2017-2018 New Orleans Pelicans Preview: How Far Can The Frontcourt Take Them?


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2016-17 Record: 34-48

Players Added: Rajon Rondo (FA), Frank Jackson (Trade/Draft), Ian Clark (FA), Darius Miller (FA), Ater Majok (Draft Rights via Trade), Dwayne Bacon (Draft), Edmond Sumner (Draft)

Players Lost: Donatas Motiejunas (FA), Dante Cunningham (FA), Tim Frazier (Trade), Quinn Cook (FA), Axel Toupane (FA),

Projected Team MVP: Anthony Davis

Sports are a lot easier than most people like to admit. For example, you can probably find someone who is willing to say someone other than Anthony Davis will be the Pelicans’ MVP next season. That person is either trying way too hard to have a contrarian opinion, or has not watched basketball since 2010 and thinks Rondo is still the guy who tore it up for the Boston Celtics.

The answer is Anthony Davis. It is going to be Anthony Davis until the day he leaves the organization. He has been so good for so long on a team that gets forgotten about that some people might think he’s overrated or something. That is not true. Davis is awesome, a matchup nightmare who can do basically anything on the basketball court and has carried a Pelicans franchise that has not put a ton of pieces around him farther than they should go.

The good news is that Davis has a second banana now in DeMarcus Cousins, who should free him up to roam all over the place and impact the game in whatever way the Pelicans need. It is going to be awesome, and could mean that we see the best season of Davis’ career. Seeing as how he put up the 12th-best PER ever in 2014-15, that’s a high bar to reach, but he can do it.
Team X-Factor: E’Twaun Moore

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The Pelicans have the best 1-2 frontcourt punch in the NBA, and it’s hard to argue against that. The issue is New Orleans’ biggest issue the past few years — backcourt and wing help — is still a major issue. Sure, everything will revolve around what they get out of Davis and Cousins, but their jobs will be a whole heck of a lot easier if they get some support from the guys around them.

We know what Rondo is at this point, while Jrue Holiday played well when he took the floor last season. There will be opportunities for someone to shine while defenses mainly focus on the frontcourt and Holiday. That person is the team’s x-factor: E’Tauwn Moore.

While he has never been a star, Moore settled into a nice role on the Pelicans last season as a strong wing defender who can hit jump shots when they’re available. As the team’s de facto 3-and-D wing, he will be looked to with the hopes that he can defend the opposing team’s best perimeter player when the opportunity presents itself and hit open shots when they’re there.

If he can do exactly what the Pelicans need him to do, that would be a massive boost on the wings, which makes life easier for everyone else on the floor. If not? Well, New Orleans has gone the last few years with issues popping up on the perimeter, they should know how to survive by now.

Best Case Scenario:

The Cousins-Davis pairing works, Rondo is able to play within himself all season, and Holiday looks like a fringe All-Star on the perimeter. All of the issues about wing depth are overblown, with guys like Moore, Solomon Hill, and Ian Clark filling in the gaps that pop up throughout the course of the season.

Sure, they don’t come close to winning the division, but that’s more because the division is stacked. Still, the Pelicans make it into the postseason comfortably as a five or six seed that no one wants to play, and they manage to win one playoff series before running into Golden State or Oklahoma City in the second round. One the season ends, Cousins makes a long-term commitment to the franchise, letting them build around the Cousins-Davis-Holiday trio for the foreseeable future.
Worst Case Scenario:

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If things go south for this team, it’s because that frontcourt duo doesn’t work out for some reason. Maybe there’s just not enough around them and teams are able to focus all of their attention on stopping Cousins and Davis. Maybe the two don’t develop any kind of chemistry and it’s just an awkward fit that doesn’t work outside of NBA 2K. Who knows.

But in a worst case scenario, Holiday, Rondo, Moore, and the rest of the non-big men underperform, while Cousins and Davis struggle. Sensing an opportunity, a team with championship aspirations swoops in to acquire Cousins, and the Pelicans don’t get nearly as much in return as they should for a player of his caliber. Davis is disgruntled, and with another missed postseason appearance, we begin hearing rumblings about how he’s questioning whether he wants to stay in New Orleans with another two years on his deal.

This all happens on the heels of the Atlanta Falcons winning the Super Bowl.

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