Five Things To Watch: New Orleans Pelicans

At this point last season, the feeling surrounding the New Orleans Pelicans was one of hope. The team had just gone through a rebranding, acquired Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday in the offseason and was ready for Anthony Davis to take his first step towards stardom after an up-and-down rookie season.

Unfortunately for the Pelicans, all that hope ended quickly when the injury bug bit the team early and often and eventually cost the team any hope they had at the playoffs. Davis, Holiday, Evans, Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson and Jason Smith all missed chunks of games due to an assortment of problems,  which included serious injuries to both Anderson and Holiday and never allowed the Pelicans to even get a feel for what their newly built core could do.

This season, the Pelicans and their fans are yet again full of excitement and hope. Along with a new court and new alternate uniforms, the team acquired Omer Asik from the Houston Rockets for essentially nothing and watched Davis blossom during the FIBA World Cup into a terrifying force who seems destined to break into the conversation of the five best players in basketball sooner rather than later.

With Anderson and Holiday back from their injuries and Gordon entering the season as healthy as he has been in years, the Pelicans are primed to have a shot to bring the playoffs back to New Orleans for the first time since the 2010-2011 season.

Here are five things to watch as they try to do it.

1. How high can Anthony Davis climb? At just 21, Davis has all of the skills to be the next great NBA star and is one of many reasons the Pelicans should be a League Pass favorite for everyone this season. Davis is one of the most athletically gifted big men in in basketball and has an uncanny feel for the game which has helped him become a force. Combine the athleticism and feel with a 7-5 1/2 wingspan, guard-like ball handling and a jumper that is already consistent to 18 feet and Davis borders on unstoppable.

Davis started to put things together at the end of last season, including a 40-point, 21-rebound, three-assist, three-block game against Boston. He has supposedly added a corner three and more muscle to his frame this summer. With Asik on board to save him the pounding of dealing with centers, it seems like a matter of if, not when, Davis becomes a top-five player.

2. Can the Pelicans stay healthy? Tyreke Evans is already out a few weeks with a hamstring injury, which isn’t a great sign for a team that lost last season to injuries. The Pelicans’ best six players (Davis, Holiday, Evans, Asik, Gordon and Anderson) are as good as any team in the league when healthy.

The problem is Davis and Gordon always seem to miss a few games a season, and Holiday and Anderson are coming off serious (though fluky) injuries. If New Orleans can’t keep all six of those guys healthy for at least 75 games, making the playoffs in a tough Western Conference may not be possible.

3. Does Monty Williams feel the pressure? Right or wrong, Williams’ job security probably depends on making the playoffs this season. That could potentially be a good thing, though, if he is willing to break his old routines to solve some of his team’s problems. Williams has a reputation for sticking to his guns and not being an easy coach to play under for young players, but he claims he learned that he needs to relax and let his guys play while he coached on the Team USA staff at the FIBA World Cup.

If Williams does that and finds creative ways to get his best six players on the floor for as many minutes as possible, the Pelicans will be in good shape. If he doesn’t and remains stuck to the old ideals of what a player should be in order to play a position, the Pelicans are going to get a lot of minutes from John Salmons and be in trouble. When things go south – which they inevitably will for a stretch with a young team – will Monty go back to what he knows or trust his best players to right the ship? The answer to that question should decide a lot for the Pelicans.

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4. Who plays small forward? The only glaring weakness on the roster at the moment is at small forward. Right now, the options at that spot include the injured and small Evans; the old, slow veteran John Salmons, who may have nothing left in the tank; the young, unproven Darius Miller, who hasn’t shown the ability to be at least a neutral on offense; and a player who already has washed out of the NBA once playing small forward in Luke Babbitt.

The most appealing option seems to be Evans, but Williams is hesitant to play him there for extended minutes due to the problems his size causes on defense. That leaves Salmons, Miller and Babbitt to compete for the starting job, which so far has gone to Miller early in preseason.

If Miller can show consistent shooting from 3-point range, the job seems all but his thanks to his superior defensive ability. If not, things fall to either Salmons or Babbitt, who shoot much better from three but are weaker on defense. With Williams’ love of playing veterans as part of the decision-making process, it would seem likely that Salmons ends up with the job if Miller falters. But with Asik and Davis to protect the rim defensively, Williams could potentially go with Babbitt, who is the superior shooter.

5. Can Omer Asik prop up the defense enough? The Pelicans finished 25th last season in defensive efficiency, although part of it could be attributed to the injuries. In reality, though, the team needed a center it could rely on for elite rim protection and got just that in Asik. If he can do what he has done at his previous stops and boost the Pelicans to elite levels on defense, they will have a terrific shot at the playoffs.

With Davis, Holiday, Gordon, Evans and Anderson, offense won’t be an issue. Davis will provide a secondary shot-blocking threat after leading the league in blocked shots per game last season, but the key will be Asik and his on-time rotations to build a good enough defense to help the Pelicans be in the hunt come April.

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Matt Cianfrone is the editor for Fansided’s New Orleans Pelicans blog, Pelican Debrief. You can follow him on twitter @Matt_Cianfrone and the site on twitter @PelicanDebrief.