New Orleans Pelicans: 2018-19 NBA season preview

Storyline 1: Anthony Davis, unleashed

Anthony Davis finished third in MVP voting last season after he surged once Boogie tore his Achilles Tendon. 2018-19 figures to be a full season of that level of play, and it is going to be an absolute joy to watch.

Playing alongside Nikola Mirotic last season was a blessing for Davis and the Pelicans. The duo posted a +5.0 net rating over 19.9 minutes per game, a mark higher than even the Davis-Jrue Holiday or Davis-DeMarcus Cousins duos.

That will be the plan this season too, as the Pelicans look to continue the blazing pace they played in the second half. The Pelicans will hunt fast break opportunities and three-point shots, but the engine for all of that is Davis’s interior presence.

Davis’s 1.18 points per possession as the roll man in picks and rolls was top-20 in the league among frontcourt players who logged enough attempts to qualify.

Unlike rim-running specialists like Montrezl Harrell, DeAndre Jordan and teammate Cheick Diallo, Davis is a threat anywhere on the floor, giving him a gravity that creates opportunities for his teammates.

On the defensive end, Anthony Davis is a terror; per Ph.D Stephen Shea’s analytics, Davis was the league’s most valuable defender in 2017-18. How many players in league history could post a triple-double with blocks that wasn’t just stat-stuffing?

Ten? Maybe 15?

Anthony Davis has lived up to the hype and now, in his age-25 season, we’re going to see him single-handedly dominate opposing teams.