New Orleans Pelicans: 4 Teams to monitor entering the 2021 season
By Nick Alvarez
The Phoenix Suns’ red-hot performance in the bubble along with their stellar offseason should be getting the attention of New Orleans Pelicans fans
#3- Phoenix Suns
In my opinion, one of the early winners of this offseason is the Phoenix Suns. After going 8-0 in the NBA bubble for a last-ditch playoff push, the Suns kicked off this year’s movement by acquiring veteran point guard Chris Paul from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
They didn’t stop there either, the Suns then continued to draft a prospect I thought would be perfect for the Pelicans in Jalen Smith, and sign veteran 3-and-D wing Jae Crowder to their roster as well.
Consider adding those moves to the Suns’ young stars Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton and suddenly Phoenix rolls out one of the best starting fives in the NBA. They are no joke either.
An offensive-minded team under former Pelicans’ coach Monty Williams, the Suns were a team last year that proved capable of matching New Orleans in a track meet game and they just got deadlier.
That’s why they’re a team that I’m keying on early in this NBA season because they’re in the same boat as the Pelicans. A young and hungry team that just made some major upgrades to finally make it back into the playoffs.
It’ll be fascinating to see how these two teams match up with each other this year and if they find themselves close in the NBA standings come playoff times. I wouldn’t even rule out the Pelicans and Suns being so close that they face off in the Western Conference playoffs as the 4th and 5th seeds, no joke.
Now let’s get into a bit more serious competition.