NBA Power Rankings: The Southwest Division

Mar 24, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward

(23) celebrates with forward

(1) during the fourth quarter of a game against the Brooklyn Nets at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Nets 109-104 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

5. New Orleans Pelicans

Record (Last Season): 34-48

Key Addition(s): Omer Asik, Jimmer Fredette

Key Losses: Al-Farouq Aminu

The Pelicans shored up one of their major weaknesses, have a potential MVP-type player and welcome back an All-Star guard from injury and still might be the fifth-best team in the Southwest Division.

Omer Asik was acquired by trade from the Rockets, giving New Orleans a solid scorer, rebounder and rim-protector to help franchise cornerstone Anthony Davis. In just his third season, Davis’ expanding skillset has drawn comparison to some of the elite players in NBA history. And Jrue Holiday, who only played 24 games last season, will resume his spot in the starting lineup.

This team must find a way to blend together these great individual talents, and find the team-wide chemistry and stability it sorely lacked last season. In the East, they might compete for a top-seed but here, unless everything works out perfectly, they’ll be on the outside looking in at the playoffs.