New Orleans Pelicans: Moves must be made to keep Anthony Davis in town

The New Orleans Pelicans have a nice roster, but it’ll need more to get Anthony Davis to sign a contract extension when the time comes.

The New Orleans Pelicans got a big win Wednesday night in a nationally televised game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Anthony Davis dropped a season-high 44 points to go along with 18 rebounds in a 118-114 victory.

AD has been playing out of his mind so far to begin the season, averaging a casual 27.4 points, 12.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.6 blocks per game. Jrue Holiday is having his best season as a pro, averaging career-highs in both points and assists with 20.5 and 8.8 a night, respectively.

Even Julius Randle, the Pelicans’ free agent signing from a few months ago, is dropping nearly 20 and 10 on a consistent basis.

And yet, despite all the talent on the roster, if the playoffs were to begin today, New Orleans would be on the outside looking in. That win against OKC pushed them to an even .500 on the year at 15-15, 10th-best in the West.

To be fair, injuries have played their part. Elfrid Payton hasn’t played a full game since the end of October and wound up needing surgery on his pinkie, and he’s supposed to be their starting point guard. Davis has missed a handful of matchups and Nikola Mirotic has his sprinkle of DNPs as well.

Looking at this roster, though, it just doesn’t appear good enough to truly compete with the giants of the conference. AD can only do so much on a nightly basis. It’s up to the front office to upgrade the roster in ways we’ve seen other teams do in the past.

The Pelicans tried shooting their shot when Jimmy Butler was on the trade block to no avail, but where have they been when it comes to scouring the rest of the league?

George Hill would’ve been a great addition, and he went for a package New Orleans certainly could’ve matched. It looks as though Trevor Ariza will be dealt any second now, but the Pelicans haven’t seemed to throw their name in that ring at all.

Bringing in J.R. Smith would be better than nothing, but the 33-year-old has always been known to be streaky at both ends, and we all know about his questionable IQ and decision-making. New Orleans needs someone more dependable and consistent than that.

Aside from competing this season, the Pelicans need to make sure they’ll have a shot at the playoffs for the foreseeable future. The Brow will be up for a massive extension this summer. General manager Dell Demps has tried to put together a competitive roster, but most of their transactions have failed rather spectacularly.

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Davis has expressed a desire to make it work in the Cresent City, but if Demps can’t get the roster near title-contending level, why would AD want to be the second coming of Kevin Garnett in the worst possible way?

AD will likely head to the Hall of Fame with the potential to be one of the best to ever do it when his career is up. You’re lucky to get such player on your franchise. You’re even luckier if he actually wants to stay.

If nothing more, New Orleans must show its franchise megastar a willingness and ability to compete at the highest level. Doing so requires getting on the phone and making a number of calls in order to help improve what is, unfortunately, a middle-of-the-pack roster.