NBA Power Rankings: Is it time to start talking about San Antonio Spurs?

. New Orleans Pelicans. 26. team. 69. A Tim Frazier triple-double earned the New Orleans Pelicans an overtime victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night. I believe that is only the second time — Jrue Holiday’s return being the other — that I’ve led off this slide talking about someone on the roster besides Anthony Davis. New Orleans has significantly cooled off as of late making that win over the Suns crucial for this team going forward. After the top five or six teams in the Western Conference the rest is almost a toss up. It would require an extended win streak the likes of which New Orleans hasn’t seen since the New Orleans Saints brought home a Super Bowl trophy, but the fact that the Pelicans still have a shot at the playoffs is a legitimate shock. The best thing to happen to the Pelicans this season are the impending changes coming in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). After watching heavyweights like LeBron James and Kevin Durant leave their smaller market homes behind in free agency, the owners and NBA Players’ Association adapted the contract extension rules to make it harder for young stars to leave. Superstars are now going to have to turn down up to $100 million to leave for greener pastures.. 10-20