It’s okay to be afraid about the future of Anthony Davis
By Chris Conner
As the New Orleans Pelicans continue to tinker with their training camp roster, more questions about their future will arise. There has already been talk about the teams in play to either trade or sign Anthony Davis if things don’t work out this season. Given New Orleans’ history with stars leaving, we breakdown the positive angles and the fear all together.
If you’re a New Orleans Pelicans fan every comment matters when it comes to Anthony Davis.
You take everything to heart and are sensitive to the thought of AD leaving town. If you’re not a Pelicans fan, you believe the organization is poorly run, and the team has done a horrible job in putting a fitting cast around him.
Only a matter of time before he bolts right?
While he mentioned in a recent interview that he thought the team had the tools right now to be successful, the only thing you saw was that he was “tired of losing”. The scary part is, we’ve seen this movie playout before. There have been three eras of basketball since it returned to New Orleans in 2002.
The Baron Davis era, the Chris Paul era and now the Anthony Davis era.
Due to either roster issues, inconsistency in the front office, or the coaching staff, the first two eras failed. New Orleans isn’t a city that can survive a fourth heartbreak. The hope within the organization is that AD finally has a core to support him, and a core he can support. Well, the talent is here, and no matter your opinion on the loaded Western Conference, or how the roster fits, this team should be able to compete against anybody.
Is that enough?
No matter which side you’re on, DeMarcus Cousins is a head case and Jrue Holiday was massively overpaid, right? In addition, Rajon Rondo is a locker room cancer, and after those four guys you can’t name another player on the roster. The season will finish with the Pels at .500 or less again, Cousins will leave, and Dell Demps and Alvin Gentry will be fired. Davis will have had enough and force his way out of NOLA not looking forward to another rebuild.
How’d that feel?
One of the biggest factors involving fear is having the ability to admit it exists: not walking around blind or naive to a certain possible outcome. While there has been nothing but talk about the negative possibilities, there hasn’t been much light shed on the positive. Anyone watch Boogie, AD, and Jrue play down the stretch last season with an unfinished roster?
All things considered they played fairly well, and were consistently battling down the stretch with every opponent. You think Rondo doesn’t know he’s running out of chances in the NBA? Say what you want about his shooting and attitude, but he is a champion. He’s also a pass-first player, with a high IQ, that can also defend well when motivated.
Those are all things this team has missed in the past.
Boogie’s impending free agency is also in play, but that doesn’t arrive before the opportunity to show him a winning franchise with a bright future.
Now back to Holiday.
Holiday has become a part-time punch line for overpaid athletes. Meanwhile this is his first full offseason without an injury to recover from. He also has a healthy wife in Lauren Holiday, who last year recovered from a brain tumor forcing Jrue to miss 12 games while taking care of his wife and newborn. With a healthy body and family Jrue should be approaching his best season.
To go around their core, the Pelicans have a few sneaky solid pieces. E’Twaun Moore, Solomon Hill, Jordan Crawford, and reportedly freshly signed Ian Clark round out the group. Throw in a couple players such as former 2nd rounder Darius Miller, and potential-filled athletic freak Cheick Diallo and the roster isn’t as bad as you may think all of a sudden.
Those are the positives and could all impact whether Davis stays or leaves.
We should also take to account the obvious: teams would be beyond foolish not to prepare for the opportunity to bring in the all-pro unicorn, Davis. One could argue the odds are against him staying, but neither side should be ignored. Everyone knows at this point what the reality of basketball in NOLA could become.
It’s time to embrace all possible scenarios and just try to enjoy the journey. Every market in today’s NBA that has an elite player should be worried about their star eventually leaving. Whether for reasons such as exposure or losing, New Orleans isn’t alone in their fear. The difference is, they’re being forced to cope with a possible divorce almost every day.
Who knows what will happen and neither outcome is a forgone conclusion.
Either way New Orleans, it’s okay to embrace for once what is not known.