New Orleans Pelicans: Who is the odd man out at shooting guard?
Odd Man Out
The Pelicans will have some competitive battles at the guard position in the preseason and someone is going to get left on the bench.
With Lonzo Ball, Eric Bledsoe, Josh Hart, JJ Redick, Kira Lewis Jr., Sindarius Thornwell and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all trying to get minutes, competition is going to be fierce.
Who is going to be the odd man out?
Unfortunately, I predict that player will be Alexander-Walker, as he currently doesn’t really have a position and has a few habits that Stan Van Gundy is going to hate.
NAW turns the ball over too much (strike one) and takes bad shots (strike two) and if he hasn’t improved on those two things, he won’t play. SVG will also prioritize defense and NAW hasn’t shown much in that department either.
NAW will probably get his chances to earn minutes, but if he isn’t able to, I could see him shipped out for a pick or a player at a different position.
We won’t know everything after the first preseason game, but we should get an idea of how the Pels offense could work and who is ahead in the battle for playing time.