Season Goals: New Orleans Pelicans Role Players
By Seth Nefsky
Ian Clark: Improve Point Guard Play
The season has not started and Rajon Rondo is already injured. On top of that, the only other legitimate point guard option for the Pels, Jrue Holiday, has played over 70 games in just three of his eight years in the league.
After these two glass sculptures, the closest thing to a point guard is combo guard Ian Clark, who by his own admission has “never really been a true point guard,” which is a quite fair thing to say.
Though converting him into a full-time point guard would not be beneficial to Clark, as it would tarnish some of his offensive value as a scorer, giving him more point guard reps would certainly help the Pelicans. This means putting him in more pick and rolls and encouraging him to pass more on drives. If Clark does this, he could be used as the “in case of emergency” point guard that the Pels so need.
Dante Cunningham: Small Forward Skills
By the looks of it, Dante Cunningham will be the starting small forward for the New Orleans Pelicans, as he has started every preseason game so far. The only problem is Cunningham is not a small forward. Last year he played just 21% of his minutes there and played just 15 minutes next to starting frontcourt mates, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.
Cunningham is having trouble producing in his new role, with just four points in 40 minutes with them. Though this is once again a miniature sample size, this problem draws on major concerns with Cunningham playing small forward for the season.
As a power forward, Cunningham was an extremely effective shooter. His 39.2% stroke stretched potential rim protectors out of the painted area. However, with Cunningham playing small forward, more perimeter oriented players will be defending him, which means his three-point stroke, will be less impactful.
Because his shooting will no longer be as big of a factor, Cunningham must find other ways to make his offense valuable. Perhaps he can use his 6’8” size and 230-pound frame to post up smaller defenders, something that big wings like Danilo Gallinari, Rudy Gay, and Harrison Barnes have flourished doing in the past. But, being that Cunningham has never really posted up in the past, I doubt that he would be able to do it with similar effectiveness.
Defensively, Cunningham needs to work on his perimeter defense, which has been lacking in the past. Last season, his assignments shot 2.6% better from outside of 15 feet with him defending and pick and roll ball handlers averaged a crazy 1.16 points per possession. Cunningham’s lateral speed was definitely lacking last season and will surely be exploited playing small forward. If Cunningham does not improve his perimeter defense, the chances are he will lose his starting spot in favor of someone who can defend wings.
Cheick Diallo, Frank Jackson, Perry Jones, Cliff Alexander: Earn Minutes
And now we get to the very bottom of the roster; the players who likely will not see very many minutes in the NBA and end up playing more in the G-League. Wait that doesn’t sound right. The goal for these four players is simple, earn minutes and sneak their ways into the rotation.
It will be extremely hard for any of these players to crack regular minutes, but they can try by doing the right things: playing hard in garbage time, working hard in practice and putting up numbers in the G-League.
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If they accomplish these three steps, these players will find an easier time earning minutes in the future, as they have proven their value as teammates and hard-workers.