Chris Dodson Articles - Page 3

Zion Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans have discovered a formula that’s breathing new life into the James Borrego-led locker room. Getting Herb Jones back in the fold allowed for a shift to a supersized starting lineup built around Williamson and Trey Murphy III’s strengths. Derik Queen has been doing what’s comfortable and limiting mistakes, while Saddiq […]

With the playoffs out of reach and the season’s final chapters being written, Zion Williamson’s roughed-up New Orleans Pelicans are not looking to reinvent the wheel. Interim head coach James Borrego just wants to keep this project on track to show some progress before the 82nd game. Data points matter more than anything for the […]

In today’s NBA, offenses have reached unprecedented levels of sophistication. Teams average more points than ever before, utilizing complex schemes involving constant movement, deadly three-point shooting, and spacing that stretches defenses to their breaking point. Zion Williamson’s prideful New Orleans Pelicans are losing ground just trying to keep up. That is why James Borrego is […]

Armed with one of the league’s most potent engines, James Borrego’s busted-up New Orleans Pelicans are undergoing a fundamental and deliberate shift. Zion Williamson’s offensive ceiling has never been in doubt; it’s through the All-NBA roof statistically. However, the problem has been building a sustainable defensive ecosystem around a roster anchored by a high-usage, downhill […]

The modern NBA is a sport transformed, a high-speed chess match played out in relentless 48-minute bursts. For James Borrego’s rebuilding New Orleans Pelicans, navigating this evolution is the key to unlocking Yves Missi, Jeremiah Fears, and Derik Queen’s potential. It will take a while, granted, but the front office sees better days ahead for […]

By any objective measure, James Borrego’s proud New Orleans Pelicans entered the NBA trade deadline in a position of maximum volatility. Sitting 10 games out of the last postseason spot, armed with multiple movable contracts and several rotation-caliber starters on team-friendly deals, Joe Dumars has plenty of incentives and opportunities to reshape the roster. Instead, […]

With the stunning trade of franchise cornerstone Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz, Ja Morant’s Memphis Grizzlies have officially pivoted to a rebuild before the NBA Trade Deadline. EVP/GM Zach Kleiman has amassed one of the NBA’s largest collections of future draft assets in the process, including the Desmond Bane deal. A dozen future […]

With apologies to Desmond Bane, the Memphis Grizzlies have long been defined by the dynamic duo of Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. That All-Star, All-Defense pairing brought electrifying athleticism, defensive prowess, and playoff contention to a small-market franchise starved for attention. Those days are long gone now that Danny Ainge has struck an NBA […]

The now totally unrecognizable Memphis Grizzlies sent a clear signal that their competitive era around Ja Morant had ended. Desmond Bane was shipped out last summer; Jaren Jackson Jr.’s contract talks led to open NBA Trade Deadline conversations. In return, they received Walter Clayton Jr., Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks, Georges Niang, and three future first-round […]

Beale Street basketball will never be the same. From the Grind City Era to the one that never was with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., EVP/GM Zach Kleiman finally called it quits on chasing a title. The Memphis Grizzlies relented to the Utah Jazz in a deal that should kickstart the rest of the […]

The Memphis Grizzlies find themselves in a precarious position. Sitting three games behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the final NBA Play-In Tournament spot, the team has struggled to find consistency amid a brutal stretch that saw them drop six consecutive games following a jet-lagged return from Europe. While their recent victory over the Minnesota […]

Tuomas Iisalo has been searching for lineup answers amid a grueling stretch of travel, injuries, and losses. Well, thankfully, Vince Williams Jr. proved instrumental in containing Minnesota Timberwolves star Julius Randle, helping secure a hard-fought victory that breathed new life into a relatively disappointing season. The jet lagged Memphis Grizzlies snapped a six-game losing streak […]

The Memphis Grizzlies finally shook the jet lag and snapped a six-game losing streak in the rubber match with the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. Jaren Jackson Jr. went off for 30 points. Cedric Coward scaled the rookie wall once again. Ty Jerome helped save the day. Everyone exhaled. For Tuomas Iisalo, the relief was rooted less […]

Setbacks can send an organization and a player in two different directions. Either they regroup and come back stronger than ever, or they fall by the wayside. The discombobulated Memphis Grizzlies are learning this the hard way, as has GG Jackson. Fortunately, the third-year pro is starting to find a pathway to significant playing time […]

The NBA season has a way of compressing time for rookies. What feels manageable in November can become a grind by February, when the physical toll of an 82-game schedule collides with the mental demands of learning a new system. Tuomas Iisalo’s regrouping Memphis Grizzlies are going through some of Cedric Coward’s growing pains while […]

With their season drifting in the wrong direction and the Western Conference standings tightening by the day, Tuomas Iisalo’s Memphis Grizzlies are increasingly looking for relief valves. That’s why Ty Jerome’s return was so important. After missing the first 46 games of the season with a high-grade right calf strain, the veteran guard finally made […]

For a rookie trying to establish himself in the NBA rotation, an All-Star Weekend invite represents both validation and a measuring stick. It’s a process that has broken plenty of lottery picks, so James Borrego helped Jeremiah Fears map out the plan right after the NBA Draft. Fortunately for the rebuilding New Orleans Pelicans, there […]

An invitation to NBA All-Star Weekend is the culmination of a lifelong dream for anyone in basketball. It’s a chance to both meet legends and leave a mark. For New Orleans Pelicans cornerstone Derik Queen, participating in the Rising Stars game is merely the first step in a journey fueled by two distinct All-Star moments. […]

Availability has long been the variable that clouds Zion Williamson’s ceiling. Thankfully, the two-time All-Star has been clocking in and stepping up a lot more often lately. James Borrego believes that speaks to something far beyond the box scores. As the stuck-in-place New Orleans Pelicans prepared for LaMelo Ball’s Charlotte Hornets, which was adjusted to […]

Trust is not freely given to rookies in the NBA, especially those asked to touch the ball as often as All-Rookie wonder Derik Queen has for James Borrego’s basement-dwelling New Orleans Pelicans. However, as the season has progressed, Queen has steadily earned a larger offensive role, not through scoring volume alone, but by consistently making […]

The New Orleans Pelicans do not plan on reinventing anything ahead of Friday night’s rematch against the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies. Interim head coach James Borrego is betting continuity matters more than counterpunching when it comes to supporting Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III. Saddiq Bey, Derik Queen, and Herb Jones have delivered improved starts and […]

Jose Alvarado insists the wait is nearly over. As the New Orleans Pelicans navigate an uneven season and the uncertainty of the NBA Trade Deadline, the reserve guard says a return from injury is imminent. The undrafted dynamo from Georgia Tech, sidelined with an oblique injury, spoke candidly about his recovery, the mental strain of […]

A dispiriting loss to a shorthanded Detroit Pistons squad has forced a stark reckoning for the New Orleans Pelicans. The current starting lineup continues to dig early holes that prove too deep for Zion Williamson to escape, and James Borrego knows change is overdue. Developing rookies Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen is and should be […]

Defensive transformations do not happen overnight in sports, nor should a team’s success hinge on just one player. So, sure, Herb Jones has been out. Schematic overhauls or complex adjustments were not in the cards even as Zion Williamson’s New Orleans Pelicans continue to languish in the Western Conference basement. Interim head coach James Borrego […]

It’s well past the halfway point of the season, yet the last-placed New Orleans Pelicans are playing hardball with Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III. Herb Jones, Jeremiah Fears, and Derik Queen are also reportedly untouchable in any NBA Trade Deadline discussions. However, Joe Dumars has not-so-quietly explored the market for second-year center Yves Missi. […]

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant are dominating the NBA Trade Deadline rumors, but change is brewing around Bourbon Street basketball. The New Orleans Pelicans are not shopping Trey Murphy III and Zion Williamson out of impatience or panic. They are confronting the cold math of roster construction, timing, and market leverage. Murphy III, a 25-year-old […]

Zion Williamson’s injury-plagued New Orleans Pelicans are staggering through the season, firmly entrenched at the bottom of the Western Conference. James Borrego, elevated from assistant on November 15 after Willie Green’s firing amid a 2-10 start, has gone 8-25, hardly a righting of the ship record-wise. Tasked with staying NBA Play-In competitive, the interim head […]

A temptation to demolish everything is understandable for a new front office inheriting a roster stuck between Zion Williamson’s injury timelines, win-now expectations, and the NBA’s unforgiving middle. However, a full teardown centered solely on Trey Murphy III is neither realistic nor advisable for the stuck-in-place New Orleans Pelicans. The notion of stripping to the […]

The regrouping Memphis Grizzlies have spent most of the season hibernating near the lottery-bound basement. That is not where a roster built around Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Zach Edey expects to live, and it is not where EVP/GM Zach Kleiman intends to finish. Fortunately, the path ahead offers a golden opportunity for Tuomas […]

The Memphis Grizzlies are clinging to hopes of an NBA Play-In Tournament berth, but this team needs more than injury luck to succeed in the postseason. Although Ja Morant had supposedly “figured out” the Oklahoma City Thunder last spring, the landscape has changed dramatically in the last six months. NBA Trade Deadline rumors are swirling […]

Tuomas Iisalo’s Memphis Grizzlies did not set out to replace Ja Morant. Not publicly, anyway. Morant remains the franchise’s most electric talent, its most recognizable face and, when healthy and available, its emotional engine. But NBA front offices plan for contingencies, and coaches who survive in this league tend to think two steps ahead. Over […]

The Berlin setting was grand, but the ending felt all too familiar for the Memphis Grizzlies. In the first of two NBA Europe events, Tuomas Iisalo’s squad squandered a 20-point lead against the Orlando Magic, wasting a dominant first from Jaren Jackson Jr. and exposing late-game issues that traveled just as far as the team […]

The optics have been complicated, the noise unavoidable, and the questions persistent. Ja Morant’s fence-mending has not been on the floor, the Memphis Grizzlies have slipped into the Western Conference’s play-in tier, and a season that once carried top-six expectations now requires nightly grit just to stay afloat. Still, Jaren Jackson Jr. does not believe […]

The NBA’s All-Star process has never been kind to teams buried at the bottom of the standings, and Trey Murphy III understands that reality as well as anyone. The new-look New Orleans Pelicans started training camp with playoff aspirations, but the season has been derailed by injuries to its most established stars. Dejounte Murray and […]

With the NBA trade deadline looming and the out-of-sorts New Orleans Pelicans sitting in last place in the Western Conference, the typical script would call for a franchise-altering shakeup. However, inside the facility, a narrative built around patience and a potent, burgeoning partnership is still permeating. That is why the front office is reportedly telling […]

Last place has a way of stripping away illusions before the NBA Trade Deadline, and for the voodoo-hexed New Orleans Pelicans, the core questions are glaring. Zion Williamson was supposed to be the closer, the gravitational force who bent late-game possessions to his will. Trey Murphy III has surged into an All-Star-level role, providing spacing […]

The comparisons come with an obvious caveat. Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is a two-time NBA MVP, a championship centerpiece, and one of the most distinctive offensive engines the league has ever seen. Derik Queen is a rookie still learning how to impose himself consistently at the professional level. And yet, inside the New Orleans […]

Tough lessons come quickly and often in the NBA. Unfortunately for the fans, the last-placed looking-for-answers New Orleans Pelicans have learned, sometimes painfully, that their margin for error shrinks dramatically when Herb Jones is not on the floor. It is not simply about losing one of the NBA’s elite perimeter defenders. It is about losing […]

For the first time in his career, Zion Williamson is playing without looking over his shoulder. There is no minutes restriction, no looming medical check-in, just the game’s natural flow and his own stamina dictating his time on the court. That newfound freedom is the foundation for everything else unfolding for the regrouping New Orleans […]