM Bryson Graham’s first selection with […]

The Atlanta Hawks had commissioner Adam Silver call out Zaccharie Risacher’s name to kick off the 2024 NBA Draft. There were fewer trades than many expected during Wednesday’s first round, including a quiet night from the New Orleans Pelicans on the roster-upgrading front. More than a few social media critics will call out EVP David […]

The offseason is a time of speculation and anticipation with trade rumors swirling around the NBA’s 30 front offices. The days going into the NBA Draft are usually ripe with speculation, smokescreens, and eventually a few deals get filed with league headquarters. There is always one trade that catches everyone off guard but many are […]

The calm before the storm that comes before every NBA Draft is over. The free agent and trade market feeding frenzies are ramping up to full bore now that the first free agent has been signed and trade completed. EVP David Griffin said the New Orleans Pelicans would act with a sense of urgency this […]

EVP David Griffin declared the New Orleans Pelicans would operate with a sense of urgency in the league’s talent-acquisition markets this summer. The Western Conference was only getting more difficult and the shortcomings of last year’s roster were obvious during the NBA Playoffs. Some of the toughest decisions this summer are internal, however. The franchise […]

Team building in the NBA requires varying levels of compromise as executives juggle a star-driven competition while balancing the directives from ownership. A perfect example of this is the New Orleans Pelicans entering NBA free agency and having to look at bargain-big big men free agents to round out their roster next season. The Pelicans […]

Adam Silver still has time to prepare the opening 2024 NBA Draft speech but the league’s teams are out of planning time for the NBA Free Agency frenzy. Dominoes are starting to fall with Pascal Siakam (Indiana Pacers) and Malik Monk (Sacramento Kings) having already agreed to deals with their former teams. The New Orleans […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are going to act with a sense of urgency this summer according to EVP David Griffin’s exit interview. While the front office is looking forward to reshaping the roster around Zion Williamson, some fans are looking backward in time to find the point guard of the future. The franchise wanted Chris […]

Seimone Augustus has claimed many achievements over a storied career. Starting at Baton Rouge’s Capitol High, she was on the cover of Sports Illustrated for Women as a high school freshman way before LeBron James hit the front pages. Louisiana’s Miss Basketball in 2001 and 2002 also played in the first McDonald’s Girls All-America game, […]

The NBA Finals are over and now the fun of the offseason’s free-agent frenzy can truly ramp up. Every franchise was allowed to begin negotiations with their impending free agents as soon as the Boston Celtics were crowned champions under the new CBA. All out-of-contract players can be contacted on June 30 giving front offices […]

The New Orleans Pelicans had the best of luck in jumping to the top spot of the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery. Anthony Davis had requested a trade out of the city, which felt like a curse when it concerns basketball. Chris Paul had to suffer through not only those long Hurricane Katrina travel years but […]

The NBA Draft is perhaps the largest and only sanctioned gambling event allowed by the league and federal law. There is no bigger risk in the NBA than a lottery pick, especially in what is considered to be one of the most uninspiring draft classes in recent history. Getting the selection right still requires years […]

The Boston Celtics dominated the NBA Finals and are now planning for an 18th championship parade. The rest of the league is looking forward to the June 26-27 NBA Draft. The New Orleans Pelicans have invited or interviewed at least a dozen different prospects during the pre-draft workout process so far. That information will be […]

The NBA season is a wrap and now the fun of rampant offseason speculations can fully begin. The new CBA allows for teams to start negotiations with their soon-to-be free agents and extension-eligible players. It has also allowed for the loosening of some rules on trades, which has had some knock-on side effects going into […]

The Dallas Mavericks have much to be proud of, but the Boston Celtics put a bow on the 2023-23 NBA season by earning their 18th title banner. Now the entire league will become hyper-focused on the 2024 NBA Draft and the upcoming free agency frenzy. However, that’s not to suggest the recent NBA Finals tilt […]

One of the main 2024 NBA Draft storylines concerns LeBron James and Bronny James, but every prospect has the same story. No matter who your father is, every NBA dream is stacked against longshot odds. New Orleans native Latrelle Jones is no different in that regard, but the former Nicholls State star has spent the […]

The actual playing of games is all over for every NBA team except the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics. Most of those organizations know what they will be working with as a core to start next season, though, especially those with NBA Finals aspirations. The New Orleans Pelicans are among those playoff contenders largely thanks […]

The NBA Finals are still being contested but every other team is focused on next season. The executive and coaching carousels are starting to spin with a bit more speed now that UConn’s Dan Hurley has shunned the Los Angeles Lakers. The New Orleans Pelicans have been one of the most affected franchises in this […]

Every front office in the league besides the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics is 100% focused on the 2024 NBA Draft. They are not all operating from the same positions of strength, however. The San Antonio Spurs have four picks coming this June while others like the New Orleans Pelicans are working with a single […]

Every relationship whether personal or professional goes through ebbs and flows. Honest analysis and compromising when necessary are just two elements to those partnerships surviving the toughest times. Even when things are going well, one party might be more internally motivated or influenced by outside factors than the other. There’s always a give and take […]

There are plenty of fires stoked and smokescreens created in the weeks before the NBA Draft. Intriguing details to seemingly enticing offers are trickled out by agents and front offices only for the full details that killed the deal to be revealed years later. Some of those scenarios go actually come to fruition, though, leading […]

Every organization is scrambling for the last scraps of information on the 2024 NBA Draft class leading up to the June 26-27 event. The NBA Draft Combine was the first chance front offices got a hands-on look at the prospects but pre-draft workout season is now in full swing. Tulane’s Kevin Cross Jr. has been […]

The NBA Finals are in full swing and the Boston Celtics have a 1-0 advantage over the underdog Dallas Mavericks. The play on the court this time of year usually gets all of the attention, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was stuck in the unenviable spot of trying to spin what might be the end […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have been very hit-and-miss with their draft picks since EVP David Griffin took charge of the organization. Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, and Jose Alvarado have boosted the team’s ceiling. Players like Kira Lewis Jr., Jaxson Hayes, and Didi Louzada were sent packing for next to nothing in return. Others, like […]