Here's the next installment of our team-by-team season preview series on the New Orleans Pelicans:

2014-15 Record: 55-27

Notable Acquisitions: Alvin Gentry (Coach)

Notable Departures: None

Temperature Check:

After a second half surge helped propel to the first playoff appearance of Anthony Davis’ career, the Pelicans largely stood pat this offseason. That doesn’t mean, however, that New Orleans didn’t improve. Thanks to the hiring of Alvin Gentry, the Pelicans may have very well made the move of the offseason. If Gentry can work his offensive (and overall coaching) magic on this New Orleans franchise, it could be a one of the most entertaining and successful groups in the league this season.

Inside the Playbook:

With so many fun, offensive pieces to work with on this roster, it’s going to be entertaining to watch Gentry work his magic on that end of the floor. His arrival should mean more pace, more spacing and more pick-and-rolls, but also some more creativity. One of the more clever sets we’ve seen this preseason from New Orleans has been a clever weakside screening maze (presumably) designed for a shooter like Eric Gordon.

The play disguises itself as a double stagger screen for the wing opposite Gordon, who starts the set at the bottom of the two-man wall. But that player is mostly a decoy, either going backdoor and off to the other side (like in the above clip) or sometimes curling between Gordon and big man at the top of the stagger, “rubbing” Gordon’s defender just as the Pelicans starting two guard wheels around to come off the screening big man himself.

It’s a tricky action to defend because it’s hard to tell if and/when Gordon will actually come back off the screen, if he does at all. And even if you defend that off-ball-screen correctly, denying Gordon an opportunity for a shot or drive, the Pelicans just flow into something even more dangerous -- an Anthony Davis pick-and-roll against a shifting defense.

It’s this type of offensive ingenuity that make the combination of Gentry and this Pelicans personnel so fascinating. As the season and, in turn, the team’s playbook, evolves this season, New Orleans will be a real spectacle to watch.

Lineup to Watch:

Anthony Davis-Ryan Anderson-Quincy Pondexter-Eric Gordon-Jrue Holiday

Because of injuries, this group barely saw the floor last season for New Orleans -- though the 5-man pairing with Tyreke Evans in place of Holiday played 72 minutes together and outscored opponents by 11.3 points per 48 minutes, per NBA.com. The numbers with Evans aren’t too shabby, so why is the one with Holiday manning the helm potentially more impressive?

In the 72 games Holiday played the past two seasons, we’ve seen flashes of a player ready to break out, if he can stay healthy of course. And though he’s already 25, making him just a year younger than Evans, there’s just more intrigue around Holiday’s ceiling as a player. After all, we basically know what Evans is at this point -- a slashing wing who gets to the rim (but doesn’t finish very well when there) has a solid passing arsenal and battles with a suspect jumper.

Because of his injuries layoffs, no one is quite sure what to make of Holiday. Is he a player that has plateaued? Or can you surround him with a bunch of shooters (Anderson, Pondexter, Gordon) the most explosive dive man in the league and watch him turn into an All-Star? If the answer is the latter, it will give New Orleans one of the best 5-man lineups in the NBA.

The Wildcard:

Health

For those that have followed the Pelicans the past few seasons, the excitement over a lineup like the one mentioned above always seems to be brought down by the harsh reality that every single player in that group has struggled with injuries throughout his career. Pondexter has yet had his first season where he played over 70 games last year and suffered an injury that’s expected to keep him out well into the start of this one.

Gordon has missed huge chunks of time with knee issues while Holiday, as mentioned above, has only played in 72 games the past two years. On top of that, the same problem has existed for the two headliners of the group -- Anderson and Davis. Anderson has also only played over 70 games in a season just once and has appeared in just 83 in the last two. And the only thing that will hold Davis back is his availability, as his 68 games this past campaign was the highest mark of his three year career.

With Omer Asik, Alexis Ajinca and backup point guard Norris Cole joining Pondexter and Evans on the injury list, this season has already started out with New Orleans back against the wall. If this roster is healthy, the team is a legit a darkhorse contender for an NBA Finals appearance. But if the injury problem doesn’t get under control at some point soon, it could perhaps cost the team a shot at the playoffs entirely.

Coach’s Question:

How often will Alvin Gentry use Alexis Ajinca and Omer Asik at the 5?

Given their injuries, they current answer to that question is easy (it’s 0 minutes). But when they return, as Ajinca is expected to shortly, it’ll be interesting to see what Gentry does with his two massive centers.

The key phrase in that above sentence is “two.” Signing one or the other this offseason would have have made it a bit easier to predict Gentry’s plan. They would have likely used either Ajinca or Asik as a limited started to save the wear and tear on Davis then removed them for the vast majority of the game and let smaller lineups built around their emerging megastar (and Ryan Anderson) dominate the opposition. But with both players around (and healthy), the possibility lurks that Davis will spend far more time at the 4 with either Ajinca or Asik working alongside him in the New Orleans frontcourt.

On the surface, that logic has merit. As mentioned above, injuries tend to be the one thing that can derail an uber successful season for this potential juggernaut. One way to avoid those pesky setbacks is simply to protect players by limiting minutes or, in Davis’ case, unnecessary physical stress from playing up a position. After all, the Pelicans can play that way, likely make the playoffs easily then shift over to the more explosive Davis-Anderson frontcourt -- one that would be well rested thanks to smart minutes management.

That type of approach is a gamble though as New Orleans isn’t nearly the same bastion of success as a team like San Antonio, whose ingrained culture, sustained success and smart management/coaching has allowed them to basically use the regular season as a tuneup. The Pelicans aren’t nearly the same playoff lock and that’s without acknowledging that it’s just Gentry’s first season with the team.

So while the injuries will force the team’s new head coach to play whoever is available for now, at some point he will have an interesting (but still good) dilemma on his hands.

Best Case Scenario:

58-24 If…

The team gets (at least relatively) healthy and Davis doesn’t miss extended time due to injuries. Gentry, known for his offensive acumen, turns around a leaky defense. One of the Pelicans' primary ballhandlers -- Holiday, Evans, Cole or even the recently signed Ish Smith -- breaks out in a big way in Gentry’s system.

Worst Case Scenario:

45-37 If…

Injuries take their toll on the team and cause a slow start they can’t recover from. Pondexter never gets right and leaves Gordon as lone source of reliable shooting on the wing. All the injuries and emphasis on offense fail to shore up a defense that resided in the bottom third last season.

Click here for a full list of NBA Season Previews from Brett Koremenos.