Ranking the Potential Pelicans Starting Lineups
By Seth Nefsky
4. PG: Jrue Holiday, SG: E’Twaun Moore, SF: Solomon Hill, PF: Julius Randle, C: Anthony Davis
Do you notice one constant in the lower half of the New Orleans Pelicans possible starting lineups? Here’s a clue. Outside of Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis, one player is in all of these lineups, and his name rhymes with Rulius Jandle.
Though Julius Randle could be a very valuable contributor for the New Orleans Pelicans, Nikola Mirotic has earned a spot in the New Orleans Pelicans starting lineup.
Much of the Pelicans success in the last half of the season came from Mirotic’s partnership with Anthony Davis. In fact, the duo of Davis and Mirotic proved to be more lethal than that of Cousins and Davis, outscoring opponents by 6.5 more points per 100 possessions.
This is because while Cousins clogged the floor, Nikola Mirotic provided space to allow Davis to thrive in the pick and roll.
However, if Julius Randle starts at power forward, it is likely that Anthony Davis will be less effective, playing with much less room to operate.
And because Randle is not the talent that Cousins was, it should be a less successful lineup. However, if Randle comes off the bench, he will be able to thrive against second units, playing a sixth man role.
Outside of Randle, the one-to-three combination of Holiday, Moore and Hill is promising, but more on that later.