NBA 2K16 player ratings released for the 2015-16 New Orleans Pelicans

If you missed the Early Tip-off Release of NBA 2K16 this past Friday, reserved only for those who had pre-ordered the video game, you are left waiting with the rest of the masses for the September 29th public release date. However, thanks to a retweet by Sean Kilpatrick, we have learned the player ratings for the entire New Orleans Pelicans roster in advance.

Before we get to the ratings, though, lets talk about Anthony Davis. When the 2K15 edition was released, he was given a player rating of 88, good for the eighth highest mark in that game. This season, Davis has a rating of 92, tying him with James Harden for the third highest valuation. Only LeBron James (94) and Stephen Curry (93) finished ahead of both Southwest Division representatives.

It should be noted the rating of any player is subject to change. Mike Stauffer and his staff at 2K Sports regularly perform updates throughout the course of the NBA season in order to mimic real life as closely as possible to their video game.

Now, here is a list of the player ratings for the 2015-16 Pelicans at the start of the season.

What jumps out at you?

First off, it's interesting to see 2K16 assume Kilpatrick will make the Pelicans roster. He will be battling with five other partially or non-guaranteed players in training camp next week for two remaining open roster spots. Perhaps their game designers can see into the future?

Next, it seems odd to see Perkins on the same level as Cole and Pondexter or that no more than 10 points separates everyone not named Davis or Kilpatrick. In addition, no other Pelican placed in the top 10 of the league at their position.

However, according to several articles I've read, their overall rating isn't very important in the grand scheme of things. Instead, one should focus on the grades of individual attributes because this season, 2K sports has implemented something called the Hall of Fame Scale.

It’s something that 2K is calling the Hall of Fame Scale, and what that basically means is that in order to earn a 99 in any individual category one should be considered the greatest of all time in that category. From there, everyone is graded against the curve set by that player. The same is true for overall rating, where a prime Michael Jordan is the only 99 in the game.

Wondering what some of these individual attributes are? I was too and through my googling efforts, I came across the following YouTube video.

If you scroll to the 1:35 mark of the video, you'll see some of these grades listed for eight of the 2015-16 Pelicans.

Remember, they are subject to change. Thus, it is quite likely that Davis' grade of an F from the three-point territory will be changed once he starts shooting and making these perimeter shots as we've been led to believe he will be able to all off-season.

For those curious about how the actually game play will appear, below is a NBA 2K16 sample game between the Pelicans and Thunder. I'm not sure why in the opening minute and a half of the we see Babbitt guarding Serge Ibaka but whatever right?