New Orleans Pelicans: 3 reasons LeBron James should join Anthony Davis
By Jason Timpf
3. The Pelicans desperately need a small forward
The New Orleans Pelicans have tons of talent. Jrue Holiday proved in this postseason to be one of the best two-way guards in basketball. Rajon Rondo showed that he can still control a playoff series. E’Twaun Moore and Nikola Mirotic fulfilled their 3-and-D roles fantastically.
And last but not least, Anthony Davis was perhaps the best player in basketball after the All-Star break.
Unfortunately, Darius Miller (a second round pick) and Solomon Hill (a player who drew the ire of Larry Bird as lazy) have left something to be desired on the wing. In today’s NBA, this can cripple any franchise.
This, predictably, came back to haunt the Pelicans in their series with the Golden State Warriors. Without the necessary talent on the wing, they were often forced to play three guards.
Moore, Rondo and Holiday were forced to share the floor for 114 minutes in just five games against the Warriors. This essentially means that the Pelicans spent about half of every game with three players under 6’4″ on the court.
You can pull that off against a team like the Portland Trail Blazers, but not against the great size of Golden State.
LeBron James would fit seamlessly into that small forward position, giving the Pelicans the size on the wing they so desperately need. Lineups including LeBron, Davis, Holiday, Mirotic and Moore would cover all the bases, so to speak.