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New Orleans Pelicans: 2k15 Ratings Released

By Owen Sanborn

Oct 30, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans mascot Pierre the Pelican performs for the crowd during the second half of a game against the Indiana Pacers at New Orleans Arena. The Pacers defeated the Pelicans 95-90. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans mascot Pierre the Pelican performs for the crowd during the second half of a game against the Indiana Pacers at New Orleans Arena. The Pacers defeated the Pelicans 95-90. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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I am a known NBA 2k addict. I have spent countless amounts of hours dedicated to my craft perfecting every dribble move combination, learning special moves that are player specific (such as Kobe’s post fadeaway) and finding hidden gems that can help me defeat my friends (usually these gems are athletic wings with some wiggle and shooting ability).

With this short glimpse into my 2k lifestyle in mind, please forgive me for getting giddy about the player ratings for each team being recently released.

Since this is a Pelicans centric beat for me, today we will be analyzing the ratings for each player on the team and whether or not 2k got them right. The ratings according to operationsports.com are:

88 Anthony Davis
82 Jrue Holiday
79 Eric Gordon
78 Tyreke Evans
77 Ryan Anderson
76 Omer Asik
73 John Salmons
72 Jimmer Fredette
72 Austin Rivers
69 Darius Miller
69 Jeff Withey
69 Russ Smith
68 Alexis Ajinca
66 Luke Babbitt

Instant Impressions:

It should not be a surprise that Anthony Davis boasts the best rating on the squad, given that he is far and away the best player. I am actually surprised that 2k respected him enough to give him a rating of 88 overall. That rating puts him right on par with other great players such as James Harden, Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Derrick Rose and LaMarcus Aldridge.

In fact, the only players to be rated higher than Davis are Carmelo Anthony (89), Kobe Bryant (89), Stephen Curry (89), Paul George (89), Blake Griffin (89), Chris Paul (91), Kevin Durant (95) and LeBron James (98). Davis proved himself last season to be both an offensive and defensive force with unique talents — it should not be long before we see him ascend above that magical 90 overall plateau.

2k envisions Jrue Holiday being the second banana in New Orleans this season (at least by ratings standards) and that should be the pecking order if the Pelicans want to reach the postseason. Holiday is always a sneaky person to pick up in an association fantasy draft against one of your buddies. He won’t be one of the top point guards to go, but his play translates well to the up tempo style most gamers employ.

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Poor Luke Babbitt gets the honor of being the worst rated player on the team and that really throws a monkey wrench in my argument for him to start at small forward (because of his floor spacing capabilities) over the likes of Evans and Darius Miller. Thank you 2k.

Ratings They Got Wrong:

Not much here honestly. Russ Smith being a 69 this early may have been a little generous considering how 2k rated the other rookies in the class, and Jimmer Fredette being a 72 (same rating as Zach LaVine — who I know hasn’t shown anything in the league yet besides viral monster slams, but come on) is a tad aggressive for my taste.

Really the only thing I would definitely change about these ratings is moving Tyreke Evans ahead of Eric Gordon for the time being. Tyreke just brings more to a basketball game (outside of a competent outside shot) than Gordon does at this point in time and he is a player I would much rather play with in 2k. He puts the “dribble” in dribble stick with his array of crossovers. I know we are nitpicking here (Gordon is only one notch ahead of Evans) but I envision 2k switching those ratings around before season’s end.

The rest of the ratings were pretty irrelevant. Ryan Anderson being a 77 was the only other one to catch my eye and that is mainly because I will be unable to snatch him up late in my association fantasy drafts. He was always one of those guys you take in the eighth or ninth round to help solidify your bench and add a quality locker room presence. His 77 rating means that he will now go somewhere in the fourth- or fifth-round range most likely. I miss the days when he was a 69 overall and he flew under the radar.

I tried to warn you that I love 2k just a little too much. To all the teenagers reading this, please do not make derogatory jokes regarding the amount of times the number 69 is referenced in this post.

Happy 2k season everyone, Oct. 7 can’t come soon enough.

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