Some thoughts:

– For all the concern surrounding the Pelicans’ decision to shut down Anthony Davis, it should not cost him $25 million. Per Basketball-Reference, he has played 56% of his minutes at center, making him the obvious choice at the position for first team.

The main gripe with Davis this year seemed borne out of expectation. After his superb campaign last season, he was expected to build upon that and push the Pelicans into the second-tier of Western Conference contenders. He has not taken that leap forward this year, and in many ways regressed, most noticeably on defense. Davis excelled last year playing the 4 alongside the Omer Asik, and logged 94% of his minutes at power forward (compared to 44% this season).

Asik’s precipitous decline in 2015-2016 threw a wrench in the Pelicans’ rotations. He missed the first two weeks of the season nursing a calf injury, and proved to be completely unplayable upon his return. While he did not provide positive value last season, his defense helped mask his offensive deficiencies. This season, no such luck.

Davis was forced into a no-win situation this year: He could either play power forward with the deplorably slow Asik, or assume the role of center and let Ryan Anderson take over duties at the 4. Either way, he was surrounded by little defensive talent. A glance through the guards on New Orleans’ roster also helps explain their 26th-place finish in defensive rating.

Considering how much of a mess the Pelicans were this season, it’s easy to assign blame to Davis. But I cannot imagine a more adverse situation for the growth of a young superstar (turned 23 on March 11th). He had to deal with an idiotic new coach, a mediocre supporting cast (especially in the frontcourt), and injury luck that turned the Pelicans roster into a veritable D-League team. So I'm willing to give Davis the benefit of the doubt, and hope he gets back to elite defensive status next season. He was still a plus player on that end this year, and remains an excellent offensive threat.

If the voters realize they can pencil him in at center, there should not be much controversy for his first team spot.

– Toughest Omissions: LaMarcus Aldridge, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, Al Horford, Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan, Carmelo Anthony, Karl-Anthony Towns.

– It seems fair to focus on Aldridge, the no. 2 contributor on a 65+ win team. He struggled during the first two months of the season, with massive fluctuations in usage on a night-to-night basis. San Antonio wanted him to adapt to a new role, a tough challenge even for an 11-year veteran. His box score stats from the first two months of the year mirrored his on-court contributions: inconsistent and underwhelming.

Aldridge is clearly an All-NBA caliber player, as demonstrated over the last 50 or so games. He has also adapted to the San Antonio offense, and shown that he is still fully capable of being the primary offensive option. Using New Year’s Day as an arbitrary constraint reveals the contrast between Aldridge’s two ‘seasons.’ Both his counting stats and efficiency numbers have dramatically increased. His scoring jumped from 15.5 PPG to 20.1 PPG, and his TS% went from 52.0% to 59.7%.

When Aldridge signed, the hope was that San Antonio would be able to integrate him into the offense in a less ball-dominant role, while still maintaining his efficiency. His duties have vastly changed from those in Portland, yet he is in the midst of his most efficient offensive season to date. Aldridge has transitioned to a slightly more post-centric player with the Spurs, who let him feast against undersized defenders. His post touches per game have risen from 2.4 per game (102nd-highest in the NBA) in 2014-2015, to 5.7 per game (12th-highest) this year. He also modified his shot selection, reducing his mid-range volume, and eliminating nearly all his three-point attempts. The full breakdown of Aldridge’s shot attempts from each of the last two season is shown below, and depicts quite the shift offensively (data from NBA Savant).