The New Orleans Pelicans always talk about protecting Anthony Davis. Early this season they aren’t doing that.
Since the New Orleans Pelicans drafted Anthony Davis number one overall in 2012, the franchise has done everything they can to protect Davis. From shutting him down until minor injuries are completely healed to making sure he does not have to play extended minutes defending bigger centers, the Pelicans have rightfully made sure Davis’ health comes first.
Part of that process comes in limiting Davis’ minutes so that when the Pelicans are ready to compete for NBA titles, their window is open as far as possible and not limited by the fact that Davis has an abnormal amount of mileage on his knees. Earlier in the preseason, Davis said that Alvin Gentry’s plan was to keep him around the 36 minute mark, a number that would have him towards the top of the league in minutes per game but nothing that crazy for a superstar player.
Eighteen games into the season a quick glimpse at Davis’ numbers show that Gentry is right in that range as Davis is averaging 35.1 minutes per game. Except, digging a little deeper shows that isn’t the case. In the games that Davis has not left early due to injury this season, he is averaging 39.25 minutes per game with five nights over the 40 minute mark and four others checking in at 39 minutes.
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It gets even worse from there. Davis was up to 28 minutes in the game he left early against the Los Angeles Clippers and was almost certainly going to log something close to 35 minutes considering he sat out the last 14 minutes of a game the Pelicans trailed throughout. The next night in Utah, Davis logged 44 minutes despite being carried off the floor the night before and it being up in the air if he would actually play. That game marked the second time this season Davis played over 40 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back with the first coming in the second game of the year against the Portland Trailblazers. In the only other set of back-to-backs Davis has played the second game in, he logged 39 minutes against the Dallas Mavericks a night after playing 41 at home against the Atlanta Hawks.
Part of the problem in managing Davis’ minutes has been the lack of depth at the power forward and center positions for the Pelicans. With Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca both missing games to injuries and being so ineffective they have been hard to play, Davis and Ryan Anderson have been the only two big men Alvin Gentry has been able to trust this season. Add to that the injury to Quincy Pondexter that has forced Dante Cunningham to play the small forward spot and suddenly the Pelicans have no real choice to play Davis if they want to win.
Ultimately, that seems to be what this comes down to. With all the moves they made this offseason, the Pelicans clearly want to make the playoffs this season and to do that they need to win games. So far this season the way they have come closest to that is having Anthony Davis play a lot and try to takeover games while hoping other players step up and help him. With Tyreke Evans returning from injury, the Pelicans will surely hope that he can carry the offense with Davis on the bench and also play some at small forward to allow Cunningham to slide down to power forward. How well that will work remains to be seen but one thing is certain.
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If the Pelicans really do want what is best for Anthony Davis and the long-term health of the franchise, they need to start doing a much better job of limiting his minutes starting on Wednesday in Houston. How they proceed if the season continues to get farther and farther away from what their expectations were will tell us a lot about the mindset of the organization going forward.