New Orleans Pelicans 2020 NBA Draft: The Best Fit By Advanced Metrics
By Nick Alvarez
What Are the New Orleans Pelicans Weaknesses
I started this experiment by exploring every advanced metric available for the New Orleans Pelicans to determine where they ranked in comparison to the rest of the league. Any category where the Pelicans fell into the bottom third of the league, I considered a weakness.
What I uncovered about the New Orleans Pelicans was surprising, to say the least. I started with the defensive metrics since I knew the Pelicans held the 20th ranked defense this season and that is an area of focus for the team.
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For as woeful as the Pelicans were this season, they were solid in defending on the perimeter ranking 13th in 3 point makes allowed. What destroyed the New Orleans Pelicans defense was the team allowing the third-most points in the paint and the fifth most second-chance points.
This is a problem we recently covered and believe is easily fixable with a center by committee approach and a mid-tier free-agent addition. It’s the other side of the ball where the New Orleans Pelicans need some assistance.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Pelicans had an electric season but there are still problems that the team needs to improve on. The biggest problem for the Pelicans offensive unit is scoring at the basket.
The New Orleans Pelicans shoot a putrid 44% at the basket off of drives. They also rank last in the NBA when it comes to drawing free-throw attempts off of drives to the basket. This is a major problem when taking into account that the Pelicans drive to the basket 46 times a game!
The last note from my assessment is the New Orleans Pelicans’ performance in clutch time. The Pelicans were the second-worst team in the NBA in close games this season. During clutch time games which the NBA considers games within 5 points during the last two minutes, the Pelicans finished 13-28!
For as good as the New Orleans Pelicans offense was during the regular season, it floundered in the clutch with the team shooting 36 percent from the floor during those games. That was again, the second-worst mark in the league.