To fill their wish list, Pelicans need to spend wisely

New Orleans Pelicans coach Monty Williams identified a pressing need for next season – improved defense from the center position.

“We would like to have a guy who, night in and night out, you don’t have to help as much on defense,” said Williams.

If quality play in the low post was such a priority, why do the Pelicans have more than $45 million in salary next season tied up in three guards (Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday) and a forward (Ryan Anderson) whose biggest attribute is 3-point shooting? Add All-Star forward Anthony Davis to the mix, and it would seem that the Pelicans have a compelling starting five.

Here’s Monty Williams’ take.

“It is not a five that will get it done defensively, but it is a five that will cause problems for other teams,” he said.

It was an interesting comment from a coach who is three years removed from his lone playoff appearance. It almost seems to throw water on the notion that if healthy next season, the Pelicans will make dramatic improvement in the ultra competitive Western Conference. The fact is, other teams have spent much more wisely.

In the NBA, where guaranteed contracts can often sink a team’s aspirations, getting maximum production from dollars spent is critical. Consider the Chicago Bulls. They lost star guard Derrick Rose again to a knee injury. And, in a salary dump, they traded forward Luol Deng to Cleveland.

But the Bulls still won 48 games because they are getting maximum production for money spent. Guard D.J. Augustin averaged 14.9 points and 5.0 assists this season. Those numbers are almost identical to Tyreke Evans of the Pelicans. Augustin earned $650,215 this season. Evans earned $11.3 million.

Center Joakim Noah was an Eastern Conference All-Star. He averaged 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists. He performed as one of the best big men in the game while earning a reasonable $11.1 million. Bulls small forward Jimmy Butler produced 13.1 points and 4.9 rebounds a game while earning $1.1 million.

Pelicans small forward Al-Farouq Aminu earned more than three times as much as Butler, $3.75 million, while producing 7.2 points and 6.2 rebounds.

The Phoenix Suns won 48 games in the West, 14 more than the Pelicans. They are full of NBA bargains. Guard Goran Dragic averaged 20.3 points and 5.9 assists while earning $7.5 million. Forward Gerald Green earned $3.5 million while scoring 15.8 points a game and averaging 3.4 rebounds.

For small-market NBA teams, the key is to pay a couple of stars and then fill in a complementary roster around them. And, of course, coach them up.

The Pelicans appear to have taken a different approach. They head into the summer with no draft picks and a bloated contract (Gordon’s) that will be difficult to move. “The West (conference) is a beast,” said Williams.

Especially with parts that may not fit.

Ed Daniels is sports director at ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at [email protected].