3. Will Austin Rivers show us something? Anything? The Davis-Rivers duo was supposed to lead this New Orleans rebuild. Davis sure showed up. Rivers? Not so much. He had a brutal rookie season.
The 10th overall pick shot just 37.2 percent from the field with under two assists and slightly more than two rebounds per game in 23.2 minutes. His PER was a laughably pathetic 5.9, with an equally pathetic 89 offensive rating and 114 defensive rating. He also had -1.1 Win Shares, which means he was well, well below replacement level last season.
With Evans and Morrow now in the fold, Rivers should probably receive less playing time than last season. Will he get a decent amount of minutes even though he hasn’t shown anything to deserve them? He needs to earn Williams’ trust this season or he may not be in the league much longer.
4. Will New Orleans score enough this season? The Hornets averaged just 94.1 points last season, which was (you guessed it) 14th in the Western Conference. The team was 15th overall in shooting and 11th in 3-point shooting. And they turned it over 13.7 times per game, which was actually 10th in the league. So why the lack of 
offense?
You need to take shots to make them and play at a better pace. New Orleans took the fifth-fewest shots per game in the league and made 36 field goals per game, which ranked 24th. NOLA also was 21st in 3-point attempts and 26th in free throw attempts.
The new-look Pelicans will need to improve in all those areas if they want to grab some extra wins in their beaks (sorry). Holiday, Evans, Gordon and an improved Davis should be enough to get at least a little better. Right?
5. Can the Pelicans weather the division of death? New Orleans plays in the Southwest, the toughest division in the NBA. You have consistently excellent San Antonio, Western Conference finalist Memphis, an incredibly improved Houston squad and a halfway decent Dallas club.
The Pelicans went 5-11 against divisional opponents last season, the second fewest wins of any West team. For New Orleans to have any chance at making the playoffs this season, it is going to have to do better against its divisional rivals.
PELICANS SALARIES AND ANALYSIS
Shlomo Sprung loves advanced statistics and the way they explain what happens on the court. He is also the web editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A 2011 graduate of Columbia University’s Journalism School, he has previously worked for the New York Knicks, The Sporting News, Business Insider and other publications. His website is SprungOnSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter.