New Orleans Pelicans Should Trade Anthony Davis Within The Next 2-3 Seasons
Even though the New Orleans Pelicans signed Anthony Davis to a five-year / 145 million dollar extension this past off-season. The Pelicans should trade Davis within the next 2-3 seasons because Davis has missed at least 15 games in each of his first three seasons due to a number of injuries, which include sprained right shoulder, sprained MCL and a fractured left hand. If Anthony Davis continues to sustain injuries that force him to exit or miss games, he will not be able to lead the Pelicans to any real team success. Real team success for the Pelicans would be winning 50-55 regular season games and making it pass the first round. For the Pelicans to achieve this goal, they would need Davis 75 to 80 games without missing significant portions of games to attend to an injury. Since the Pelicans do not have another impact player on their roster that can help them tread water until Davis gets back.
There is no question that Anthony Davis has the skill set to be able to lead the Pelicans towards real team success. In fact, under Alvin Gentry’s offensive system, Anthony Davis is involved in a good amount of pick and roll, pop or slide plays. For example, the point guard would bring the ball up to the three point line and then Davis would set a screen. Once the screen was set, Davis would pay attention to his defender to determine the next course of action. For instance, if the defender went under the screen to prevent the point guard from attacking the basket Davis would pop or slide for a mid-range jumper or three-pointer. On the other hand, if the defender went over the screen, Davis would dive towards the basket for an easy layup or dunk. On occasion, Anthony Davis decides he is going to post up his defender in the mid to high post area and either shoots a turnaround jumper faces up and shoot over his defender.
When it comes to the defensive end of the floor, Anthony Davis has the lateral quickness, and foot speed allows him to be able to keep his chest in front of opposing forwards or centers. As a result of this, the opposing players had a tough time getting an open look at the basket. For instance, after a player took one or two steps to try to keep past him, they would end up passing the ball or always taking contested shots.. But so far this season, the Pelicans and Davis have decided to have him be a player who mostly roams around and provides help defense to his teammates if they need. One would assume that the Pelicans and Davis made this decision to ensure that he would spend most of his energy on offense.
In conclusion, if Anthony Davis continues to sustain injuries that force him to exit or miss games, the Pelicans would be better off trading Davis. This would give the organization a chance to acquire multiple players who have a proven track record of staying healthy. Furthermore, it would also give them extra cap space to pursue players during free agency.
