Halo

The NBA Finals sure look pretty fun, eh?

Well, despite a first-round exit at the hands of the now-champion Golden State Warriors, the New Orleans Pelicans aren’t all that far from contending.

Even soon-to-be head coach Alvin Gentry shouted as much to Anthony Davis as he celebrated with the Dubs Wednesday night.

But to get that far, this summer is important.

John Reid of The Times-Picayune reported on June 11 that Eric Gordon is “leaning toward opting-in to play out the final year of his contract.” Given the shooting guard’s injury history, he’d be insane not to—even despite a report from RealGM’s Shams Charania that he’s “scoured the NBA market for a potential long-term deal out of New Orleans”

Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson and Quincy Pondexter—the big dogs, basically—are all under contract for next season. Seven others will be free agents.

That means there will be some moving and shaking of the roster. General manager Dell Demps needs to head into this summer in search of a three-and-D wing, bench scoring and depth on the bench.

Let’s look at a few guys who check off some (or all) of those boxes.

Begin Slideshow



More...