New Orleans Pelicans Rank: Tyreke Evans roundtable

Apr 25, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard

(1) is called for charging against Golden State Warriors center

(12) as forward

(40) during the second half in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the Smoothie King Center. The Warriors defeated the Pelicans 109-98. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

If Jrue Holiday has become the face of the New Orleans Pelicans rebuilding strategy discussion, Tyreke Evans is a close second. The reasoning though is a bit different.

Unlike Holiday, who cost two first round picks to acquire, Evans does not find himself panned because of how much the Pelicans gave up to get him. Instead, the discussion around Evans focuses on how good he actually is and if it is good enough to help a team win the NBA title.

There is little doubt that Evans has some high level NBA skills. Last season he led finished towards the top of the league in total drives and points created by drives, as he relentlessly bullied much smaller point guards.

Yet the questions are always there with Evans, with much of them tied into his agression. Can he tone that down and make better decisions on the fastbreak? Why does he constantly ignore Anthony Davis at the end of games to drive into a ton of traffic and throw up impossible layups?

For those people that have come to grips with Evans and accepted who he is as a player, his true value seems easy to find. As a player that can get to the rim at any point, Evans is bound to do a silly thing here or there.

For those that haven’t it becomes hard to see how the Pelicans can ever go far with Evans questionable decision making.

Which side is right remains to be seen but one thing seems certain. For better or for worse Tyreke Evans is going to be easy to talk about.

Next: Sixth or Start