New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Players that improved the most in training camp

Josh Hart’s training camp sets the New Orleans Pelicans up to have the 3-and-D wing they’re desperately missing

#3- Josh Hart

Sure, Josh Hart may have had his coming-out party last season, but I think this is the year he makes a huge leap for the New Orleans Pelicans. The reason I say this is because Stan Van Gundy’s staff is empowering Hart to be what he should’ve been all along, a 3-and-D small forward.

Even though that role isn’t quite different from the one he played at shooting guard, I think he’ll excel in it more in Stan Van Gundy’s system. I look specifically at the way Van Gundy used players like Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris in Detriot and see a path for Hart to become even deadlier this year.

Hart would probably be tasked with defending one of the opponent’s best players while being asked to run off screens for catch-and-shoot looks. We’ve certainly seen Hart do this at times in his career but over the course of the Pelicans’ training camp, it seems like he’s taken that role to the next level.

It’ll be exciting to see if Hart can improve his ballhandling and distribute to the point where he could become another star for this team in the Jimmy Butler mold like we’ve written about before. Of course, that would create an interesting predicament for the Pelicans this offseason, but that’s a conversation for another time.

There we have it Pelicans fans, three young players who are stepping up their game in training camp, and that should indicate that the New Orleans Pelicans might be even better than advertised in 2021.