Everybody, including myself, has been ragging on the Pelicans for a long time for not getting enough help for Anthony Davis. That narrative changed slightly when they made the blockbuster deal for DeMarcus Cousins (RIP in peace), but it was still prevalent, and I still believed it. Even now I think that the Pelicans haven’t accumulated as much talent as they should have. But that perception not only changed with the Cousins trade, but it changed once Jrue Holiday actually started playing up to his potential as an All-Star-level point guard.
Holiday’s been injured off and on for the past few seasons (just like Gordon and Evans were in their Pelicans days), and has never developed real great chemistry with any one group of players. I think that chemistry is finally developing now, and what we’re seeing as a result of that is Holiday’s best-ever season. Normally I don’t bring up things like “chemistry” because they don’t show up in the box-score, but in this case, I’ve come up with a new stat that does quantify the concept: it’s called “chemistries per game” (CPG for short) and it measures the amount of times that a player has good chemistry with a teammate or teammates. Jrue Holiday has at least thirty chemistries per game by my count. That’s why the Pelicans are going to the playoffs this season, and why Holiday is playing so well.
For reference, Cousins had -20 CPG. You know. Just saying.