How Maxey fits with the New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans bench troubles were well documented.
While they have some good players in J.J. Redick, Josh Hart and Nicolo Melli, the bench was largely inconsistent and often coughed up big leads.
The Pelicans have the most efficient starting lineup in the NBA, but they need their bench to extend the leads they build instead of giving them back.
Most of the inconsistency came after the injury to Redick, when the Pelicans suddenly found themselves struggling to score with the second unit.
Both Melli and Hart ran extremely hot and cold, so the Pelicans need a bench guy who can either create more shots for these snipers or get his own.
Maxey can potentially do both.
He is a guy the Pelicans could lean on as a scorer when their long-range shots aren’t falling, as Maxey has proven he can get his own shot and knock it down consistently.
The Pelicans wouldn’t have to rely as much on the 3-point shot, which was letting them down in the games leading up to the hiatus.
When Hart and Melli’s shots are not falling, they could turn to a guy like Maxey, who has the scoring chops to shoulder the load for short periods of time.
Maxey can get into the lane and finish, and as he develops his passing, he should be able to find the open shooters when defenses collapse to stop his penetration.
He is somewhat reminiscent of former Pelican Tyreke Evans, a volume scorer who used his strength to finish through contact.
Maxey needs to improve his 3-point shooting or teams are going to back off and keep him out of the lane, but his shot should come, as he is a 83.3 percent free throw shooter, which usually translates into long-range shooting at some point.
Maxey is one of those guys with a high ceiling and low floor, as he could be the next Donovan Mitchell or a guy who gets bounced out of the league.
If the Pelicans feel they need more scoring off their bench, they could take a risk on Maxey, who has flaws but could be the steal of the draft.