Predictions: New Orleans Pelicans

The Pelicans have already established themselves as a playoff contending team, but the question is, how far can they go?

I think one of the biggest questions is how losing DeMarcus Cousins will affect them. The Pelicans were already a decent team before they added Boogie, but another all-star definitely elevates their game. The problem is that it didn’t. The Pelicans didn’t really seem to improve with Boogie on the team. In fact, it seemed like the Pelicans played better when he was out with injury than with him on the court. Facing two superstar big men is no fun to think about, but Boogie doesn’t help the team chemistry at all and that hurts. When Boogie got hurt and was ruled out for the rest of the year, the Pelicans made a move to get Nikola Mirotic. At the time, to me, it didn’t seem like the greatest move and that they were just desperate and traded away some valuable role players along with a draft pick, but in the end, the move ended up being great for the Pelicans. Mirotic showed that he played very well in the Pelicans system, and in the 30 games he played in NO, he averaged almost 15 PPG.

Now that Boogie is gone, they don’t have to worry about team chemistry and how the two will fit together next to AD. Mirotic is a very good role player to have in that system, and he’s going to grow. Another huge add-on for them is Julius Randle. Randle averaged over 16 PPG for the Lakers and getting him is a big bonus. Randle is a young player with lots of talent and potential. I expect his numbers to go a little down due to having to share big men time with AD and Miroti, but I still expect him to put up good numbers each night.

The Pelicans backcourt is impressive, too. Last year, Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday did an outstanding job. Rondo, with his experience and crazy high IQ, ran that system very well and Jrue did an outstanding job scoring the ball and on the defensive end too, making the All-NBA Defensive First Team. Holiday has always been a good player, but I always thought that he had slowed down and plateaued when he was moved to NO, but last year he made a huge jump and showed how good he can still be. Losing Rondo is a HUGE blow to the Pelicans, but Jrue is a good ballhandler and can run that offense well. The Pelicans also added Elfrid Payton, who will help. Obviously, Payton won’t make the same impact as Rondo, but he has shown that he can consistently put up 10–15 points each night for his team. With Jrue and Payton in the backcourt, the Pelicans shouldn’t be too worried about losing Rondo. Yes, losing him sucked, but at least you didn’t lose Jrue or AD. One more thing is to keep an eye out for Frank Jackson. The rookie was injured all last year, but you never know. I watched that kid ball out in high school and he might make an impact.

The biggest player for the Pelicans is definitely Anthony Davis. This man is a monster. He can score the ball, grabs boards, and plays defense better than anybody. The man finished 1st team All-NBA, 1st All-Defensive Team, 3rd in MVP voting, and was considered a snub for Defensive Player of the Year. Again, the man is a monster. He is definitely on the watch list for MVP next year.

Question is, how far will they go? The Pelicans were the 6th seed in the West last year. They swept the Blazers before losing to the Warriors in the conference semifinals. Remember, this was done without Boogie too. The only real huge loss was Rondo. I expect the Pelicans to still make the playoffs. AD is too good of a player to not lead them into the top eight. But it's going to be tough. They can’t defeat the Warriors or the Rockets. The Lakers and Jazz are an extremely tough matchup for them, so I expect them to be the 5th seed at best and, at their worst, the 8th seed. The West is tough this year. It was already a challenge last year, but with the Lakers adding LeBron and other teams making big changes, the fight for the 3rd to 8th seed is going to be a battle. Either way, it doesn’t seem like this team is going to make the conference semifinals again. Despite how good they are and how much better than can get, they aren’t going to make it. But that’s not me being negative AD. If you’re reading this, prove me wrong. I would love to see this man ball out and show us how much potential they really have.

All in all, this is my prediction: AD will for sure be an All-star, All-NBA 1st team and defensive team, possibly the MVP and DPOY, and Jrue will make a huge impact on defense and probably make the All-NBA defensive team again.

7th seed, 40–45 wins