New Orleans Pelicans: Grading The Offseason
Locking Up A Monster
The Pelicans’ most important move of the summer just so happened to be their first. In fact, New Orleans agreeing to a massive five-year, $145 million extension with Anthony Davis was the first reported deal as soon as free agency started.
Was it the biggest contract in league history? Yes. But should anybody give a s**t about anything other than the fact that New Orleans locked down the NBA’s next great alpha dog for the next six years? Absolutely not. This was a no-brainer for both sides.
Anthony Davis on signing 5-year extension deal: "It was very easy. I know I wanted to be here.''
— John Reid (@JohnReid64) July 27, 2015
The contract, which goes into effect at the start of the 2016-17 season, was the perfect move for a team that knows it doesn’t have the ideal supporting cast for its budding superstar just yet. If you had to pick anyone to build a franchise around right now, it’d be Davis without question, so the Pelicans did the right thing to secure their franchise star for the long-term.
The Brow will only be 28 years old when this extension expires, which means the Pelicans need to start putting a title contender around him as soon as they can. But it probably won’t be long before good players start wanting to join Davis on the Pelicans after he led the league in Player Efficiency Rating (30.8) in just his third NBA season.
Anthony Davis, who has agreed to a contract extension with the Pelicans, is in good company pic.twitter.com/IeD2D9BO9X
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 1, 2015
A player hasn’t resonated with New Orleans basketball fans like this since Chris Paul, but after what we saw from Davis in his first playoff series (31.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game), there’s no question his potential is far greater. Executing this extension at the first possible opportunity ensures that the Pelicans will be in the mix for a championship one day.
Grade: A+
Next: Re-Signing Ajinca