New Orleans Pelicans: A force to be reckoned with in the making

No one wants anything to do with the New Orleans Pelicans this season

The New Orleans Pelicans finally won a playoff series last season with Anthony Davis at the helm. This season, they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.

Winning 48 games and sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs as the number six seed, the Pelicans garnered the nation’s attention last season. Led by Davis, the Pelicans are well-equipped to do damage in the regular season and make a run at the NBA Finals this spring.

Davis is the best big man in the game. He dominates in the low block, can play out on the perimeter and above the rim, hit the boards on both ends, and is a relentless defender; there’s nothing The Brow can’t do. Last season, he averaged a career-high 28.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game.

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Jrue Holiday is one of the most underrated players in the league. He can get to the rim as well as any other point guard, is a reliable scoring outlet, can find the open man, and is a competent defender. Last season, he averaged a career-high 19.0 points per game. Holiday’s playmaking ability, scoring prowess, and chemistry with Davis has helped the Pelicans offense prosper into what it is today.

Nikola Mirotic has been a superb addition by general manager Dell Demps. Since they acquired him before the NBA trade deadline, Mirotic has fit in with ease. He’s given the Pelicans an outside shooting threat, but also someone who can be relied on to be a focal point of their offense.

In the playoffs, he went wild. Averaging 15.0 points per game and shooting 43.1 percent from beyond the arc, he was an impactful presence on the offensive end. This season, it appears Mirotic will be head coach Alvin Gentry’s starting power forward.

E’Twaun Moore has grown into a reliable “3-and-D” player”. He averaged 12.5 points per game and shot 42.5 percent from beyond the arc last season while serving as one of the Pelicans best perimeter defenders. Solomon Hill is another player who, when heathy, is a competent defender and capable of playing and producing in 20-plus minutes a night.

While an underwhelming scorer, Elfrid Payton is an adequate defender, a good passer, can hit the boards, and was a shrewd signing by management. Meanwhile, Ian Clark was a reliable two-way player in the Pelicans rotation last season.

Off the bench, the Pelicans have some proven names who give them depth, headlined by Julius Randle. Randle is undeniably a starting caliber power forward, but given the presence of Mirotic and how he compliments Davis well, Randle is best suited coming off the bench. And he gives the Pelicans an athletic interior scoring threat as well as an above-average defender.

The Pelicans are hopeful that Darius Miller can continue to be an outside shooting threat off the bench (Miller shot 41.1 percent from beyond the arc last season). If Jahlil Okafor can find a consistent role in the team’s rotation, he can be an offensive threat in the paint; this team is deep, and with a midseason trade, they could have even more ammunition for a deep playoff run.

Collectively, the Pelicans are a team with a little bit of everything. They have a respected head coach, a franchise player, a proven player capable of running an offense, multiple defensive savvy wings, outside shooters, and a talented bench overall. Don’t all of those pieces form a team that does damage in the playoffs?

The Golden State Warriors are the team to beat in the NBA until proven otherwise. And the Utah Jazz are one of the best defensive units in the league and have a young core. But outside of the Warriors and Jazz, who is unbeatable in the West, or viewed as a last resort playoff opponent? The Houston Rockets are a team composed of veteran players in their prime, or on the back nine of their careers and, as a unit, are adjusting to Carmelo Anthony being in the fold.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have the dynamic duo of Russell Westbrook and Paul George, but there are questions regarding their ability to have success in the postseason. The Portland Trail Blazers were swept in the first round of the payoffs last season by the Pelicans and did little to nothing to improve their squad in the offseason.

The San Antonio Spurs are adjusting to life post-Kawhi Leonard with DeMar DeRozan leading the charge. The Minnesota Timberwolves are a soap opera with the Jimmy Butler fiasco and have a complex roster at hand. People are obsessed with how LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will fare, but they ultimately have a roster that may not be built to win this season. The Denver Nuggets are still trying to make the playoffs with their young core, though they are immensely talented.

The Pelicans aren’t perfect. Sure, they were third in the NBA in points per game last season (111.7), but they were also 29th in points surrendered (110.4); they will have to improve defensively to take the next step. Heck, they surrendered 129 points to the Sacramento Kings in a Friday night home victory. But considering the success they had with their abysmal defensive execution last season and the roster maneuvers they made in the offseason, how many teams out West can the Pelicans not overcome in a seven-game series? It’s only a select few, and even against those teams the Pelicans could put up a fight.

Last season, and throughout the second half of the 2016-17 season, the Pelicans tried to force the frontline duo of Davis and DeMarcus Cousins. Sure, it had its fair share of encouraging moments, and the two bigs were getting on the same page with the rest of the Pelicans roster before Cousins suffered a gruesome Achilles injury. But, in today’s NBA, having two superstar big men will fail more often than not.

Now, Davis is playing the five – which some argue is his best position. Rajon Rondo ended up being an impactful presence in their backcourt last season, but the Pelicans are better off with defensive-minded wings and Holiday as the sole lead guard.

There isn’t a team in the NBA that has an answer for Davis. He’s arguably the most complete player in the game outside of LeBron James when considering the skill set he possesses for a big man. And the fact that the Pelicans have a cohesive, gritty, under-the-radar group makes them that much more dangerous.

The Pelicans being poised for a huge season is not generated by their 131-112 win on the road against the Rockets, or their 149-point outburst against the Kings – though it didn’t hurt them. They’re a team that complements each other well, are well-coached, have the best big man in the game, and continue to evolve; no one wants anything to do with the Pelicans this season.