Anthony Davis has had enough of the New Orleans Pelicans playing the part of unlikely bottom-feeder.
Entering the 2015-16 regular season, the Pelicans were considered playoff locks. They wouldn’t be a top-four Western Conference team, but they would appear in the postseason, perhaps as a No. 6 or No. 7 seed. Alvin Gentry’s offense would work wonders, the odd amalgam of Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans would just work, and Anthony Davis, resident world-wolfer, would take care of the rest.
The Pelicans are instead 4-14 following their loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night. They trail only the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers in total losses, and they’re not even close to healthy. Omer Asik is either seriously injured or seriously bad at basketball; Holiday is on a minutes cap; Quincy Pondexter is on the shelf; Davis is an injury magnet himself; and Norris Cole and Tyreke Evans only just made their season debuts.
Anthony Davis, however, isn’t one for making excuses. He made it very clear to NBA.com’s Fran Blinebury that the status quo in New Orleans, regardless of ill-built circumstances, is unacceptable:
“We have to play together, harder and tougher,” said Davis. “We are just trying to find a way to win. Whatever we have to do to win. We need to become closer as a team and believe in each other. We need to stop playing selfish basketball.”
That’s about as close as Anthony Davis will ever come to calling out his team. He looks the part of a solid leader, but he’s not one for subtle verbal jabs. These sentiments are the culmination of his frustrations boiling over. He’s a top-three NBA player, and he wants to win. And he wants to win now.
Actually winning now just isn’t feasible.
More than 75 percent of the season remains, so there is time for the Pelicans to turn things around. But for what? The rights to another first-round sweep at the hands of the best-ever Golden State Warriors?
No thanks.
Nearly six games separate the Pelicans from the West’s playoff bubble. That’s a daunting gap even this early. Even if they get healthy and play out of their minds, their ceiling is a lateral finish to last season. And neither the team nor Davis should want that.
New Orleans is paying for its decision to rush rebuilding around Davis. They should have remained patient following his rookie season, stockpiling and using draft picks. There was no reason to mortgage parts of the future on Jrue Holiday and Omer Asik, or to invest precious cap space in the oft-injured Tyreke Evans.
As of now, the best move for them is to play for this summer, for next season. Offload as many contracts as possible. Create additional cap space for free agency. Go after that top pick and LSU’s Ben Simmons at full bore.
Hit reset for real.
Winning can wait.
But only because it has to.
