Pelicans' Williams calls retaining Omer Asik a key issue for 2015-16

Armed with a vote of confidence from owner Tom Benson, New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams is moving on from rumors he's on the hot seat and looking ahead to 2015-16.

With only five players under guaranteed contracts for next season, the Pelicans could be facing a tumultuous offseason. Superstar Anthony Davis and key cogs Tyreke Evans, Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday remain under contract, and Eric Gordon is likely to pick up his $15.5-million player option, but outside of that group, it's unclear what next year's roster will look like.

If the Pelicans bet on improved health - they were terribly unlucky in that department this year - and another step forward from the burgeoning megastar Davis, they may not feel the need to make too big a splash. But the organization has been aggressive in putting win-now pieces around Davis and has some financial flexibility this summer.

To hear Williams tell it, one of the keys for the team is retaining unrestricted free agent Omer Asik.

"As far as Omer, he's a huge part of what we do," Williams said Tuesday. "If you look at our defensive numbers from last year to this year, we improved in a number of categories and Omer was a huge part of that."

Williams may be overstating Asik's impact. The team's defense only rose from 25th to 22nd this season, and while it was 2.7 points per 100 possessions better with Asik on the court, the team was slightly worse overall with the Turkish 7-footer playing. 

He did help the team's rebounding a great deal, and the Davis-Asik frontcourt pairing was very strong defensively.

But Asik is incredibly limited offensively, committing turnovers because of his poor hands and shooting poorly at the free-throw line. He shot 51.7 percent from the floor, not a strong mark for someone who took 89.6 percent of his shots within three feet of the hoop. 

His limitations were such that he became more or less unplayable against the Golden State Warriors in the opening round of the playoffs, and he's likely to have limited utility in certain matchups moving forward.

The 28-year-old Asik just finished a three-year, $25.1-million deal he signed with the Houston Rockets in 2012, one they eventually needed to shed, sending him to the Pelicans in a three-team trade that saw New Orleans surrender a 2015 first-round pick.

He's one of the most interesting free-agent cases this summer as a proven defender and rebounder who doesn't necessarily fit into modern NBA offenses.