With both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, the New Orleans Pelicans have one of the most intriguing teams in the NBA. Such a front court duo has the potential to do a lot of damage, especially when you add a talented guard like Jrue Holiday to the mix. Davis is averaging 27.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game while Cousins is averaging 27.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. As for Holiday, he is averaging 16.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.
At the moment, the Pelicans are 23-36 and 3.5 games back of the 8th seeded Denver Nuggets. After landing DeMarcus Cousins, the Pelicans are clearly the front runners to finish 8th in the Western Conference standings and face off against the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. The big question that's on everybody's mind is how dangerous are these Pelicans given their place in the standings at this point of the season?
There are two answers to this question. The first answer is that in the short term, the Pelicans are dangerous enough to make the playoffs and maybe win a game or two against the Warriors. Given that it usually takes at least half of a season for stars to gel, the rest of the season can be viewed as extra time for DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis to gel before training camp of next season. In other words, the trade to land DeMarcus Cousins was much more of a move for next season and beyond than it was for this season. This season, the best the Pelicans can hope for is to make the playoffs and get a playoff series under their belt before next season, which is no small thing. Having a playoff series together before they enter their first full season together would be huge for Davis and Cousins as the go forward as the co-faces of this franchise. It should prove to be growing experience that will help them immensely next season and beyond.
Beyond that, there's nothing to expect out of this season. The Warriors are a vastly superior team given that they have had a lot more time to gel and on paper are still a much better team. The Pelicans won't get past the Warriors by adding DeMarcus Cousins. He's a talented player, but let's keep in mind there's a reason the Kings traded him. He has flaws and the Pelicans have to learn how to deal with those flaws and get past them, something that the Kings couldn't do or weren't willing to do. This season is all about working out some of the kinks so as to hit the ground running next season.
As far as next season's expectations are concerned, this team projects to be a playoff team and possibly a top-four team in the Western Conference. If I could start a franchise with any player in the NBA right now, I would choose Anthony Davis. He's a versatile big man that can do it all on both ends of the floor. When you give him another all-star big man by his side like DeMarcus Cousins and a quality point guard like Jrue Holiday, you could have something special on your hands.
The biggest challenge for the Pelicans will be to figure out how to combat "small ball" lineups, which benefit from having quicker guys on the floor. We saw the Pelicans get torched by the Houston Rockets' "small ball" lineup 129-99 in DeMarcus Cousins' debut. Going forward into next season and in the seasons to come, the Pelicans will need to figure out who else to add to their roster to give them more flexibility against teams that will look to go small against them. If the Pelicans can figure out how to combat smaller and quicker lineups with Cousins and Davis, they could have themselves a championship contending team.
The bottom line for the Pelicans is that with DeMarcus Cousins added to the fold, they have the potential to be really good in the seasons to come, but as presently constituted, they still have work to do both on the court and in the front office. The core players that are certain to stick around like Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis will need to figure out how to play with Cousins and benefit from having him on the floor. As for the front office, their challenge will be to figure out what other complimentary pieces need to be added in order to make their team a true championship contender.
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