As the New Orleans Pelicans season rolls on into 2018 they find themselves wedged into a very tight and closely monitored space. Right in the thick of the Western Conference playoff hunt, the Pels are essentially trapped underneath a highly focused and unrelenting microscope. One that is gripped firmly in two hands from two opposing sides.
The first hand being the Pelicans underwhelming and disappointing past. Featuring just one lonely and brief playoff appearance since Anthony Davis was drafted. The second hand is that of the uncertain future that lies ahead for this organization, with the expiring contract of DeMarcus Cousins looming close on the horizon. Together they produce an unrelinquishing and microscopic focus on the present. Every win and loss filled with irrational importance.
How has this happened?
The Pelicans Past:
Well, in the Anthony Davis era, the Pelicans have made just one short appearance in the playoffs. On its own, this is not necessarily an issue. Other teams have experienced long playoff droughts too, but they have been selling fans on the idea that they are building towards the future. The Pelicans, on the other hand, have not.
Upon drafting Davis, the Pels were rushed quickly into a win-now mode. They acquired several ball-dominant scorers to place around the offensively limited yet transcendent defensive player – Anthony Davis.
Except as we now know, that isn’t who Davis is at all.
He quickly developed into an elite offensive player and although his defense was good and often spectacular, he didn’t quite dominate on that end of the floor the way some predicted. As Davis progressed it quickly became clear that he needed the ball in his hands more. Not ideal with so many hungry mouths to feed on the offensive end.
Furthermore, the Pelicans have had very little young talent to grow alongside Davis. This put even more pressure on the Pelicans win-now moves to pay-off. Sadly, they did not. This lack of prior success with no clear path for internal growth breeds frustration and impatience.
Fortunately, a spark of optimism was ignited when the Pelicans traded for DeMarcus Cousins last season. However, Cousins’ quickly expiring contract brought with it its own source of urgency for the Pels. This leads me on to how the future implications of this season are putting even more pressure on the Pelicans.
The Pelicans Future:
Moving forward, the Pelicans future remains clouded and unclear. With Cousins and Rajon Rondo’s expiring contracts, it is unknown what next years roster will look like. If the Pels do relatively well this season then the chances of Cousins staying in New Orleans obviously increase.
However, there is still a very real possibility that Cousins signs with another team in the summer. This puts some serious pressure on the Pelicans to be successful and make the most of this season.
The pressure of a disappointing past and an uncertain future have collided together and put great importance on the Pelicans 2017-18 season. This importance, in turn, has created a hyper-sensitive following around the team for which the term “recency-bias” does not quite do justice.
Rewind to the end of December. The Pels were on a three-game win streak and their defense was finally showing some gasping signs of life. Unfortunately, just a few games later the mood around the team quickly soured. With home losses against the Mavericks and Knicks, the Pelicans otherwise stellar December, sputtered and stumbled into the new year.
In fairness, the play of the Pelicans this season has been very up and down. Their consistency at being so inconsistent is almost impressive. Regardless, the past and the future of this organization mean that they are likely going to be under a significant amount of pressure throughout the remainder of the season. Let’s see how they handle it.