FA: Naji Marshall To DAL | 3yrs/27mil

[surfpuckmd]

I forgot, so sorry - are the guy who doubles as a Pelicans fan, or is that SuperpuckMD?

Here I come to save the day!!!  I am indeed a Pelicans fan as well and also a former season-ticket holder.

Naji is a really good role player.

Excellent defender although not as quick or athletic as DJJ.  Naji is stronger and more physical.   

He was a poor 3-point shooter until last season when he suddenly figured that out.  The Pelicans had a great shooting coach named Fred Vinson and a lot of our players improved similarly under his guidance.

One big plus is that Naji is a tough dude and the player who took the most offense to every dirty hit last season on Zion.  Naji would have gone after Westbrook for all the dirty shit he did to Luka in round 1.  It will be nice to have a badass in the rotation.  I understand Markieff Morris was supposed to be that guy for us but Morris has no on-court value.  

The downside of Naji is that he will periodically make really terrible decisions on offense.  He might decide to shoot a contested 18-footer early in the shot clock.  He might drive to the rim into traffic and get his shot blocked.  He might try a Luka-level pass and throw it out of bounds.  He sometimes decides to try to take the moment over and he's not talented enough on offense to make that happen.  Basically, he doesn't know his limitations as well as DJJ does.  

I think he's a comparable player overall to DJJ and don't expect much drop off.  I would rather he come off the bench and provide energy and tenacity from there.  I'm hoping Klay Thompson is our starting SF this coming season.  A bench unit of Exum, Grimes, Naji, Kleber and Gafford would be among the NBA's best..