I don’t think it’s fair to make the superstar caveat when you have Steph and the Celtics who are on the other side.
In last year’s playoffs, 6 of the top 8 out of 16 teams who had the highest % of points from the midrange moved on to the 2nd round. 7 was 9th in the category and 8 was the Boston Celtics.
That category more than any other scoring category had the highest correlation of success of teams that moved on. Only the Celtics, who has one of the best rosters in basketball, bucked the trend pretty much. The Knicks best player Brunson is of course elite in the midrange as well.
The bottom 4 teams in % of points from 3 all made the 2nd round. 2 of them made the conference finals.
A table featuring scoring information for each team in the league based on selected filters.
www.nba.com
The Pelicans more than anything else needs a PG who focuses primarily on distributing instead of having CJ play the role of scorer and distributor in one.
A lineup of a real PG, CJ, BI, Zion, and Val looks much better than the same lineup but Herb Jones thrown in there. Malcolm Brogdon is begging for a contender to save him from Portland.