New Orleans Pelicans Rank Roundtable: Dante Cunningham

Mar 1, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Dante Cunningham (44) shoots the ball during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Cunningham has made two career three-pointers. Does he double that this season?

Johnny: This is something Bourbon Street Shots editor Michael McNamara was driven crazy by this past season. He would ask “WHY CAN’T HE JUST TAKE TWO STEPS BACK AND SHOOT A THREE INSTEAD OF A LONG TWO” and I’m with him, it was frustrating. To me, it’s a mental thing. Some guys are just comfortable shooting from 20 feet but the minute they see their feet behind that 23 foot line they start to lose their touch and get in their own heads. Maybe he breaks out of that, but to me physical barriers are a lot easier to surpass than mental ones.

Austin: I sure do hope so. The Pelicans need shooting on the wing, and it definitely isn’t going to come from Cunningham consistently. If he put some work in the offseason to try to extend his range out from 15-18 feet, that would be helpful, but I’m not expecting much in the way of floor spacing from Cunningham this season.

Nathan: We had better hope he does more than double his career three-pointers. As I touched on in Cunningham Pelicans Rank piece, Cunningham has a nasty penchant for taking long two point jump shots. Ironically, Cunningham is remarkably efficient at taking the least efficient shot in basketball. His accuracy from that range would not disappear if he took two steps back. The reason Cunningham doesn’t take three-pointers has to be a lack of confidence. Hopefully, Alvin Gentry can convince Cunningham that he’s a good enough shooter to step back a few paces and make that shot worth 50% more.

Rick: With Alvin Gentry as the new coach, he’s certainly going to get a LOT of opportunities to do so. Gentry is known for playing a quick, spacious offense and will more than likely get Cunningham to stretch out his long two’s into three-point attempts. Dante had success with the long twos and looks to have spent the summer working on the increased range from behind the arc. It’s going to take some getting use to early in the year and I would expect a LOT of misses from outside the arc, however it’s going to be the key that decides playing time. Either he’s gonna go way more than just doubling it or will be riding the bench for a good portion of the year.

Brendon: Can we hope for a Bruce Bowen-like uptick? Probably not, as Bowen was blessed with Hall of Fame coaching and guard/big play to spring him open. But it’s not crazy to hope that Gentry, Tyreke and AD will help Cunningham get free chances. Doubling from two to four? We have to hope.

Matt: I think so. At the very least he will be put in spots this season where three-pointers are the expectation from him. With the offensive weapons the Pelicans have it would be huge for Cunningham to at least knock down a few corner threes and I think he does just that this year.

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