The New Orleans Pelicans are trying to chase their way into the NBA playoffs, but a few guys on their team need to step up into bigger spots.
Heading into the final two months of the regular season, the New Orleans Pelicans are entering an exciting time for their young core, though they’ll need to push. While they’re currently on the outside looking in, their team is within striking distance of an NBA playoff birth.
Despite finally having health on their side, the Pelicans need more from this roster if they want a chance to make the playoffs as the eighth seed.
Though the team will have the schedule on their side (they have the easiest slate of games left in the league), the team will have to battle hard to make up ground on the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, who stand 5.5 games ahead of New Orleans.
Granted, it won’t be much easier getting ahead of the ninth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers or tenth-seeded San Antonio Spurs, both of whom have hefty resumes and experienced players to help their own teams make that push.
It’s put up or shut up time for the New Orleans Pelicans, or at least if they’re serious about making a run over the next two months.
Riding a 13-game losing streak through the middle of December, the team has seen quite a few players on their team step up in the months since.
Jrue Holiday has been much better, Lonzo Ball has come into his own, Brandon Ingram played his way to an All-Star birth, and Zion Williamson has been even a little better than expected through his first 10 games of NBA action.
However, there’s still room on this team for guys to step up, from the starting lineup through the back of the bench. Whether it’s rookies or veterans, the Pelicans need a little extra edge if they really want a fighting chance to make a run ahead of Memphis.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Heading into the backstretch of the season, the Pelicans would be hugely benefited if some of their younger players started developing with a little more pace. In particular, Nickeil Alexander-Walker is due for a lot more success than he’s had up to this point.
Reserved mostly to mop-up duty in his first season for the New Orleans Pelicans, Alexander-Walker has yet to find the same grove that other youngsters and rookies seem to have found at this point in the season.
Coming off of the Pelicans bench for an average of 12.2 minutes per his 41 appearances, Alexander-Walker is posting 5.1 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists while shooting 33.9% from the floor on 2.9 attempts per contest.
More than anything, Alexander-Walker has to play a cleaner brand of basketball if he wants to help this team win games.
The hardest part of watching Nickeil this season has been his lack of passer vision, or perhaps it’s passer feel. Far too often, Nickeil Alexander-Walker seems to be seeing ghosts or just not understand the play,
Until this season, I’ve never seen a player throw a higher percentage of passes to no one; far too many of his pass attempts sail out of bounds without a teammate within 5 feet.
Even if Alexander-Walker can’t find his groove before the end of the season, he’s a huge part of the Pelicans’ future and has shown enough at his best to prove he’s got the tools nessacary to succeed at a high level in this league.
Derrick Favors
Acting as the centerpiece of the New Orleans Pelicans defense, Derrick Favors is a key part of this team’s success at the end of the season. However, they could really use a little extra boost from their primary center over the next 27 games.
When he’s on the floor, the Pelicans allow -2.4 points and force opponents to shoot -0.4% worse from the field. He’s also forced opponents to his -1.4% less of their attempts around the rim when occupying the paint this season.
Favors did miss a lot of the first third of the season dealing with multiple injuries and the untimely passing of his mother but has otherwise been a rock for the Pelicans. He’s given this team quite a bit considering his adverse situations earlier in the year.
This isn’t as much of a “step-up” call for Favors as it is a slight hope that he turns up the aggression a little more on the offensive end than he has in recent weeks.
Favors is averaging 9.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, and shooting 62.3% from the floor this season, though his 19.6 player efficiency rating is very impressive.
Really, the team just needs a little more on the offensive end to get the best out of Favors, but he’s looked a little hesitant to take on that load.
It’s complicated to call for Favors to play a bigger role, especially with the inclusion of Zion Williamson into the New Orleans Pelicans lineups. With Williamson taking a lot of minutes at the center, it’s made room for Favors a little less available.
However, the New Orleans Pelicans are pretty lethal when Favors and Williamson share the court through 10 games and 143 minutes of shared action. Their pairing is producing a +16.3 net rating, which is pretty outstanding considering the share of minutes up to this point.
Frank Jackson
Not a key member of the team’s future or present, for the time being, second-year guard Frank Jackson could solidify his standing with his current team and the NBA with a boost in his play from now until the end of the regular season.
Playing a lot of minutes as the team’s backup point guard to Lonzo Ball this season, Jackson has had a lot of the same ups and downs as in his first season with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Seemingly the eighth or ninth option off of the bench for the Pelicans, Jackson has been a fine back up, but he’s not someone to be trusted in a last seven minutes of a close game.
Jackson has to prove he’s a little more sturdy under pressure than we’ve seen up to this point in the season. He was in the lineup when the second unit nearly let the Chicago Bulls erase a 25-point-plus deficit in the final six minutes of what looked to be an easy New Orleans victory.
Averaging 5.9 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.8 assists with a 48% effective field goal rate while playing 13.2 minutes per game in 44 appearances, it’s been a down season from his rookie year in terms of production for Jackson.
Even more discouraging has been his 99 offensive rating next to his 116 defensive rating; this isn’t a news flash, but a -17 net rating is pretty horrendous. It doesn’t help his case that the New Orleans Pelicans have been -5.2 with Jackson on the floor.
While the offense is the key job for any point guard to initiate, perhaps the best route forward for Jackson is to get a lot better on the defensive end. He’s clearly got a lot of power and strength, it’s really just a matter of focusing that physicality into his defensive pursuits.
Still just 21-years-old and playing with a lot of energy in limited opportunities, there’s still plenty of room for the sophomore guard to clean up his game. However, on such an affordable deal in such a replaceable role, it would benefit Jackson to step up his game before the end of the year.