Anthony Davis is currently averaging a career-high 29-points, 12.1-rebounds, and 2.2-assists per game to go along with 2.5-blocks and 1.3 steals. He has scored more than 35-points in 12 of the 40 games he has played this season, winning only 6 of them. The most notable game Davis has had was his 50pts, 15rebs, 5asts, 5stls, and 4blks performance in the Pelicans season opener loss against the Denver Nuggets.
Looking at his personal stats alone, it would be hard to argue that Anthony Davis is not an MVP candidate. However, the Pelicans are currently 11th in the Western Conference with a 16-26 record for the season. They have won only 8 of the 20 games where Davis scored more than 30 points, as per Basketball Reference, and are hard pressed to make it to the playoffs.
With the looming free agency of Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday, having a slim chance of getting a high enough draft pick to select a franchise changing rookie and having a roster that other teams would gladly leave open on the floor to help defend Anthony Davis, the Pelicans seem to find themselves between a rock and a hard place. A situation they have to find a solution to, and fast.
The Pelicans have been plagued with multiple player injuries in the past and have only had an over 500 season once in the last 6 years as per Land of Basketball. Anthony Davis has just signed a 5-year extension so the Pelicans do not have to worry about him going anywhere, anytime soon. They now have to find a way to build around him with the limited assets that have due to previous trades.
This is easier said than done, but if the Pelicans do not do anything. They risk tanking to the bottom of the Western Conference, losing Davis in 5 years and having to rebuild their franchise from scratch. There may be no concrete solution to the Pelicans' woes, but they surely have to do SOMETHING to get themselves back on track as what ESPN has made evidently clear in the report by Zach Lowe.
