New Orleans Pelicans: 30 greatest players in franchise history
![Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/cba3b2ba9af6f6aaa094f4362a68ae3303618dcd5d842480d862a86e7da26407.jpg)
player. 69. . SF/PF. (2014-18). Dante Cunningham. 30
Dante Cunningham was quite a journeyman during his NBA career, which saw him play for seven different teams across the span of 10 seasons. One of his more notable stops came when he was a member of the Pelicans from 2014-18 when he was a valuable reserve.
Cunningham has spent most of his career with the Pelicans, spanning across 263 games with 132 starts. He blossomed from the 3-point line during his third season in New Orleans in 2016-17 when he made a career-high 71 3-pointers and shot 39.2 percent from 3-point range.
In the season prior, Cunningham made a total of 55 3-pointers, while attempting a career-high 174 shots from 3-point land. It wasn’t until his arrival in New Orleans that he started developed his 3-point shot and since then, he’s excelled. In the seasons before 2015, he took a combined 38 3-point attempts with five different teams.
He’s developed into a wing who plays his role as slasher and rebounder well on the offensive end. On the defensive end, he’s typically tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best player for better or worse. Cunningham produced 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting 46 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from 3-point range.
Prior to the NBA trade deadline during the 2017-18 NBA season, he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets for Rashad Vaughn where he finished out the year. In 2018-19, he appeared mostly as a reserve for the San Antonio Spurs, making 64 appearances and 21 starts.