New Orleans Pelicans: 3 positives from the loss to the Kings

Let’s face it, none of us want the New Orleans Pelicans to lose a game. But Monday’s loss has 3 positives that may end up helping this team garner some future wins.

First, there’s the emergence of Willy Hernangomez. We have seen very little of one of the newer Pelicans this season and thanks to a (hopefully minor) injury to Steven Adams that kept him out of the game, the Spaniard saw some significant playing time.

Hernangomez made the most of his 28 minutes, with a double-double for the night. His 13 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists were the talk of not only Pelicans Twitter, but NBA Spain as well.

Will we see more of Hernangomez in upcoming games? Based on his play on Monday night and comments from coach Stan Van Gundy, it’s highly likely.

New Orleans Pelicans: Rookie Kira Lewis Jr. might be in the rotation

Second, we FINALLY got significant Kira Lewis, Jr. minutes in the game. The first-round draft pick logged nearly 16 minutes during the game, which is a season-high.

Although his stat line isn’t going to blow anyone away, you can tell by watching him play that he has the potential to be a game-changer for the Pelicans.

Lewis ended the night with just 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal with zero turnovers. He had a couple of key moments that were highlight-worthy.

As mentioned on this blog in the past, getting Kira more minutes will be beneficial in the future for this team.

New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson shooting 3’s?

Finally, Zion Williamson has a long-range shot and I need more!

Hear me out, we all know Zion needs more touches in the paint and that’s where he should really live during a game. However, expanding his range by being a little more of a threat in the perimeter game will elevate the options for this team.

All he needs to do is knock down a few of those shots, which he’s done three times this season including once the past two games.

His long-range game is not going to strike fear in the hearts of our opponents, but there will definitely be chances for him outside of the paint. If he can capitalize on these chances, that gives the New Orleans Pelicans another scoring threat.

The distraction of impending trades seems to be wearing on this young team. The emergence of Hernangomez, the promise of Kira, and Zion’s consistent work at his overall game are positives the Pelican fanbase can look to that hopefully will manifest itself into some key wins very soon.