1. Pelicans finally find AD some help
Outside of injuries to the likes of Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans, the biggest issue in New Orleans has been a lack of a supporting cast behind Anthony Davis over the past couple seasons. This is something the team has been attempting to change. In fact, the inability of New Orleans to build a supporting cast behind their elite big man was a major point of contention for us earlier in the season.
New Orleans is coming off a 2015-16 campaign that saw it win just 30 games and finish 12th in the Western Conference. This came on the heels of the team earning a playoff spot the previous season. And now, heading into the unofficial second half of the season, the Pelicans boast a terrible 23-34 mark.
All the while, Davis has been rotting away in New Orleans. He’s among the most-skilled big men we have seen come around the Association in some time now. He just didn’t have that one guy to rely on as a secondary scorer.
That now comes in the form of one of the other most-talented bigs in the game. Both Davis and Cousins are averaging north of 27 points per game, making them one of the best one-two punches in the entire game.
Davis will now move to power forward full time with Cousins taking over at the five. As we will mention later, this should lead to some major matchup issues for other Western Conference teams. Add in Jrue Holiday at point guard, and there’s a whole heck of a lot to like about this new-and-improved version of the Pelicans.