If You Can't Handle Me at my Worst, You Don't Deserve Me at my Best

[Ramcus]

30 Games into the 2026-2027 CSL Season, and things look shaky in the Western Conference. There is no clear top team in the West this season, with the top 10 teams having a 4-game difference. As of this posting, 18 December 2026, the Denver Nuggets hold the top seed with an 18-12 record, and the Utah Jazz are the 8th seed with a 15-15 record. I clarify this out distinctly because I want to show how close the West is this early in the season.

For us, we are 16-14 as of this posting. Lauri Markkanen has gone down to injury against the NY Knicks, ending his season early with a torn ACL. Rehab is typically about a year, rendering him incapable to potentially play in the playoffs. So let's address the elephant in the room: Our season is done. That being said, we had a good 30 game run. Let's take a look at the results:

Point Guards
Markelle Fultz: 28 Games Played | 27 Games Started | 31.3 Minutes
11.1 | 3.1 | 5.4 with 1.6 Steals | 0.3 Blocks | 1.4 Turnovers
4.1-10.5 FG 39.2% | 1.2-3.4 3FG 36.2% | 1.7-2.4 FT 72.7%

Kendrick Nunn: 30 Games Played | 2 Games Started | 19.4 Minutes
11.8 | 1.7 | 2.8 with 1.4 Steals | 0.2 Blocks | 1.6 Turnovers
4.4-9.9 FG 44.8% | 1.8-4.2 3FG 41.7% | 1.1-1.5 FT 77.3%

If you didn't know what Markelle Fultz's ratings were and Kendrick Nunn's ratings were, you'd think Nunn is a much better player than Fultz. More efficient on a similar volume, with significantly less minutes played. But no, the star point guard prospect is Markelle Fultz, and the older sophomore Nunn is the time-tested consistent backup combo guard. Truth be told, Fultz has had an extremely disappointing season, and wouldn't be playing point guard if he didn't perform better at that role. He's shockingly inefficient from inside the arc, and has been having pref work done on him all season to get his ass behind the 3 point line. Kendrick Nunn, on the other hand, has been an efficient microwave scorer off the bench all season.

Shooting Guards
Sinan Guler: 29 Games Played | 29 Games Started | 26.3 Minutes
7.9 | 2.1 | 4.9 with 1.6 Steals | 0.1 Blocks | 1.6 Turnovers
3.1-7.1 FG 43.2% | 1.0-2.9 3FG 33.3% | 0.8-0.9 FT 88.9%

Devin Booker: 26 Games Played | 0 Games Started | 21 Minutes
6.4 | 2.4 | 1.4 with 1 Steal | 0.1 Blocks | 0.7 Turnovers
2.4-5.9 FG 40.5% | 1.1-3.0 3FG 36.4% | 0.5-0.6 FT 87.5%

Like I said earlier, Markelle Fultz wasn't supposed to be my point guard. It was supposed to be Sinan Guler, and now that Guler is playing the 2 guard, his role has been severely reduced. As a result, his raw numbers aren't all too impressive. Where Guler makes his money is on the defensive end of the floor. Guler consistently finds himself as the most valuable player on the floor at all times, as seen by his team high +16.3 net rating. He often finds himself as the most vocal defender on the floor, leading the team as our leader on the defensive end of the floor. Guler is the one calling the shots, communicating the loudest on the floor, and making sure everyone is where they need to be. Devin Booker wasn't our only backup shooting guard this season, but he epitomized what we wanted out of our backup shooting guards: some 3 point shooting and some defense.

Small Forwards:
Nassir Little: 30 Games Played | 30 Games Started | 30.4 Minutes
14.6 | 5.7 | 4.3 with 1.9 Steals | 1.1 Blocks | 1.4 Turnovers
5.8-12.4 FG 46.5% | 0.8-2.2 3FG 36.4% | 2.3-3.7 FT 61.6%

Dwayne Bacon: 16 Games Played | 1 Game Started | 18.9 Minutes
6.2 | 3.5 | 1.1 with 0.8 Steals | 0.1 Blocks | 0.6 Turnovers
2.7-5.4 FG 49.4% | 0.2-0.6 3FG 33.3% | 0.6-0.7 FT 90.9%

This is the part of the article where I gush about Nassir Little this season, and if you don't like it well too bad. Nassir Little has been a revelation this season, coming out as an efficient scorer on one end of the floor, and a wall for opposing wings on the other end of the floor. As of this post, Nassir Little is shooting 52.1% True Shooting percentage, making him an acceptable volume scorer on good efficiency. He's also hit a career high in efficiency, at 18.1, good for 40th in the league. On the defensive end of things, Nassir Little has filled out much(but not all) of his defensive potential. Little is a terror on the ball, often at the head of our defensive scheme. He was the one getting the most difficult assignment night after night, and has responded accordingly. With the 2nd highest net rating on the team at +15.9, Nassir Little is making his argument for the Most Improved Player Award(which many GMs believe it has already gone to Isaiah Cousins) and an All-Defensive selection. It may be tough, but Little's got the defensive acumen for it. Little's got it all as a complementary piece on a contending team: secondary scoring, secondary creation, low turnover rate, elite man defender, elite turnover creator.

Power Forwards
Lauri Markkanen: 30 Games Played | 30 Games Started | 32.9 Minutes
24.4 | 8.7 | 1.0 with 0.8 Steals | 0.7 Blocks | 1.9 Turnovers
9.8-19.7 FG 49.7% | 1.4-4.1 3FG 33.1% | 3.4-3.8 FT 91.2%

Nikola Jokic: 30 Games Played | 0 Games Started | 17.1 Minutes
9.0 | 3.8 | 1.7 with 0.4 Steals | 0.2 Blocks | 1.0 Turnovers
3.5-6.3 FG 56.4% | 0.5-1.0 3FG 53.3% | 1.4-1.5 FT 89.1%

Sigh...before this season-ending injury, Markkanen was having a career year. All-Star lock and potential to be on the CSL All-League team again. Sadly, those hopes and dreams have crashed and burned this season, after going down with a season-ending torn ACL. Are there any positives to look at? No lol, we don't even have a replacement power forward. Nikola Jokic played backup C for us mostly, and our remaining guys are Wenyen Gabriel and Bonzie Colson. Not exactly the crème de la crème of the league. And I was hoping we were having some good injury luck this season, with many other teams struggling with major injury issues and us not having many issues ourselves.

Centers
Damian Jones: 30 Games Played | 29 Games Started | 24.1 Minutes
5.9 | 8.2 | 0.6 with 0.5 Steals | 1.8 Blocks | 1.2 Turnovers
2.7-5.1 FG 53.2% | N/A 3FG | 0.4-0.7 FT 61.9%

In my world, if I don't have much to say about you, that means you're doing a good job. Typically, if I have anything to say, it's either a good thing or a bad thing. So for me to have nothing to say about Damian Jones is wonder, as he's played his role to perfection. Lobs and dunks on offense, and staying alert and effective on defense.

Team Stats to Note: Pelicans | Opponents:
PPG: 103.1(12th) | 100.1(12th)
3PM-A: 8.8-23.8(36.9% 21st) | 8.9-21.8(41% 27th)
Assists: 25.0(5th) | 22.7(13th)
FG%: 46.4%(13th) | 45.7%(16th)
Off/Deff: 100.6(12th) | 97.7(18th)
O/D EFG%: 46.9(13th) | 46.2(15th)
O/D TO%: 11.6(6th) | 15.5(4th)
TO per game: 12.5(6th) | 16.7(3rd)
STL: 10.7(4th) | 7.2(5th)
BLK: 5.1(29th) | 6.3(11th)

These stats tell the story of a team who's balanced on the offensive end(but with limited options), and imbalanced on the defensive end. On the offense, we're solid but unspectacular. We have a very impressive assist:turnover ratio, and are generally efficient with our shot selection. Overall, solid but expected offensive numbers for a middle-of-the-pack team. Swapping sides, our imbalance on the defensive end is rather impressive. In an attempt to hide Markkanen's defensive flaws, 1st year Head Coach Renard Grant has implemented a scheme focused on taking away a team's floor general, and forcing them to go into 2nd and 3rd scoring options. Running a point-of-attack defense lead by Sinan Guler and Nassir Little, Grant has implemented a defense that is 5th in the league in steals per game, 3rd in turnovers created, and opposing ball handlers often fear playing against this team defense. That being said, there are some obvious flaws with the defense. Grants defense is heavily guard-focused, leading to easy buckets at the rim for bigger players. This is seen by the teams porous perimeter defense; even with our high turnover rate, we still allow for an average scoring percentage.

Grant deserves a lot of credit, even with the offseason roster overhaul. We went from allowing 106.6 point per game, good for 27th in the league, last season to 100.1 this season, launching this team from horrible defensively to at least average.

Well that's it. It may seem a bit early to be doing a season review, but in my eyes the season's over. We're already looking towards the draft. It was a fun 30 game run, and I'm looking forward to how this team looks next season. I'll do another review once the season officially ends, but this is our season done.

[Jestor]

The MIP award is going to generate some interesting discussion - Cousins, Little, Diallo the Younger.. you can make an argument for all three players, and team record might end up being the deciding factor.

Tough blow with losing Lauri but you have your own pick this year. I wouldn't necessarily panic and start dealing guys off for rebuilding pieces. Stay the course, experiment with different schemes and lineups to see if you can make something work without Lauri, and then come back next season.

[bt]

MPJ for MIP!

[bt]

Really sucks and 350+ days is brutal but like Tim said, you own your pick luckily and gear up for next season. Just need to stay afloat for the first 25 or so games until Lauri returns.

[OneNole]

This should have been an insider.

Unfortunately,I know how it feels to lose a player for so long. Just mine isnt as talented as lauri.

You could always trade him to me and I can send you a piece to keep your playoff Hope's alive

[Flaming Homer]

Really sucks and 350+ days is brutal but like Tim said, you own your pick luckily and gear up for next season. Just need to stay afloat for the first 25 or so games until Lauri returns.

This

I hope Little or Fultz can step up a bit and show that they can carry more of the load.
The start of the season looked strong, build on it.

[cb4raptorscb4]

Man, that's a really tough break (or should I say tear )

Obviously going to be really tough without him. I'm super curious to see how Little plays now. He really found himself so far this season but will now have a bigger load to carry.

[rh0xxy]

Tough tough break losing your best player, but it still a long stretch til the end of the regular season, maybe you can find something to keep your Playoff hopes alive

[emplep7]

Yeah, never something anyone wants to see (especially with how your team was playing) but like others have said at least you have your pick still. The only bright side is this will allow the other players to assume a bigger role and show you what you need to improve on for next season in regards to those players/positions, but you also never know what could happen and might still be able to slip into the playoffs.

[Marcos_Beck]

Really sad to see the best player for an improving team going down like that. But focus on the next season, try to add a good player in this year's draft and with all youth and multiple contracts expiring in the next two years, your team will only be better from now on.

[Andrewu91]

Tough break man. Your team was starting to play well to. But Fultz will definitely step up now and hopefully the rest of the roster does also.

I feel bad Lauri got injured against JJJ/Zion. Zion is a dirty player it seems, like SJJ was for me. He's lucky he's talented or he would be traded.

[Sharkn20]

Excellent read man, this should be an insider.

I love not having to face Markkanen, but at the same time I feel empathy and sorry about this loss, I hope this doesn't become a norm and derails his career. You have great pieces out there still, I still think you will be at the top of the table when everything is said and done.

[TheTwoWallaces]

You were off to your best start yet as a GM. Tough tough break. Now you have free reign to tinker and experiment and come back stronger than ever next season

[GreenBear]

Well this really sucks, but obligatory comment about you owning your own pick at least haha.

Take some time to let things settle and then formulate your plan. Good news is you have plenty of time before the trade deadline to figure out what direction you want to go and make moves. Looking forward to seeing what you do.