Alvin Gentry: 'No doubt' Anthony Davis will one day be MVP
There is a ton of optimism surrounding the Pelicans and how they'll fare next season, thanks to a combination of a new head coach in Alvin Gentry who is expected to turbo-charge the offense, along with the continued development of Anthony Davis, who's already viewed by many as being a top-three player in the league.
But for New Orleans to truly improve, they'll need to be better on the defensive end of the floor, where they were ranked just 22nd in the league last season.
Gentry knows this as well as anyone, and while he expects Davis to one day be worthy of winning MVP honors, he'd like to see him get a Defensive Player of the Year award first.
"It is up to us to make him as good as he can possibly be, and not settle for him to be less than great in this area or that area," Gentry said, in an interview with NBA.com's Ian Thomsen. "I told him that I have no doubt that he is going to be an MVP in this league. And I said to him, 'We are going to be really, really good if you also win Defensive Player of the Year.'''
The Pelicans snuck into the playoffs as an eight-seed in the West despite the team's defensive shortcomings. If the offense improves as expected, and Davis can commit a little more to focus his attention defensively, a further climb up the standings is well within the realm of possibility.
(h/t: NBA.com)
