{"id":646078,"date":"2017-03-23T13:00:05","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T17:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/?p=646078"},"modified":"2017-03-23T13:00:05","modified_gmt":"2017-03-23T17:00:05","slug":"new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/","title":{"rendered":"New Orleans’ Looming Summer and Potential Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the 2016-17 NBA season winds down, the thoughts of the playoffs and offseason loom. With a new CBA, who will benefit in year one? Who will make massive makeovers to put themselves ahead of the curve? Will a team look to trade a star player a year or two early because they have too much talent? Those questions may loom around the Utah Jazz, but a team that also has some similar questions is the New Orleans Pelicans. <\/span><\/p>\n

Since the arrival of Anthony Davis, the Pelicans have been quick to build around him. The first iteration around Davis saw Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday traded for, Tyreke Evans acquired\u00a0in free agency (via sign-and-trade) and Eric Gordon re-signed off of his rookie contract. On paper, it made for an interesting team, but they never got it together. Injuries and the lack of a supporting cast dampened this quartet, resulting in just one playoff appearance in four seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, the Pelicans are going into building their second team around Anthony Davis and this offseason will make or break what will happen with the Pelicans and Davis’ relationship long-term.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first is his point guard, Jrue Holiday. Holiday will be hitting free agency as one of the few good point guards on the market. He\u2019s not an elite point guard, but he definitely changes the ceiling of a basketball team. After injuries hampered his first two seasons in New Orleans, Holiday stayed healthy for most of the 2015-16 season. He missed time to start 2016-17\u00a0to take care of his ailing wife, but has remained healthy since his return.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His averages are solid – 15.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists with 36 percent shooting from beyond the arc. A two-way point guard with size and excellent shooting, he makes sense for teams like San Antonio, Philadelphia and New York. The Pelicans have the leverage – i.e. that fifth year they can offer – but all of the teams that need a point guard will be calling.<\/span><\/p>\n

What if Holiday leaves? The Pelicans have just one point guard on the roster (Tim Frazier), and with their draft pick most likely going to Sacramento, they won\u2019t have a major asset to replace him. After Holiday and George Hill, the point guard market dries up rather quickly, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

To take it a step further, New Orleans\u2019 guard rotation is an even bigger mess. Giving up Buddy Hield for DeMarcus Cousins was a no-brainer, but it stripped New Orleans of one of its few guards. That true off-ball wing player is a need and after E\u2019Twaun Moore, the Pelicans have been digging at the bottom of the barrel for talent. No offense to Jordan Crawford, who\u2019s been playing well since his arrival to the Crescent City.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second player New Orleans has to deal with? Their recent addition: DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins has been a force for New Orleans since the trade, averaging 21.9 points, 12.2 rebounds, 3.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks in 12 starts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0uU5fP6Nikc<\/p>\n

Cousins is an amazing talent – probably top-10 in the league – and the pairing with Davis has the potential to be great if New Orleans can get the right talent around it. However, New Orleans must be cautious, as Cousins can leave after the 2017-18 season. On one hand, Cousins is an elite talent and the Pelicans should roll the dice. Re-signing Jrue Holiday and giving the trio of Davis-Cousins-Holiday a full training camp and preseason to figure it out makes sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, Cousins bolting in free agency might be a death blow. Acquiring nothing for him and leaving Davis with a barren roster as he approaches his free agency decision is a dangerous game to play. If a team came and called for Cousins with an interesting package this offseason, the Pelicans should at least listen, especially if it can stack them for the present and the future around Davis. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Pelicans have a ton to think about with this roster. The arrival of Cousins effectively made Solomon Hill expendable, thanks to HIll\u2019s inability to hit threes at an above-average rate. A significant anchor of New Orleans\u2019 other money is tied into Omer Asik ($10.6 million next season) and Alexis Ajinca ($4.96 million) who, again, are deemed expendable because of their poor play and New Orleans\u2019 desire to play one of Davis and Cousins at all times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with expendable players who don\u2019t fit the current core, New Orleans will have to balance paying Holiday, deciding on going all-in on Cousins for next season and properly finding shooters to put around these guys. That\u2019ll take New Orleans through several channels to add the right players around their new \u201cBig 3\u201d and will make them one of the teams to watch this offseason.<\/span> <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the 2016-17 NBA season winds down, the thoughts of the playoffs and offseason loom. With a new CBA, who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":646178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[703639566],"tags":[6467130,5204276,2629176,26078698],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Orleans' Looming Summer and Potential Future - The Sports Daily<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Orleans’ Looming Summer and Potential Future\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Sports Daily\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-23T17:00:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/644693052-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alan Draper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sportsdailytsd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sportsdailytsd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Draper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Alan Draper\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2c8aadde2571800d0de74323730df7b5\"},\"headline\":\"New Orleans’ Looming Summer and Potential Future\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-23T17:00:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-23T17:00:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/\"},\"wordCount\":810,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/644693052-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Anthony Davis\",\"DeMarcus Cousins\",\"Jrue Holiday\",\"New Orleans Pelicans\"],\"articleSection\":[\"The Lottery Mafia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2017\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/\",\"name\":\"New Orleans' Looming Summer and Potential Future - The Sports Daily\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/644693052-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-23T17:00:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-23T17:00:05+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/644693052-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/644693052-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"NEW ORLEANS, LA - FEBRUARY 23: DeMarcus Cousins #0 and Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans react during the first half of a game against the Houston Rockets at the Smoothie King Center on February 23, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Orleans’ Looming Summer and Potential Future\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Sports Daily\",\"description\":\"Sports News | Rumors | Videos | Highlights | Opinion | More\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Sports Daily\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/cropped-thesportsdaily_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/cropped-thesportsdaily_logo.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":52,\"caption\":\"The Sports Daily\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sportsdailytsd\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2c8aadde2571800d0de74323730df7b5\",\"name\":\"Alan Draper\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/alan-draper-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/alan-draper-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Alan Draper\"},\"description\":\"Alan is a vastly experienced sports and gambling writer who is the Chief Editor of The Sports Daily.\",\"sameAs\":[\"\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/alan-d-44449815b\/\",\"\",\"\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/author\/aland\/\",\"jobTitle\":\"\",\"email\":\"aland@thesportsdaily.com\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Orleans' Looming Summer and Potential Future - The Sports Daily","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Orleans’ Looming Summer and Potential Future","og_url":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/","og_site_name":"The Sports Daily","article_published_time":"2017-03-23T17:00:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/644693052-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Alan Draper","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@sportsdailytsd","twitter_site":"@sportsdailytsd","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Alan Draper","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/"},"author":{"name":"Alan Draper","@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2c8aadde2571800d0de74323730df7b5"},"headline":"New Orleans’ Looming Summer and Potential Future","datePublished":"2017-03-23T17:00:05+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-23T17:00:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/"},"wordCount":810,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/644693052-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Anthony Davis","DeMarcus Cousins","Jrue Holiday","New Orleans Pelicans"],"articleSection":["The Lottery Mafia"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2017","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/","url":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/","name":"New Orleans' Looming Summer and Potential Future - The Sports Daily","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/644693052-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2017-03-23T17:00:05+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-23T17:00:05+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/644693052-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/644693052-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706,"caption":"NEW ORLEANS, LA - FEBRUARY 23: DeMarcus Cousins #0 and Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans react during the first half of a game against the Houston Rockets at the Smoothie King Center on February 23, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/new-orleans-looming-summer-and-potential-future\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Orleans’ Looming Summer and Potential Future"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/","name":"The Sports Daily","description":"Sports News | Rumors | Videos | Highlights | Opinion | More","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#organization","name":"The Sports Daily","url":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/cropped-thesportsdaily_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/cropped-thesportsdaily_logo.png","width":300,"height":52,"caption":"The Sports Daily"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/sportsdailytsd"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2c8aadde2571800d0de74323730df7b5","name":"Alan Draper","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/alan-draper-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/alan-draper-96x96.jpg","caption":"Alan Draper"},"description":"Alan is a vastly experienced sports and gambling writer who is the Chief Editor of The Sports Daily.","sameAs":["","","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/alan-d-44449815b\/","",""],"url":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/author\/aland\/","jobTitle":"","email":"aland@thesportsdaily.com","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":""}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}