New Orleans Pelicans: 2017-18 NBA season preview

Storyline 2: Cousins’ (and Davis’) fit and fate

In a sense, the Pelicans’ frontcourt is the opposite of their wing situation. While they are guaranteed to have at least one if not two sub-standard starters at the 1-3, they will start arguably the two best big men in the NBA at the 4 and 5.

In another sense, the Davis-Cousins pairing carries similar problems to the rest of this roster. They are more redundant than complementary, and do not fit Gentry’s preferred system.

Of course, he needn’t do anything besides throw Davis and Cousins out there for this to be one of the league’s better big-man pairings. They are both fantastic rebounders, ball-handlers, scorers, and jump shooters. Cousins is a low-post behemoth and Davis is a defensive monster.

New Orleans Pelicans

But the Pelicans need these guys to be better than very good. There is not enough raw talent elsewhere on the roster to get away with very good. There is also not enough complementary talent to make life easy for these guys; “very good” still might look average as they face consistent double-teams.

For New Orleans to make the playoffs — and to keep Cousins, and ultimately Davis long-term — it needs this duo to dominate. They cannot be one of the league’s better frontcourts, but must be one of its best duos, period.

They will get 48 minutes of elite center play nightly, that’s a given. The key is maximizing having both guys out there at once. Cousins cannot only be a stretch-4 while Davis runs pick-and-rolls. Davis cannot simply spot up from 20 feet out while Cousins works out of the post. Both players’ immense talent must be leveraged at all times, especially considering the lack of pressure coming from elsewhere.

If Gentry cannot figure out in 50 games what he could not in 17 last year, Cousins may find himself back on the block. Gentry and Demps would almost certainly follow him out of town, and Davis may not be far behind.

All of that rides on this pairing working, which is again why the lack of shooting on the wing is so dumbfounding.