New Orleans Pelicans injuries thrust Dante Cunningham into big role

To say the New Orleans Pelicans have had injury problems early on in the season would be an understatement. The latest player to go down happens to be the biggest. Anthony Davis left Tuesday’s game in the first quarter. Someone needs to step up in his absence, and all signs point to Dante Cunningham.

Anthony Davis injured his knee early in the Pelicans contest against the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday. While the MRI came back negative, the injury seems severe enough for the Pelicans to make a roster move.

They signed forward Josh Smith to give them some extra big man depth. That kind of “desperation” move suggests Davis will miss at least a few games.

Of course losing someone as good as Anthony Davis would hurt any team. In reality, DeMarcus Cousins doesn’t really need much help down low.

With that being said, Cousins is all of a sudden the Pelicans only legitimate threat to score down low, or get rebounds. Meanwhile, New Orleans lost one of it’s three true scoring options.

That leaves a major gap between the two offensive threats Cousins and Jrue Holiday.

A week ago, I would’ve told you that Jordan Crawford could at least flip the switch and take over a game offensively for a stretch. The only problem is, he’s not on the roster anymore.

That leaves the Pelicans with E’Twaun Moore, Ian Clark, Jameer Nelson, and Darius Miller as possible third options.

Nelson’s a great floor general, however, his takeover days might be behind him. Clark can be dangerous, but he’s not much of a shot creator. Meanwhile, Miller has a solid all-around game but isn’t much of big game threat.

Finally, there’s Moore. He’s actually shown the ability to get incredibly hot on offense. In fact, Moore has done so already this year. He’s also susceptible to disappearing for a full game.

That leaves Cunningham. What was said for Moore can be said for him. The 6’8″ forward can get hot but can is also nowhere to be found on occasion. So far this year, he’s shooting just 30.4% from the field and 18.2% from three-point range.

For anyone that would be a miserable start to a season. After shooting 48.5% from the field and a career-best 39.2% from three, it’s utterly confusing.

While his percentages and points per game (4.8) are down, he’s still a rebounding machine. Cunningham has ripped down 6.0 rebounds per game while playing his classic confusing defense. He’s just susceptible to a fair share of bad defensive plays. When he’s in the right mindset, Cunningham can cover anyone on the court.

If he can find his form, Cunningham is an extremely valuable asset. He’s probably not the best third option in an offense, but he gives the Pelicans a multi-threat. The 30-year-old can bang down low if necessary, as well as drive to the hoop or let loose from deep.

With Davis and Ajinca out, he’s suddenly the Pelicans second-best rebounder (maybe third considering Cheick Diallo). Due to that, he’ll need to take some of the burdens off Cousins’ shoulders both defensively and on the boards.

Next: Pelicans Pick Up Second Win On The Season

With so many injuries, it’s time for Dante Cunningham to step up. It wouldn’t be fair for the Pelicans to ask him to be Anthony Davis. They’d love some diet AD, however.