The Statement Year

Dylan Mckneely • October 25, 2023

2023-2024 New Orleans Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans begin their 2023-2024 season tonight against the Memphis Grizzles. Will this be the year that the Pelicans finally put it all together? There may be some added motivation for the Pelicans according to General Manager Trajan Langdon, "We're excited about this year, there's a bitter taste in the mouths of all our players with the way we ended last year and with all the injuries. We weren't able to show what we were truly capable of. When players aren't being talked about and the league forgets about your impact, they have an edge when coming in," says Langdon. It goes without saying, this is a statement year for the New Orleans Pelicans, the question is... what statement is being made?


"I'm Back." - Zion

"What I worked on was being unguardable." The media day quote heard around the World... Or around the entire state of Louisiana at least. Zion Williamson is poised to begin the 2023-2024 season fully healthy and fully motivated. Williamson replaced his patented smile and childlike enthusiasm, with a more business like approached to media day. This new approached didn't show early return in the preseason, often playing uninspiring basketball. One could contribute Williamson's lack luster play to start the preseason to getting acclimated to playing in a NBA game for the first time since January 2,2023 against the Philadelphia 76ers, or it could be adjusting to a new offensive scheme. Zion put all of those worries to rest in the final preseason game, coming out not just locked in offensively as he normally is but also displaying high level effort on the defensive end. Finishing the game with five(5) steals and two(2) blocks, schematically the Pelicans played Williamson as more of a free safety resembling his role at Duke University. This defensive revelation could pay huge dividends if it translates into the season. While all of these things are a welcome site playing the game is not the problem for Zion, it's his availability to play the game that is. When on the floor Zion is a MVP candidate and the Pelicans are a Top 3 team in the West. Yes, Zion is back... but is he here to stay?

 

Need I Remind You?

After a disappointing showing at the FIBA World Cup, Brandon Ingram enters the 2023-2024 with something to prove... That he is one of the best basketball players in the NBA. Coming off a year where he averaged 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assist per game, a strong argument can be made that we have yet to see Brandon Ingram fully put it all together. Could this be the year that he shows the World  what it witnessed at the FIBA World Cup was an anomaly and this is the year we finally see Brandon Ingram become the complete basketball player. Like Zion the true achilles heel of Brandon is also his availability. Ingram suited up to play in 45 games in the 2022-2023 season, well below what you'd desire to see from one of your star players.  One can only hope that a motivated Brandon Ingram is not only enough to elevate his play, but also the play of the New Orleans Pelicans as a whole. A unhealthy Pelicans team led by a motivated and dare a say angry Brandon Ingram took a fully loaded Phoenix Suns to a game six(6) in the playoffs. Coming in to the season already in playing shape with an added edge the 26 year old going into his eighth season in the association, is looking and expected to take his game to an even higher level.


Will The Real Coach Green Please Stand Up?

According to LinkedIn, it takes 3 to 5 years to create culture in a workplace. This statistic tells us that, this year is the year we should truly see the Willie Green imprint on this Pelicans team. Not only from a statistical standpoint but from a continuity point as well. The Pelicans go into the 2023=2024 season with the same starting five for  consecutive seasons for the first time in the Willie Green era. Coach Green added James Borrego to his coaching staff with the intent of transforming the offensive scheme into a more up pace free flowing modern style. One that supplements the personal and desired playing style of this current iteration of Pelicans. Some would say this is a make or break year for the Pelicans, placing a lot of the burden on Coach Green to get the best out of his often injured superstars. Has the Coach Green Culture fully set in, and is it one that can succeed even in the midst of uncertainty? Only time and the wins and loss total will tell.


The Moral Of The Story

There will be a statement made this year one way or another. This statement hinges heavily on the three individuals mentioned above. According to Ceasars Sportsbook Zion is a 18/1 favorite to win the MVP trophy. The Pelicans as a whole are projected to finish anywhere from 3rd to 11th in the Western Conference according to CBS Sports. The table is set for the Pelicans to finally step into the sustained success that continuous to allude them. With the maturation into stardom of Trey Murphy, the continued development of Herb Jones and Dyson Daniels, the return of double double machine Jonas Valanciunas, and the addition of young sniper the Pelicans have the pieces necessary to be a hard out for any team on any given night... The only question is will the top guys be available to lead the charge. In the words of Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin "Hope Is Not A Plan." Let's hope that the plan the Pelicans have in place will lead to a deep playoff run.

- Dylan Mckneely (@DylanMckneely)

A quick share helps us a lot!

By David Rainey July 19, 2025
It’s that time of year again. The excitement of All-Star weekend and the Homerun Derby are behind us, and it’s on to the second half of the MLB season. This is the time where the great teams separate themselves from the good teams. It’s the time for teams to show whether they should be considered contenders or pretenders. And with this time of the year, of course, comes the MLB trade deadline. Arguably the most intriguing trade deadline of all the major sports. Fringe teams will have to decide whether to be buyers or sellers, and the great teams will mortgage their futures for one player they believe will take them to the promise land. Now, as out of left-field as the ending to this year’s All-Star weekend was (raise your hand if you also weren’t aware that swing offs were a thing), the MLB trade deadline features something much more curious. The Player to Be Named Later. You see, as most of us know, it’s extremely common in Major League Baseball for a team like the Padres, for example, to sell off a handful of their top prospects at the trade deadline for a lefty reliever they hope will help them navigate the difficult waters that is the postseason. But what some people aren’t aware of (outside of us baseball nerds of course) is the use of something, or someone more specifically, called the “Player to Be Named Later (PTBNL)” in these trade scenarios. For those of you who don’t know, here’s a quick explanation of what exactly the phrase “Player to Be Named Later” means. In baseball, when a team isn’t sure exactly which prospect they want in return or when they are trying to finesse the roster management rules, they will accept a “Player to Be Named Later” in return in a trade. This gives that team the opportunity to further evaluate players and choose who they want in return at a later date. This doesn’t mean that the team will just be able to choose a superstar down the road, there are limitations placed on who can be chosen, and most of the time the player ends up being just another player lost in baseball lore. However, sometimes these PTBNL turn out to be more than just a journeyman or even lead to oddities that only baseball can provide. So, what are the most famous cases of Players to Be Named Later? Well, I’m glad you asked. Let’s start with the not so unexpected scenario that actually led to the PTBNL rules to be changed. Trea Turner Before 2015, there was a rule in place in the MLB in which prevented players from being traded for a year after being drafted. Trea Turner was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the first round of the 2014 Draft which meant, you guessed it, he wasn’t eligible to be traded until the following year. However, in December of 2014 the Padres, Nationals, and Rays agreed to mega-deal that involved 11 players AND a Player to Be Named Later. So, what does this have to do with Turner? Well, everyone was aware of who that PTBNL would be. Trea Turner. But as I mentioned before, he wasn’t allowed to be traded yet. So Turner had to spend the beginning of the next season playing for the Padres who had already traded him. This led to a rule change in MLB before the next draft to avoid this situation ever playing out again. But where is Trea Turner now? He’s certainly no journeyman. He had an incredible start to his career with the Nationals, before being traded (again) to the Dodgers with Max Scherzer in 2021. He eventually signed a $300 million deal with the Phillies where he still plays and remains one of the best players in Major League Baseball. But is he the best PTBNL of all time? Not quite. David Ortiz Big Papi. Ever heard of him? Sure you have. But did you know he wasn’t always the mashing lefty for the Red Sox that we know and love? That’s right. Early on in David Ortiz’s career he actually struggled to find a place in the league; and at one point, was even a Player to Be Named Later in a trade. He actually started his career with the Seattle Mariners, but he doesn’t mean much to the Mariners franchise outside of being a PTBNL in a trade in 1996 with the Minnesota Twins for Dave Hollins. As a matter of fact, not only was Ortiz not the player we know on the field, he wasn’t even David Ortiz on paper. At the time, he was actually known as David Arias. You might be thinking, “Wow. The Mariners really traded BIG PAPI.” Trust me when I tell that the Twins feel even worse. Ortiz would play a handful of seasons for the Twins from 1997-2002; however, even after a solid season in 2002 with the Twins, they would go on to RELEASE Ortiz. That’s right. Even one of the greatest players to ever step foot on a baseball diamond was not only traded as PTBNL but was also outright released. Of course in 2003, David Ortiz would go on to join the Boston Red Sox. Ten All-Star games, 3 World Series Championships, a World Series MVP, and a Hall of Fame selection later, David Ortiz would go down in baseball history as one of the most feared batters of all time, and the legend we know him as today Big Papi. What is the oddest Player to Be Named Later situation? There is a rare, but always delightfully bizarre situation in which a player is traded for himself as a Player to Be Named Later. This hilariously absurd scenario is so rare that it has only happened four times in the history of Major League Baseball. Harry Chiti – traded from the then Cleveland Indians to the Mets in 1962 for a PTBNL. However, he was so bad that the Mets decided trade him back to Cleveland as the PTBNL Brad Gulden – traded (with $100,000) from the Yankees to the Mariners for Larry Milbourne and a PTBNL in 1980. Once again, he performed so poorly that the Mariners traded him back to New York as the PTBNL in the original trade. Are you sensing a theme? Dickie Noles – In 1987 the Cubs traded him to the Tigers for a Player to Be Named Later. Sadly, he didn’t do enough during the Tigers playoff run that year for them to want to keep him around. So, they shipped back to the Windy City to complete the trade as the PTBNL. John McDonald – The most recent example. He was acquired by Detroit, who clearly didn’t learn anything in 1987, from the Blue Jays in 2005 for, that’s right, a PTBNL. Later that year, he was sent back to Canada for cash considerations. There you go. Next time you’re hanging out with your buddies on the back porch naming random athletes from your pass, feel free to drop in a “Dickie Noles” reference and explain the wonderful scenario of him being traded for himself. Baseball is such a beautiful sport in so many ways. For many of us, it’s the first sport we play as children, or the sport we remember watching with our grandparents on the living room floor. It has such an iconic and rich history. It’s known as “America’s past time” for a reason. But throughout that history, there are so many things that have happened that can only be described as strange and uniquely baseball. And that’s why we love it. So, when you’re scrolling social media or watching ESPN this trade deadline season and see that stud middle reliever traded for nothing but a Player to Be Named Later, maybe you won’t just brush it off this time around. Maybe you’ll wait to see who that player becomes, and maybe they’ll end up being another great piece of baseball trivia.
July 14, 2025
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