New Orleans Pelicans Rank Number Four: Ryan Anderson

The rankings are everywhere. Sports Illustrated has released their Top 100 NBA Players for the 2015-16 season. CBS’s Eye on Basketball blog will release their Elite 100 at some point in the coming weeks and ESPN’s NBA Rank will start sparking Twitter debates at some point in late September. With that in mind Pelican Debrief decided that ranking the New Orleans Pelicans felt like a logical exercise to do, so welcome to our Pelicans Rank project.

We are now in our top 5 in our Pelicans Rank project and the number four spot on the list goes to none other than the flamethrower himself Ryan Anderson, who beat out number five Eric Gordon by one point.

Anderson of course is known by many fans and NBA analysts as a sharpshooting stretch four, who if left open can and will rain down threes from all over the floor. This theory has been true to form every year but the most recent. Anderson’s numbers dipped down to career lows and he will even tell you himself it was his worst since coming to New Orleans.

It was a complete 180 from the year prior where Anderson started off the season shooting a career high from three and averaging a career high in points per game. Unfortunately, his breakout season ended just as quick as it arrived as Anderson suffered a herniated disc and missed the rest of the season thanks to surgery.

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Coming into the season expectations were high for Ryno to bounce back and pick up where he left off but it never seemed too fully click. Sure, there were plenty of moments where Anderson looked like the player we had seen in prior years with the games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and his brilliant Game 3 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs against the Golden State Warriors.

Regardless of the shooting woes, Anderson is still a big a part of the New Orleans offense. The spacing he provides and the attention he garners is incredibly valuable for the Pelicans as it opens up the lane for the penetrating guards to attack. Going forward into this new season, which happens to be a contract year for Anderson, we should see his numbers bounce back to somewhere closer to his career averages rather than last seasons numbers.

Being healthy should be the main reason for those numbers to spike back up as having a full offseason with no restrictions should do wonders for Anderson as he attempts to regain form. Ryan himself has stated that he has lost 20 lbs this offseason both in preparation for Alvin Gentry’s up-tempo style and so he can regain the balance in his shot that was missing last year.

These reports are terrific news for the Pelicans, who will have to count heavily on Anderson if they want to take the next step. For the Pelicans to take that step, Anderson will have to improve as well. He will have to go from inconsistent three-point shooting stretch-four to reliable fourth scoring option.

There was a time not too long when it could be argued that Anderson was the second scoring option behind Anthony Davis but that seems like such a distant memory now. Instead, Pelicans fans are often left wondering if Ryan Anderson is even worth the offense he provides given his atrocious defense. Is Ryno even a plus asset on the court? These are real concerns that are being asked about Ryno after years of him being considered one of the best contracts in the NBA. The concerns and questions that surround Anderson going into this season are more than legitimate and it shows you just how bad his shooting was last year but the good news for New Orleans is that the Anderson stock is trending upwards.

Going into his contract year Anderson is at the mercy of the team and his future in New Orleans will largely be decided by how he plays this upcoming season. Even if he does play well, Anderson is not guaranteed to remain in New Orleans as there have been plenty of trade rumors over the years. Anderson projects as the Pelicans most valuable trade chip at the moment and if Ryno starts off the year slow again do not be surprised if Dell picks up the phone and rumors start circulating.

Either way, this next season is the most important yet for Anderson to solidify his role going forward in the NBA. The bright side for Ryno is that he will now be playing in a free-flowing fast paced offense that will offer him plenty of transition three-pointers. Anderson is a player that Coach Gentry has spoken high of, and specifically highlighted his ability to do other things on the court rather than just shoot. He applauded his post game, going out of his way to call it underrated, so it is clear that Gentry has a vision and a plan on how to utilize Ryan Anderson but that can all go away quickly if he sputters out of the gate.

I don’t think he will however, if all the reports about Anderson’s physical condition are true I am inclined to believe we will see a resurgence in his shooting percentages proving that last seasons inconsistencies were the outlier not the norm.

We are now in our top 5 in our Pelicans Rank project and the number four spot on the list goes to none other than the flamethrower himself Ryan Anderson, who beat out number five Eric Gordon by one point.

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