What are the 10 best individual seasons in franchise history?
The New Orleans professional basketball franchise has been around, in one form or another, since 2002, and in that time a number of fantastic individual single-season performances have been put together. Here’s a look at the ten best.
[Thanks to basketball-reference.com with another huge assist in the statistical department]
10 – David West, 2007-08. West was part of the only team in New Orleans history to win a playoff series and formed a great 1-2 punch with Chris Paul. West averaged 20.6 points and a career-high 8.9 rebounds (tied for 19th in NBA), both second on the team to Paul and Tyson Chandler, respectively. West averaged 22.6 points in the five-game win over the Dallas Mavericks in the first round and 21.1 points in 12 playoff games.
9 – Jamal Mashburn, 2002-03. Mashburn was in his ninth pro season and 30-years old by the time the 2002 campaign rolled around, but it turned out to be one of the best seasons of the Kentucky product’s career. He led New Orleans and was 15th in the NBA in scoring (averaged 21.6) and finished in the top-20 in assists (5.6). In 12 seasons at the professional level, this season’s third-team selection was Mashburn’s only all-NBA honor.
8 – Baron Davis, 2003-04. Davis played only 2 1/4 seasons in New Orleans, though his 2003-04 was a great year for the guard. Davis finished tied for sixth in scoring (averaged 22.9), seventh in assists (7.5), led the league in steals (2.4) and was second in three-point makes with 187. All that led to a third-team all-NBA honor.
** That concludes the non-Anthony Davis/Chris Paul portion of the story **
7 – Anthony Davis, 2013-14. The franchise’s first year as “Pelicans” saw the second-year player take a huge step from his rookie campaign. He improved his scoring (20.8 points from 13.5 his rookie year), rebounding (10.0, 8.2) and blocked shots (NBA-best 2.8, 1.8). Though the Pelicans went just 34-48, Davis’ ascension to NBA star was a bright spot.
6 – Chris Paul, 2009-10. Paul’s penultimate season in New Orleans was a fine one, though he played in only 45 games due to a knee injury. It was the last of three consecutive seasons averaging double-digit assists (10.7) and he added 18.7 points, second on the team to David West.
5 – Davis, 2015-16. Another year, another fantastic statistical line: 24.3, 10.3 rebounds and pair of blocked shots per night. Because of knee and shoulder injuries, Davis played just 61 games, a career-low to this point. As wonderful of a career as Davis is expected to have in NOLA, he might not ever have a night as memorable as February 21, 2016. In a 111-106 win over the Detroit Pistons, Davis scored a career-high 59 points on 24-of-34 shooting (71%) and grabbed 20 rebounds.
4 – Paul, 2007-08. This was the first of four seasons in which Paul has led the NBA in assists, handing out a career high 11.6 for a 56-win team. It’s also one of only two campaigns where Paul has averaged more than 20 points (21.1 to be exact) and one of six seasons where he’s led in steals (2.7). Paul’s triple-double (24 points, 15 assists, 11 rebounds) was a big reason why New Orleans won game five to clinch a first-round series against Dallas, still the only playoff series triumph in franchise history. Paul averaged 24.6 points and 12 assists in the five games, then in a seven-game loss to San Antonio in the Western semis, the Wake Forest product averaged more than 10 assists and nearly 24 points. This was Paul’s only first-team all-NBA honor in New Orleans, and he also received second-team all-defensive honors.
3 – Davis, 2014-15. Until last season, this was Davis’ brightest as a Pelican. At just 21-years old, Davis was named first-team all-NBA, thanks to leading the league in blocked shots (2.9) for the second consecutive season, while adding 24.4 points and 10.2 rebounds for a playoff team. Though the Pelicans were swept in the first round by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors, Davis was phenomenal, averaging 31.5 points and 11 rebounds and shooting 54% from the field in the four games.
2 – Paul, 2008-09. The best of Paul’s six seasons with the franchise led to a playoff birth (though the year ended with a five-game loss to the Denver Nuggets). In his age-23 season, the point guard led the NBA in assists (11.0) and steals (2.8), while setting career highs in field goal percentage (50%), scoring (22.8) and rebounding (5.5). In 83 games, including the playoffs, Paul recorded at least seven assists in all but eight games. The guard was a second-team all-NBA and first-team all-defensive selection.
1 – Davis, 2016-17. The finest season of Davis’ already-wonderful career is also the most recent. A year ago, Davis was a first-team all-league selection for the second time and finished ninth in the MVP balloting. His average of 28 points was fourth-best in the league (he collected at least 30 points in nearly half of his 75 games), while he finished second to Utah’s Rudy Gobert in blocked shots (2.2) and seventh in rebounding at 11.8 per night. He also put together another 50% shooting season from the field.