Halo

The New Orleans Pelicans announced superstar Anthony Davis suffered a left wrist contusion during Wednesday's game against the Toronto Raptors at the Smoothie King Center and would not return.

Few players are more valuable to an organization than Davis is to New Orleans. The 23-year-old is averaging 28.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per contest this season and made his fourth All-Star Game.

Other than DeMarcus Cousins, the Pelicans don't have another player who can make the sort of impact Davis does, and they are on the outside looking in at the 2017 NBA playoffs even with Davis in the lineup.

Without him for a sustained period of time, they are arguably one of the worst teams in the NBA. When Davis is on the bench, the Pelicans have a league-worst offensive rating of 99.2 points scored per 100 possessions, and their defense goes from being in the top five to the bottom 10, according to NBA.com.

The team still has something of an identity crisis to figure out, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com wrote in January:

The Pelicans are still a stream-of-consciousness novel, and they can't just blame injuries. Some pieces proved tricky fits, and there remains disagreement among coaches and executives over fundamental questions: Is Davis a center or a power forward? Do we want a switching defense, or something more conservative? Can [Jrue] Holiday play the improvisational style Alvin Gentry wants? Can he stay healthy?

Perhaps the biggest question will be whether New Orleans should re-sign Holiday in the offseason and perhaps look to add another big piece in free agency or tank and take another go at rebuilding around Davis.

Either approach is risky. The former could lead to more of the status quo: chasing the eighth seed in the Western Conference. The latter means subjecting Davis to another few seasons of mediocrity, and if the team's draft picks don't pan out and Davis doesn't envision a path to a title in New Orleans, he might bolt at the first opportunity.

Of course, the longer Davis is on the sidelines, the more viable tanking might become.

But that's the long view. In the short term, Cousins, Dante Cunningham and Donatas Motiejunas will see the bulk of the minutes in Davis' absence in the post.

Read more New Orleans Pelicans news on BleacherReport.com



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