I think they'l be just a team or 2 out side the playoff's. 35-40 wins if they mesh well and there coach does a good job.
Between 28-36 wins I think. Tyreke did have a better year last year, and could be solid as an ultra 6th man. Holiday is getting pretty overrated, not sure that he's as big as an upgrade over Vasquez as most people think. Davis is REALLY underrated right now. He dealt with some odd injuries, but remember he's one of the 5-6 best prospects to come out of the draft in the last decade or so. He's going to be a force. I do think they should have hung on to Noel in an attempt to get one more solid piece in the 2014 draft.
They will need to use this season to determine who will be there long term. Certainly have rebounded well since CP3. Similar to the Cavs getting back up off the floor.
I agree with pretty much everything here. Davis had two clear weaknesses this year: 1) Inexperience - Veterans often had their way with him with veteran moves, although his raw athleticism allowed him to win a lot of battles too. 2) Strength - He got pushed around a lot because of his size. He can take care of this with several off-seasons of building muscle. His talent is obvious though. As long as he stays healthy and continues to work on his game, he'll be one of the best in the game in a few years... especially considering the lack of talent at PF/C in the NBA right now. This makes no sense. Vasquez is a terrible team player. Just because he gets a lot of assists doesn't make him a great team player. He's a good shooter, good passer, and plays harder than most on the court... but he's a horrific defender, turns the ball over excessively, dribbles the clock out of the ball, and can't get around defenders because of his lack of speed & athleticism. He's easily one of the worst defensive PGs in the league that was just replaced by one of the best defensive PGs. Watch Vasquez & Lopez try to defend the pick and roll. It's hilarious at best. Now both are gone. Both great guys & solid players, but nothing special. Lopez was also a stop-gap at center until Davis is ready to move there. Ryan Anderson is a stretch for merely because of his size. He posted up a lot this year when teams try to put a SF on him and did fairly well. He's 6'10". You can't just put a SG on him and expect him to be defended at the 3 point line. He'll shoot over you. He's also a solid rebounder. Bad defender, yeah I'll give you that one. But he's not a complete liability out there because he's not slow footed and he does actually TRY to play defense. And for those calling Tyreke Evans a loser. Why? Because he played for a terrible franchise with terrible players? He was pretty efficient, especially last year. This will be the best talent he's ever played with. His college team won 34 games. Sometimes it's not about just one player. It's about the supporting cast and coach as well. He's no super-star, but he's a good player who's only 23 years old. Same for Jrue Holiday. Add in arguably the best stretch 4 in the game and the guy most likely to become a superstar on that roster in Davis, and you have a very good line-up. The wild-card is Eric Gordon. The question right now is less 'will he be healthy' and more 'will he even be on the team'. There's a chance he could get traded for Granger or Deng. He says he'd like to stay with the team now, especially since he played AAU with Jrue & Evans. But we'll see. This team will be very good. This year? Probably not. I'd guess they'll fight for an 8th seed. But of those 5 guys, you're looking at a 20 year old, 2 23 year olds, 24, and 25. None of those guys are in their prime yet.
if salaries matched? yeah JS but salaries wont match he wants max so lets do this RA for 8 vs JS for 15 Um, RA please.
Lottery team. No way Tyreke spends extended amounts of time with Gordon on the floor. More like Davis, Anderson, Aminu, Tyreke, and Jrue start. If anything, the signing of Tyreke and Jrue makes Gordon expendable. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to move Gordon before the season starts. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if dimes to the dollar in talent with cap relief did it for the Pelicans. They should have heeded Gordon's request when he asked not to be matched so he could be signed by the Suns. His stay in the Hornets/Pelicans has been disappointing to say the least.
Caotic,they overpaid players, a lot of G, Davis is the only big man (anderson is only a exelent 3 point shooter). They are going nowhere
While they definitely made some offensive upgrades with the addition of Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans. I think the Pelicans success will ultimately tie to the development of Anthony Davis and how they handle Eric Gordon. I would like to see them trade Eric Gordon away for a solid C (Maybe Gortat? I don't know if that is possible). If the Pelicans can unload Gordon AND Anthony Davis can build on his numbers from last year then I would see them being a solid team in the playoffs. However, even if the Pelicans did do all that - I do not see them beating the Rockets, OKC, SA, or GS. So... I guess I just gave a long answer to say the Pelicans will be mediocre... haha
At the moment, it seems like they'll be a middling team at best, since many of their players don't fit together and they have little cap room for more free agents. The future of the team hinges on whether Eric Gordon stays healthy or is traded for equal value and whether Tyreke Evans actually improves his game from his current jack-of-all-trades but master of none skillset. That future doesn't look that bright at the moment.
