Grantland Preseason NBA Tiers

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Has the Pelicans lumped in the "Western Conference Morass" tier, i.e. the fight for the 7-8 seed with DEN, DAL, MINN, and POR.

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New Orleans Pelicans

Perhaps the most exciting team among this bunch, but also the one with the most to prove — and the one least likely to sneak into the playoffs without a great deal of injury-related luck. The Pellies plan to start Greg Stiemsma at center, and it will be interesting to see how much Monty Williams will go with the Ryan Anderson–Anthony Davis front line. That duo has the potential to unlock some serious spacing and firepower, but it was also flammable defensively last season.

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Finding a way to keep two of the Eric Gordon–Jrue Holiday–Tyreke Evans trio relevant when one of them has the ball will be a challenge, but it's one Williams should be able to pull off. Holiday is a solid 3-point shooter, and Gordon was a sniper before two straight lost seasons. Evans is a trickier issue. His commitment to cutting away from the ball comes and goes, and his jumper mostly goes — despite an uptick from deep last season. But he made strides as a pick-and-roll distributor in Sacramento, and has shown inklings of a post game.

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The Pellies just have a ton to sort out, on both sides of the ball and with Williams's rotation — plus some major potential depth issues. If Davis makes a giant leap on both ends, steadying himself on defense and working his off-the-bounce game more effectively on offense, this is a different conversation.

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In relation to the LAL thread here a week ago, Lowe has the Lakers in the "Just Plain Bad" tier with Charlotte and Sacramento.