Zylan Cheatham Could be the Defensive Wing the New Orleans Pelicans Need

Zylan Cheatham’s Strengths

The New Orleans Pelicans already have plenty of scoring, and though they’d love to find a 3-and-D player on the wing, the best ones could be out of their price range or not available.

The Pelicans are 20th in the NBA in defensive rating, while scoring the 4th most amount of points per game, so if they have to choose a skill, they might lean towards defense.

Cheatham is 6-foot-8 220 lbs., so has the size to guard either forward position, especially with his 7-foot-1 wingspan.

Cheatham is a versatile player who averaged 12.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in his final season at ASU. Rebounding is one of the statistics that usually translates well to the NBA, so Cheatham should be able to help with some of the Pelicans’ issues on the defensive glass.

Cheatham is a hustle and energy guy with a high motor, who will get most of his buckets from put backs, garbage points and running the floor on the break.

On defense Cheatham averaged a steal a game in the G-League in addition to 2.5 assists, so he has decent hands and can pass the ball. He was only the 3rd player in Pac-12 history to average a double-double with three or more assists.

He can rebound, play defense and his passing gives him some value in the pick-and-roll.

He fits the profile of what the New Orleans Pelicans need in a backup wing and his size, strength and defense would be a nice complement to Ingram.

This is especially true given his price tag, which will likely be the league minimum.

Zylan Cheatham’s Weaknesses

If the New Orleans Pelicans are looking for a 3-and-D wing, Cheatham really only provides half the equation.

He has elite athleticism, but isn’t much of a shooter, though he did average 16.3 points per game in the G-League.

Cheatham shot just 33.3 percent from long-range on a fairly low volume of 2.6 attempts per game, not great, but not terrible.

So far as a professional Cheatham has not shown the type of shot-blocking that he was capable of in college, and though he has nice size, might not be tall enough to defend some of the larger power forwards in the league.

Cheatham is a high energy defender but needs to learn how to dial it back at times, as he can play a bit out of control.

He has a few weaknesses, but could still find a spot on this New Orleans Pelicans’ roster.