NBA Previews: New Orleans Pelicans 5th Place: Southwest Division

by James Finneral

The New Orleans Pelicans are a young and talented team with a lot of potential. Despite their great talent the Pelicans have not been able to produce a winning season since Chris Paul was a resident in New Orleans.

The Pelicans do have a component that all playoff caliber teams must have and that's a proven star that can lead the team to victory. That star's name is Anthony Davis. Davis has played just two years in the NBA after being selected as the number one overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. After a noteworthy rookie year Davis stepped it up big time in 2013-2014 averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds and nearly 3 blocks per game. At this point in his career Davis has already made a stacked Western Conference All Star team and is regarded as one of the top power forwards in the game. The Pelicans know that Davis will do his fair share of work for the team, but everyone else has to step up for them to be successful.

Potential Starting Lineup:

PG: Jrue Holliday 

SG: Eric Gordon

SF: Tyreke Evans

PF: Ryan Anderson

C: Anthony Davis

This is a well balanced starting five, but it is not etched in stone quite yet. After acquiring Omar Asik from the Houston Rockets, the Pelicans now have the ability to play Anthony Davis as their power forward. With Ryan Anderson in the starting lineup Davis must play center. Although Asik will balance the starting five even more, Anderson has proven to be a nice compliment to Davis. Anderson is an efficient scorer and rebounder and the Pelicans can certainly stick with him in the starting lineup. As young as their starting lineup is, their bench is even younger consisting of a few rookies such as Russ Smith and Patric Young as well as other young players in Jeff Whitey and Austin Rivers. These players will be decent coming off the bench, but they will only improve as the years move on.

The Pelicans have enough talent to compete against the top teams in the league, but they have to come together or they will not accomplish anything. This team will keep inching closer and closer to a playoff spot, but being stuck in a tough division as well as a tough conference will make the road for the Pelicans very difficult.