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Alvin Gentry says Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns on short list of top cornerstones to start a franchise

New Orleans (23-34) and Minnesota (18-40) are outside the top eight in the Western Conference standings with roughly six weeks remaining in the 2015-16 season, but hope for future success centers on three of the past four No. 1 overall draft picks, a group that includes Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, as well as Timberwolves standouts Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.

Asked before Saturday’s game if Davis and Towns are on a “short list” of players an NBA team would love to start a franchise with, Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry agreed. That list also might include Wiggins, who captured the Rookie of the Year trophy last season, an award Towns is well on his way to also earning for the Timberwolves.

“They’re on a really, really short list,” Gentry said of Davis and Towns being franchise building blocks. “If you’re looking around our league now – obviously with LeBron’s age, if you’re starting a franchise (now), that may be a little bit different (than several years ago) – but those two guys are two of the best players in the league right now, as a 22-year-old and a 20-year-old.”

Other notes from pregame at the Smoothie King Center:

Eric Gordon is back in uniform for the Pelicans after being sidelined for 15 games with a broken finger. Coincidentally, he sustained the injury during Minnesota’s previous visit to New Orleans in January. Gentry said Gordon will have no minute restrictions; the shooting guard will start tonight and has been able to maintain a good cardio level because the hand injury had no effect on his ability to run or do conditioning. “We get Eric back. That’s a big thing,” said Gentry, who had to start Alonzo Gee out of position at shooting guard in Thursday’s win over Oklahoma City. “We’re happy to have another guy back.” …

Gordon was not able to shoot the ball until recently, which could impact him initially, but the he and the Pelicans are hopeful that his return to the court will otherwise go smoothly. “I expect him to be a little rusty,” Gentry said. “He just started shooting last week.”