New Orleans Pelicans: Player Grades for the shooting guards.
Shooting Guards
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was often used as the primary ball handler again against Sacramento. I wish someone could explain why. He has arguably the worst handles of any guard on the team and turned the ball over three times, though he did add two steals and a block to somewhat make up for it.
NAW looks great at times, especially when he takes the ball strong to the hoop, where he is then an effective passer and scorer. He had six assists last night, most of them coming from his own dribble penetration.
But he shot just three of 10 for nine points and hit just one of five from long range.
I don’t know if NAW helped himself much in the bubble, but he was also asked to play point guard, which is baffling to me. NAW has a future with this team, but it will not be as a point guard.
Uncle E had a solid game, which made some argue that he should have gotten more run when the games still mattered.
E’Twaun was the odd man out for most of the bubble, as the Pelicans went young and kept their veteran on the bench.
Moore is probably playing his last games as a Pelican, as they need to get bigger and stronger on the wing, and balance their roster out, but he’s been a solid contributor and should be commended for playing like a professional even though it didn’t matter.
I just like saying Sindarius Thornwell because he sounds like a villain on Game of Thrones. He filled up the stat sheet in his short time on the floor, getting seven points, three assists and two rebounds.
It’s hard to see Thornwell as part of this team’s future, but he ran the floor well and played hard in his limited bubble minutes, so he might get a shot.