New Orleans Pelicans: Top 10 draft picks in franchise history
By Nolan Jensen
#2) Anthony Davis
It’s going to be impossible to not come across as a “victim of the moment”, but here goes. Believe it or not, this was actually given a lot of thought. You might spite me in the comments if you’re scrolling through, and I get that—I fully understand the consequences here.
Though it wasn’t his fault, the Pelicans never found any sustained success in the Anthony Davis era. Injuries played a major role, front office incompetence and bad timing with the birth of the Warriors dynasty should all be factored in.
However, Davis didn’t have the same impact on the game that Paul did (spoiler alert: he’s first on this list). We’ll go further into detail with the next slide, this one is about what Davis accomplished.
The man has career averages of 23.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, and 1.9 assists—he’s already widely regarded as one of the best power forwards in NBA history. He’s led the league in blocks three times, he’s a six-time all-star, made it to three All-NBA teams and three All-Defensive teams.
He lived up to the hype he received as the consensus number one pick, and then some. He leaves the organization with a multitude of franchise records and is the sole reason why the Pelicans are in great shape moving forward, despite his departure.
He was great, all-time great, but he wasn’t the best draft selection in franchise history.