New Orleans Pelicans: Josh Hart is an Underrated Glue Guy
By Tim Burke
Josh Hart Grabs Boards
The Pelicans know they have a special bench player on their hands and it shows in his minutes. While Hart has only started 14 games this season (of the 57 he’s played in) he’s fifth on the team in minutes per game (27.4) and fourth in total minutes (1563).
His greatest skill is his rebounding, which looking at the 6-foot-5 small forward/shooting guard would be hard to guess. Hart’s talents in rebounding have helped the Pelicans greatly this season.
When he’s on the floor, the New Orleans Pelicans can use small-ball lineups to greater effect and play more guys who knock down threes.
Five of the top six lineups by rebounding percentage feature Hart and only one of those features a traditional power forward (Zion Williamson) playing next to a center (Derrick Favors).
All the others are a small ball lineup with no power forward. These lineups all grab more than 61.5% of the total rebounds available.
Hart is the 6th best rebounding guard in the NBA and all of the players above him get more minutes.
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In the NBA Hart ranks 38th in total rebounding percentage (the percentage of rebounds a player gets while on the floor) at 12.5%, 72nd in offensive rebounding percentage at 3.6% and 32nd in defensive rebounding percentage at 21.4%.
As a rebounder Hart is better in each of those categories than LeBron James and better in total and defensive than Ben Simmons, two players that are much bigger than Hart and play more minutes.