It has been a long rebuilding process ever since the New Orleans Pelicans franchise traded away their star in point guard Chris Paul. After being one of the top teams in the Western Conference, NOLA has had to grind their back into playoff contention. Changes have been a plenty, from ownership, to nickname, and now most recently the coach.
After a myriad of injuries and other bad breaks, the Pelicans finally stuck gold in winning the lottery in 2012. They nabbed the league’s next generational superstar in Anthony Davis; a two-way monster who blocks every shot on one end and can get a bucket in any way on the other.
In Davis’ third year, they made the playoffs on the last day of the season, beating the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Unfortunately, they were bounced out in the first round in four quick games by the eventual champion, Golden State Warriors.
Progress has finally been made, but it was what happened at midnight on July 1st that will push the Pelicans into title contention sooner than the Western Conference might want.
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This year, the 2012 draft class is eligible for extensions on their rookie contracts. New Orleans wasted no time when the clock struck midnight on July 1st, effectively allowing teams to sign players. The first move of this current offseason was the Pelicans locking up Anthony Davis on a new five-year, mega max extension that will kick in during the 2016-17 season. This ensures that Davis will be with the team for the next six seasons, giving the team plenty of time to build a title contender while The Brow is in town.
New Orleans went on to bring back much of the same supporting cast that they had last year, eating up the rest of their cap space for this season. Nobody was expecting any big names to be recruited there, seeing as the Pelicans didn’t have much in the way of cap space to acquire anyone. Bringing back the same team that made the playoffs last season with the limited flexibility they had seemed like the logical move.
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Next summer, however, is when everything changes. The summer of 2016 has been much awaited because of the significant salary cap jump that will be made. The cap is projected to reach nearly $90 million, allowing just about every team in the league the opportunity to have incredible amounts of space. One of the teams that will benefit the most from this: the New Orleans Pelicans.
New Orleans could have close to $25 million in cap room if they allow all of their free agents to go. That includes rotation players such as Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, whom the Pelicans will have to find replacements for. The possibility to add another franchise piece next to Davis, however, is there.
The Pelicans aren’t going to be signing Kevin Durant or even Al Horford and Mike Conley, the top-tier free agents of this class. But guys like DeMar DeRozan, Harrison Barnes, Nic Batum, Festus Ezeli and Roy Hibbert are all players in or near their primes that could be had for the right price. They could even sign someone in 2016 then turn around and have cap space to sign another big money player when the cap jumps up to $108 million in 2017, a free agent class that is shaping up to be the best in the history of the NBA.
Not only do they have the cap space to pull it off, but they have the most attractive piece to entice players to come; they have the league’s next overlord for the next five seasons following this one. Having Anthony Davis makes you a near title contender alone and in an age where good players want to sign and play with other good players, New Orleans is going to have the shiniest prize to dangle; a superstar in the making that is locked up for the long forseeable future.
With the addition of Alvin Gentry as head coach and the middle of the West seeming to shift more towards the bottom, the Pelicans should be a lock to finish in the playoffs. They won’t be a title contender just yet, but if they play their cards right, next summer could push them into the top echelon of teams hunting for a title. Anthony Davis, along with another budding star, could definitely make for another league dynasty.
Next: Four Ways the Pelicans Get Better This Season
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