Wikipedia can tell you a lot of things about the brown pelican. They’re “gregarious birds” with bills that range from 11 to a remarkably specific 13.7 inches in length. They were added to the state flag of Louisiana in 1912 and they’re one of only two species of pelican committed enough to dive into the water to hunt.
One thing the free encyclopedia fails to mention, though, is whether the bird can stomach an extended rebuild. Because the basketball team that proudly bears its name definitely can’t.
Following a second straight sub-.400 season-one in which they finished 27-55 and 14th in the Western Conference-the New Orleans Pelicans decided that rather than hold steady and hope for Andrew Wiggins or shed contracts to make a play for a premier free agent, they’d swap role players and first-round draft picks for a pair of athletic ballhandlers with untapped potential.
In the process, they’ve placed all their eggs (incubation period: 28-30 days) in a single basket on the slender shoulders of second-year F/C Anthony Davis. And if Davis doesn’t take a huge leap in his development this season, that basket may just come crashing down to earth.
Additions: Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, Anthony Morrow, Arinze Onuaku, Greg Stiemsma, Jeff Withey
Departures: Robin Lopez, Greivis Vasquez, Xavier Henry, Terrel Harris, Lou Amundson, Roger Mason, Jr.
Vasquez broke out for New Orleans on the offensive side of the ball last season, dishing out nine assists a game (third overall behind Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul) and upping his three-point shooting to an almost-league-average level. But he was a liability on defence, with the then-Hornets allowing 3.7 more points per 100 possessions with the six-foot-six point man on the court.
A strong perimeter stopper capable of guarding ones and twos, Holiday is a massive defensive upgrade for the Pelicans, and his speed should allow the team to get out and run more, taking better advantage of athletic wings Evans and Eric Gordon, and the spot-up shooting provided by Ryan Anderson and newcomer Anthony Morrow.
Key Storylines:
– Can NOLA “win” the Holiday-Nerlens Noel trade? Kentucky standout Noel wasn’t the only asset the Pelicans parted ways with to land Holiday, they also sent a top-five-protected first-round pick to Philadelphia. While a 23-year-old all-star (Holiday) is certainly a safer bet than a rail-thin and unproven sixth-overall pick who also happens to be rehabbing from a torn ACL (Noel), things get a lot murkier if the Pelicans underperform this season, handing Philly a second lottery pick in a loaded 2014 draft.
– Just who’s running this offence? Holiday, Evans and Gordon each have the potential to be absolutely devastating running the pick-and-roll alongside Davis. But how will head coach Monty Williams divide time and touches between three players who are all at their best with the ball in their hands? Benching any one of them for long periods of time is out of the question, which means the Pelicans will be forced to commit heavy minutes to super-small-ball lineups with Evans at the three.
Davis is already one of the most explosive pick-and-roll bigs in the league and Anderson is the NBA’s best three-point-shooting power forward, so the offensive possibilities are exciting to say the least, but the outlook on the defensive side isn’t quite so rosy…
– Heavy is the head that wears the brow. Last season, the Pelicans fielded the 28th-ranked defence in the NBA, allowing 107.6 points per 100 possessions. When Davis and Anderson were on the court together, that number climbed to an abysmal 115 points per 100 possessions. The natural development of Davis’s game should result in him reading opposing offences better and collapsing back to protect the rim more smoothly this season.
But for the Pelicans to have a hope of making the playoffs, the six-foot-10 sophomore’s development will have to be something closer to supernatural. Can The Brow accomplish in his second season what Tyson Chandler did in his fourth?
Breakout Player: Greg Stiemsma. With the loss of Robin Lopez from an already thin frontcourt rotation, somebody has to step up to give Davis the occasional breather. At six-foot-11 and 260 lb., Stiemsma has the size to body up in the paint, and the 1.2 blocks a game he put up with the Timberwolves last season (in only 15.9 minutes of run a night) bode well for his future as a rim protector.
Scale of Decency: Half-decent. They don’t have much depth, play terrible defence and have a Shar Pei’s worth of wrinkles to smooth out on the offensive end, but still the Pelicans are going to be way better than they were last year.
The realities of life in the scary-competitive Southwest will probably keep them out of the playoffs, but if Davis takes that huge leap and Williams sorts out the wing rotation, who knows? Anything’s possible, right?
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