With the New Orleans Pelicans scheduled to play their first preseason game tomorrow in Chicago, training camp came to a close today. Here’s a few thoughts on my observations from attending all of the practice sessions this week.
Elfrid Payton is going to be a big part of the Pelicans plans this season. Believe it or not, Payton looked good on both sides of the ball. Despite lacking complete familiarity with new teammates yet, he initiated the offense well that led to a number of easy scores — including a number of solidly placed lobs in Anthony Davis’s direction, showed fantastic aggression off the dribble — seemingly scoring at will on the first day, and proved an irritant defensively, getting his hands on a number of balls in the passing lanes.