New Orleans Pelicans: The Southwest is a divisional nightmare

Can the New Orleans Pelicans prove the doubters wrong this season by becoming an emerging threat in the NBA’s deepest division?

This upcoming season will be a litmus test for the New Orleans Pelicans. Potential has been the key word that has floated around this team since drafting Anthony Davis back in 2012. For years, this team has been the odd man out in the NBA’s strongest division.

This past decade alone, all the teams in the Southwest Division have all went deep in the playoffs and contended in the Western Conference Finals.

The exception is the New Orleans Pelicans, and the last time they were considered a contending team was back in 2007-08. It’s hard to envision this year that the Pelicans could transform themselves into a title contending team. But they do have some solid building parts to start with.

It just depends on how well they mesh together during the long and tumultuous season. Their playoff chances hinge on their performances against key divisional teams.

Last season, they didn’t fair well against those teams in their own division, especially against the playoff-bound teams like the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs.

If they can even up or win the season series with their Southwest rivals, the New Orleans Pelicans might be hailed as the sleeper team of the Western Conference. But nobody is giving them any shot to be considered a team to watch out for this year. It all depends on how this new-look Pelicans team stacks up against other divisional teams.

So how do the Pelicans match up in their own division this upcoming season? Let’s take a look.