Why James Ennis is Perfect for the New Orleans Pelicans
By Seth Nefsky
Although big names like Paul George, LeBron James and Kevin Durant quickly came off of the table in this year’s free agency, there are still plenty of solid players yet to find teams. Among them is James Ennis, who has spent his four-year NBA career playing with the Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans and Detroit Pistons. Last season, Ennis played 72 games with the Memphis Grizzlies and Detroit Pistons. He averaged 7.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per game.
No, these are not big numbers by any means. Still, James Ennis has shown to be a solid, jack-of-all-trades wing. This would be something New Orleans needs if they want to improve upon last season. And so, before he is snatched up by another team, the Pelicans should definitely try to scoop up James Ennis.
Last season, the New Orleans Pelicans were incredibly thin at small forward, with their only two natural three’s being Darius Miller who, despite being a certified sharpshooter, was one of the worst defensive players in the league (-2.28 defensive real plus-minus), and Solomon Hill, who missed the majority of the season recovering from a hamstring injury, before rejoining the team in mid-March to put up more bricks than a construction worker.
This shortage caused the team to try out many unorthodox solutions with varying levels of success. To start the season, the New Orleans Pelicans started Dante Cunningham, a natural power forward, at the three. This, as we all now know, proved to be disastrous. In 24 starts, Cunningham would go on to average just six points and 4.3 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game, all while shooting just 41.9% from the field and 29.7% from three. He also struggled mightily on defense, as he was simply too slow to guard small forwards.
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Then, the Pels decided to slide natural shooting guard E’Twaun Moore to small forward. With this, their starting five consisted of three guards. Though offensively the trio of Jrue Holiday, E’Twaun Moore and Rajon Rondo was very effective, averaging 113.8 points per 100 possessions, their defense suffered, as none were big enough to guard small forwards, and so they allowed 108.3 points per 100 possessions. Furthermore, opponents shot 4.1% better than usual on Moore’s defense.
Therefore, with Darius Miller and E’Twaun Moore proving their inability to guard small forwards, and Solomon Hill being just a terrible offensive player (-2.63 offensive real plus-minus), the Pelicans are very much in need of a solid middle ground.
That’s where James Ennis comes in. Though he is no defensive stopper, he did decrease opponents’ field goal percentages by 3.3%. Furthermore, he is very well sized at small forward, standing at 6’7″ with a 6’11.5″ wingspan.
Also, offensively, he can provide for a franchise. Though he does not have the shooting prowess of Miller or Moore, Ennis still has the ability to knock down open treys. For his career, the four-year vet has shot 35.9% from beyond the arc. Furthermore, with his speed and explosiveness, Ennis has made himself into a brilliant cutter. so brilliant that he’s landed himself in the 97th percentile for
. This means that even when his shot is not falling, he can still contribute offensively off of the ball.
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Although it may be intriguing for the Pelicans to start both Jrue Holiday and newcomer Elfrid Payton at the guard spots, in a similar vein as they did last year with Holiday and Rondo, statistics show that the Pels were just as good offensively with Rondo off the court and Holiday on, as they were with both Holiday and Rondo on the court. The only difference was the Pelicans had a much better defensive rating. With Rondo off of the floor, as positionally, they lacked size on the perimeter. Their defense was negatively impacted because of this.
Though James Ennis has only started 58 games in his NBA career the Pels should be prioritizing fit over experience. He would provide NOLA with some much needed size without sacrificing too much offensively.
However, the real question is, what is the right number for Ennis? With the additions of Payton and power forward Julius Randle, the Pelicans should have a team payroll of about $110 million. Perhaps a one-year, five million dollar contract could get the job done. In which case, NOLA would have a solid, positionally sound starting lineup of Jrue Holiday, E’Twaun Moore, James Ennis, Julius Randle and Anthony Davis. They’d also hav a solid bench consisting of stretch big Nikola Mirotic, sharpshooter Darius Miller, point guard Elfrid Payton, defensive stopper Solomon Hill and many more.
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If the Pelicans get Ennis, they would be getting the perfect low maintenance wing. This would be a great addition in an otherwise ball dominant starting lineup. If they don’t, the team will be playing the same offense/defense balancing act they did last season. As we know, this proved to be tragic in the second round of the playoffs.