New Orleans Pelicans: Stan Van Gundy must improve his outdated offense

Lack of spacing is killing the New Orleans Pelicans’ chances of having a functional offense

It’s too early in the season to decisively conclude that the Pelicans’ offense is irreversibly bad, but it’s not too early to be concerned. New Orleans objectively lacks optimal spacing. Only three players on the team are shooting above 30 percent from beyond the arc: Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Eric Bledsoe.

Ball, who leads the Pelicans in three-point attempts, is a career 34 percent shooter from outside. He has improved his mechanics, but they are still unproven. Bledsoe has made 38 percent of his threes, but history indicates that his shooting will regress. He is also unlikely to figure in the Pelicans’ long-term future and was on the bench down the stretch against Oklahoma City.

That leaves Brandon Ingram, whose three-point shooting is most likely real based on last season’s numbers and this season’s performances. He is the Pelicans’ only current real threat from outside, and that is a problem.

Looking at the New Orleans roster before the start of the season, one would have pointed to JJ Redick as the Pelicans’ purveyor of outside shooting. However, he is shooting under 25 percent from three to start the season. Since establishing himself in the NBA, Redick has never played fewer minutes or taken fewer threes.

Like Bledsoe, history is also an indicator for Redick. It is incredibly unlikely that his shooting slump will continue for the rest of the season; if it does, he is not an asset to the Pelicans. Redick only played eight minutes against the Thunder because of a knee contusion, but his season-high 33 minutes in an overtime loss against Indiana were inexplicable considering his ongoing shooting woes, marginal playmaking, and defensive struggles.

The Pelicans’ other theoretical shooters don’t provide much respite. Josh Hart has been massively valuable to New Orleans because of his flexibility, but he is down to 29 percent from beyond the arc. Nickeil Alexander-Walker is getting more run, but he is shooting 27 percent from three. Nicolò Melli has been banished to the shadow realm and, on the rare occasion in which he plays, opponents might as well ignore him.