Dante Cunningham

Cunningham played heavy minutes for the Pelicans last season at both forward spots, appearing in 66 games while averaging 5.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game while playing 25 minutes per contest. This offseason, Cunningham was brought back to New Orleans on a three-year, $9 million deal. Despite playing more minutes than in his previous season with Minnesota, Cunningham watched as his counting stats took a hit, managing to only improve his free throw percentage to a still subpar 62 percent. As a forward without a three-point shot—he's 2-for-38 in his six-year career—Cunningham may have trouble breaking into the rotation this season. Off the bat, he'll be facing stiff competition from Alexis Ajinca, Ryan Anderson, and Quincy Pondexter for minutes in the frontcourt off the bench, and Kendrick Perkins and Luke Babbitt will be trying to find a way into the rotation as well. Cunningham is a flexible player who provided a boost for an injury-riddled squad last year, but he is unlikely to manage 25 minutes per game again if the Pelicans can stay healthy.

Cunningham enters the season as the primary backup to Kevin Love at power forward. The former Villanova star averaged 8.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals in a career-high 25.1 minutes per game last season. He emerged as a versatile forward who can play both inside and outside, as well as defend multiple positions. However, his offensive skills are limited as he doesn't have a good mid-range shot. However, he doesn't make many mistakes, has few turnovers and seen as a hard worker. That may give him an edge for backup minutes in the front court over Derrick Williams.

He can provide defense off the bench with 7.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocked shots per 36 minutes last season. However, he looks buried on the depth chart after being traded to Minnesota this summer with three defensive options ahead of him in Louis Amundson, Andrei Kirilenko and Greg Stiemsma.

Cunningham played as a big man at Villanova, but, at only 6-8 and 230, was asked by Portland to demonstrate more of a face-up game in the NBA. The transition actually went pretty well. Cunningham only averaged 11.2 minutes per game, but found time in 63 contests and displayed a dependable mid-range jumper, shooting 48.0 percent on shots 16-23 feet from the hoop, compared to a league-wide average of 39.6 percent (statistics per Hoop Data). He's not in for big minutes in 2010-11, but will make his case by demonstrating continued improvement at the three.

Portland selected Cunningham in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft. After averaging 18.3 points in Las Vegas this summer, he was locked up to a multi-year deal. The Blazers envision him as part of their future, but he'll likely spend most of his rookie season learning from the sidelines.