Derick E. Hingle – USA Today Sports Images
Most people would agree that the New Orleans Pelicans have had a productive off-season and have added some integral pieces to their roster. With the additions of Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday and even Anthony Morrow, this is a team that could find themselves in the 2014 NBA Playoffs when the upcoming regular season is over with.
There’s no doubt that the Pelicans now have a ton of talent on their roster. Their projected five-player core of Holiday, Eric Gordon, Evans, Ryan Anderson and Anthony Davis are all young players in this league, but they are also full of talent and potential to go along with that youth.
However, one of the overlooked things about this Pelicans team heading into the 2013-2014 season is how lethal they are going to be from beyond-the-arc. Without making much noise, the Pelicans have assembled a team that is going to cause a ton of problems for opponents.
The Pelicans currently have six players on their roster that have shot above 36 percent from long-range for their careers, those players being Anderson, Gordon, Holiday, Darius Miller, Morrow and Brian Roberts. In fact, of those six players Gordon and Holiday are the only ones that haven’t shot above 38 percent from three for their career and Morrow is a career 42.4 percent three-point shooter.
Particularly with the addition of Morrow, this is a dangerous team from deep. However, the Pelicans may also have another deep-shooting threat emerging in Davis. While playing for USA Basketball this summer, Davis made a point to show off an improved shooting stroke and range beyond the three-point line. If he can continue to work on that area of his game and consistently knock down that shot, that’s just another member of this team that is going to cause opponents fits.
The Pelicans ranked 11th in the league in team three-point shooting at 36.3 percent. With the additions that they have made this summer and the improvements of guys like Davis and possibly even Austin Rivers, they could relatively easily be in the top 10 in the upcoming season.
Last season, even with their success shooting the three, the Pelicans still missed the playoffs. However, they are a much more versatile group heading into this season that can attack in numerous ways. This season, their three-point shooting will be another one of their weapons, not their only one that they are forced to rely on.
Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google and like his Facebook page.
