What can the New Orleans Pelicans do with Tyreke Evans?
By Nathan Heck
The New Orleans Pelicans lost Tyreke Evans for the season, losing the ability to really get a clear picture of the complete roster. Now the question arises: what should the team do with Tyreke Evans?
The New Orleans Pelicans are in the enviable situation of having two talented, starting caliber lead guards. Regardless of all of the negativity surrounding Tyreke Evans this season, referring to him as anything other than talented is simply hyperbole. Sure, he slows the pace down and makes questionable decisions, but even in a season where he was barely healthy, Tyreke Evans still averaged 15.2 points, 6.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game, per basketball-reference.com.
If counting stats aren’t your cup of tea, take a gander at some of Evans’s advanced statistics from his injury-riddled 2015-16 campaign. Posting a healthy player efficiency rating of 18.2 (15 is considered average, for reference), Tyreke Evans was much more efficient than his detractors gave him credit for. In an ironic twist, Tyreke Evans posted a true shooting percentage of 53.4 percent in his 25 games this season, despite his reputation among fans as a seemingly relentless chucker. That is half a percentage point higher than everyone’s darling, Jrue Holiday (In no way besmirching Jrue Holiday, he’s been great lately).
When considering lineups, the story remains the same; both Holiday and Evans are very good. Jrue Holiday is a part of three of the five best two-man lineups and Tyreke Evans is a part of two of them. Unfortunately, one two-man lineup for the Pelicans logged almost no time together this season: Evans and Holiday. Many people seem to be making the leap of logic that, because Jrue Holiday is playing so well, Evans must be bad. Instead, they are both effective and happen to be the only two proven guards currently under contract for next season.
The idea of them sharing the floor together would necessarily involve compromise between the two of them, but it is something the Pelicans should have done down the stretch this season. With Evans and Holiday both, presumably, returning to full health, the Pelicans would likely look to play the two of them 30 or more minutes a night, meaning they would share the floor regularly. At that point, it may be wise to consider starting both of them.
Unfortunately, the Pelicans will not have the opportunity to field test this due to Evans’s third knee surgery in a year. Now, Dell Demps and Alvin Gentry will need to gaze into a crystal ball and ask: can Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday effectively share the floor together? The answer they arrive at could very well change how the Pelicans operate in the offseason.
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If the Pelicans believe they can coexist, the decision becomes easy; simply let Evans play his contract out and gauge his value in the summer of 2017. Things get tricky if Demps and company don’t believe Tyreke Evans fits with Jrue Holiday. As fans of the Pelicans learned this season, expiring contracts are worth almost nothing in the current market climate. Moving Tyreke Evans mid-way through the season seems unlikely, so a decision should be made this offseason, before Evans’s value is nonexistent.
Trading Evans this offseason is likely the only way the Pelicans can move on from the lead guard and get something in return. Teams are more likely to trade for him during the offseason when they can fully integrate them into the team and get a clear picture as to whether or not he would fit with their long-term plans. Representing something of significant value to handful of teams, Tyreke Evans could likely net the Pelicans a real asset.
Next: Can Jrue Holiday be Robin?
If Dell Demps is around this offseason, he will need to think long and hard about whether or not he believes his two lead guards, both on expiring contracts, can coexist. Both Evans and Holiday are talented, that much is undeniable, but how they fit with each other and within the context of this team is up for debate. With Anthony Davis inching closer and closer to free agency, the Pelicans do not have the luxury of being able to make mistakes. Every mistake costs time, and time is something the Pelicans are short on.