Two Pelicans Reads Today

Matt Moore recaps the team's offseason on CBS.

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Some interesting things here. He gives the team a B and recaps his thoughts with this:

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This could be an A+, it could be an F. That's true for all NBA teams' offseasons, but it's even more pronounced with New Orleans. The Holiday trade was a big gamble. The Evans signing, gamble. Trading Vasquez and Lopez? Gamble gamble. They're banking everything on a very unorthodox lineup and hoping to find lightning in a bottle. If they can defend, it'll look like a great summer. If they can't, then it's a logjammed mess.

So instead we'll go B. The Pelicans got talent. Does it fit? It can, but it's going to take bold vision and dedication from both the coaching staff and the young players developing.

The Pelicans have placed their bet. We'll see if they land somewhere promising or find themselves lost at sea.

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And then over at At the Hive, they place the summer moves in a different context: getting the most out of Anthony Davis.

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Despite all their recent activity, the Pelicans ceiling remains on the shoulders of Anthony Davis. It would take a man of Davis’s wingspan to display the lengths of his enormous potential. If the inconceivably young star (at least for people who cannot fathom the existence of numbers past 19) can reach his potential, the Pelicans may aspire to heights never before attained in franchise history.

In a recent podcast with Bill Simmons, Grantland NBA analyst Zach Lowe mentioned conversing with executives around the league who believe that the Pelicans are gambling on Anthony Davis becoming an elite player. In addition to bringing their individual production, the Pelicans’ acquisitions of Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans and the decision to retain Eric Gordon may be an attempt to assist the development of Anthony Davis

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He then discusses how the summer moves can potentially get more from Davis and push him into superstar territory.