Evaluating Each New Player’s First Season with the New Orleans Pelicans
By Tim Burke
Injuries derail strong seasons
Derrick Favors – 45 games, 9.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 62.0 FG%
2019-20 projections – 13.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 56.9 FG%, 28.5 min
If it weren’t for an injury that cost Favors 13 games early in the season, he’d be higher up on this list. With Favors on the court, opponents had a 109.3 Offensive rating compared to the 114.3 rating with him off. The anchor of the defense, Favors impact will surely be missed if New Orleans lets him walk this offseason.
While Favors nearly averaged a double-double, he only played half of each game (24.2 min per game). The New Orleans Pelicans were light with his minutes in an attempt to see how Hayes played at center.
Favors was a very efficient player on offense, 83.9% of his shots came within 10 feet and he made 68.6% of his attempts from that range.
He’s a bit of a throwback center, he plays close to the basket and stifles opponents drives to the rim; his 1.0 blocks per game may seem low but the New Orleans Pelicans have two guards (Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball) who don’t allow opponents to get much penetration.
Zion Williamson – 19 games, 23.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 58.9 FG%
2019-20 projections – 28.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 56.0 FG%, 41.5 min
Zion was electric during his summer league debut right up to the point where he got hurt. The knee injury he sustained in that summer league game required him to get surgery and miss most of this season. He only played 19 games after returning on Jan 22nd.
Related Story. What Zion has to do to be the best Pelican ever. light
His impact upon returning was huge and while New Orleans wasn’t winning at a great rate, the starters were the best lineup in the NBA.
Williamson dominates the game near the basket, 92.5% of his shots come from within ten feet. This type of shot chart looks a lot like a power forward or center from the 1980’s than it does 2020. He’ll need to add a little bit of range to his game to keep defenses from crashing down when he gets the ball in the paint.