New Orleans Pelicans 2016-17 Season Outlook: A Return To The Playoffs?
Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans and Quincy Pondexter are just some of the players that missed large portions of last year’s campaign. The Pelicans lost the most games to injuries and illness in the entire NBA last season.
In fact, the Pelicans joined only three other teams in the past decade to trot out more than 40 different starting lineups in one season (according to Elias Sports Bureau).
Now the New Orleans Pelicans are looking to put that all behind them this season as they strive to reach the playoffs again. Some big offseason acquisitions were made and some long time stalwarts in the Big Easy were let go in order to make room for them.
Oct 4, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Buddy Hield (24) during the second half of a game against the Indiana Pacers at the Smoothie King Center. The Pacers defeated the Pelicans 113-96. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Offseason Recap
Here’s a quick recap of New Orleans’ offseason:
NBA Draft:
Free Agency Additions:
Free Agency Subtractions:
Next: Depth Chart
Jan 13, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry on the sideline during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Depth Chart
PG: Jrue Holiday, Langston Galloway, Tim Frazier, Quinn Cook
SG: Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, E’Twaun Moore, Lance Stephenson
SF: Solomon Hill, Quincy Pondexter, Alonzo Gee, Shane Dawson
PF: Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, Dante Cunningham
C: Omer Asik, Alexis Ajinca, Cheick Diallo, Robert Sacre
Second-year head coach Alvin Gentry certainly has his work cut out for him with this roster. There are so many possible lineups Gentry could roll out and if this season is anything like last season, he won’t really have a choice at what lineup he’d like.
Instead, let’s imagine everyone somehow becomes 100 percent healthy (excluding Jrue Holiday, who is currently out not injured but supporting his wife who has a brain tumor and just delivered their first child).
Holiday’s out so who starts at point? Galloway? Frazier? Evans? If Evans starts at point guard, will Hield be able to come in straight away and not be a liability? How about Stephenson? Can he find his form in New Orleans and earn a starting gig? What about small forward? Does Hill or Pondexter start? Does Davis start at power forward or center? If Davis is starting at center, who starts at power forward?
These are all questions that Gentry will need to answer and answer quickly if he wants his team to push for a playoff berth.
Sep 23, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) poses for a portrait during media day at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Strengths: Anthony. Fricken. Davis.
New Orlean’s biggest strength is their superstar, Anthony Davis. Aside from maybe Karl-Anthony Towns, there is no young superstar that any NBA team would love to start building a team around other than Davis.
In 2014-15, his best (and healthiest) season in the NBA, he averaged 24.4 points a game, 10.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.5 steals and a league-leading 2.9 blocks.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, in just his third season in the NBA, he led the league in PER (Player Efficiency Rating) at 30.81, the twelfth highest in NBA/ABA History.
Marred by injuries in 2015-16, Davis is looking to show the world what he can do once again at the peak of his powers.
There are not many glaring strengths that this team has demonstrated to us yet. After all, many of the players will be enjoying their first season in New Orleans in 2016-17 and the ones that have been around for a while have often been injured.
But there is one thing that New Orleans does have in its arsenal – and his name in Anthony Davis.
Mar 30, 2016; San Antonio, TX, USA; New Orleans Pelicans center Omer Asik (3) reaches for a rebound against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Weaknesses: Injuries and Center Problems
I don’t think I really need to talk anymore about the concerning injury problems surrounding this team. It was the biggest storyline of the team last season and it will continue to be if the players aren’t able to stay healthy.
This weakness is mostly uncontrollable, to be honest. Unfortunately, injuries are a part of professional sports and the Pelicans will just have to learn to deal with them if they come up.
On the other hand, one problem that Alvin Gentry will need to solve is who is playing at the center position due to the lack of depth at that spot.
Both Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca have proven that they are weak links in the starting lineup and create a glaring weakness for the Pelicans’ roster.
It’ll be very surprising if either Cheick Diallo or Robert Sacre step up in a large way but, without relying on that improbably low possibility, the Pelicans will struggle to find a lineup where they can be successful.
The liabilities of Asik and Ajinca often render them unplayable, forcing Davis to man the center spot. This means that someone else needs to play power forward. Maybe Terrence Jones plays well enough to earn that starting role and be competent enough to allow the Pelicans to keep Asik and Ajinca seated firmly on the bench
Otherwise, the Pelicans are in for a long season once again.
Oct 1, 2016; Bossier City, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Lance Stephenson (5) dribbles on Dallas Mavericks forward Nicolas Brussino (9) during the second half at CenturyLink Center. New Orleans won 116-102. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports
X-Factor – Lance Stephenson
The Pelicans’ most important player is Anthony Davis.
The Pelicans’ second most important player is Jrue Holiday.
But the Pelicans’ X-Factor is none other Lance Stephenson.
Every team since leaving Indiana, we’ve asked: “Is this the team where Lance finally gets his groove back? Is this when he starts leading the league in triple-doubles again? Is this the season where ‘Born Ready’ is ready to return to near all-star level play?”
Stephenson struggled to find a NBA contract for this season but the Pelicans decided to take a chance on Lance, something that I advised the Oklahoma City Thunder to do back in July.
At only 26, who knows what Lance is capable of? He may never return to the level of success he achieved in Indiana but he could come close. In the second half of last season, after being traded to Memphis, he averaged a career-high 14.2 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting and made them better when he was on the court (plus 5.2 per 100 possessions).
If the Pelicans and head coach Alvin Gentry can just get even a little bit of the old Lance to show in New Orleans, then this team will be much better prepared for a playoffs push.
Davis and Holiday may be more important for the success of the Pelicans but Stephenson just may determine what they can achieve this season.
Oct 4, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Buddy Hield (24) during the second half of a game against the Indiana Pacers at the Smoothie King Center. The Pacers defeated the Pelicans 113-96. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Season Prediction
Anything less than a return to the playoffs will be viewed as failure for this franchise. Maybe that’s an unfair judgement but it’s a judgement that deserve to be given out when you have a superstar like Anthony Davis on your team.
It will be very interesting to see how Hield performs as a rookie and coming off a historically great college career. If Stephenson is the X-Factor, Hield is the X-Factor if Stephenson flames out before December (which is a possibility, despite his potential).
With so many injury concerns and questions regarding how the team will match up against other teams, it’s hard to imagine the Pelicans grasping anything higher than a 7 or 8 seed out West.
In their worst case scenario, the Pelicans lose their core to injury again and finish with 30 or less wins again.
I think that the Pelicans will be somewhere in between their best and worst case scenarios. While they won’t achieve the success they crave, they also won’t succumb o so many injuries like they did last season.
Prediction: 38-44, 5th in Southwest, 10th in Western Conference
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