New Orleans Pelicans: Eric Bledsoe’s role and future in question

New Orleans Pelicans: What is Eric Bledsoe’s role?

I have previously written about Stan Van Gundy’s offensive playbook and how it was not a great fit for Lonzo Ball.

My reasoning then was that Van Gundy’s attack was too one-dimensional, particularly over the very start of the season when the offense essentially whittled down to Brandon Ingram pick-and-rolls or tossing the ball to Zion Williamson in the post.

This slow pace did not play to the Pelicans’ strength, the lack of natural spacing on the floor because of a poorly constructed roster was apparent, and very few players were ever given the chance to get into a rhythm. Despite being a guard, I wrote that Ball barely got the chance to play-make and did not see much of the ball in the half-court.

Over the last ten games or so, the Pelicans’ attack has seen some new wrinkles. For instance, Williamson is acting more as a facilitator, Ball might be used as a screener, Josh Hart is pushing the ball in transition more, and Kira Lewis Jr. speeds up the game when he gets on the floor. It has also helped that Ball has grown into his off-ball role and his three-point shooting percentages have vastly improved.

However, most of what I wrote critiquing Van Gundy’s offense still stands. It’s more creative now, but just because Ball is making more of his threes, it doesn’t mean that he’s being utilized optimally. The same applies for Eric Bledsoe. The only difference, in my eyes, is that Ball is somewhat more accustomed to this role—he played off the ball in college at UCLA, albeit in a different capacity, and has never been a traditional point guard in the NBA.

The majority of the Pelicans’ possessions continue to go through the hands of Ingram and Williamson. That relegates the guards to idly stand on the perimeter and wait for the ball to swing back to them. Williamson prefers to play in the paint and another big tends to be next to him. Couple that with the fact that the Pelicans’ roster as a whole doesn’t have a lot of outstanding perimeter shooters, the lack of natural spacing is evident. When Bledsoe finally gets the ball, the available shot is usually a three even though that is not his strong suit.

To that, you might say: well, Bledsoe is shooting 42 percent from three right now. If the season ended, it would be his career best. You’re right about that, but I’m not sure how sustainable Bledsoe’s improvement is. He might very well have improved from beyond the arc—the Pelicans have seen this over the last couple of years first with Ingram and now with Ball—but I’m hesitant to say Bledsoe will remain a high 30s/low 40s three-point shooter in the long run. It’s harder to improve something 10 years in than less than five years in.

Bledsoe is a career 34 percent three-point shooter. Right now, this season is an outlier. Bledsoe went 1-for-9 from three in the Pelicans’ loss to the Detroit Pistons, for example. More glaringly, though, those nine threes were the only shots he took in the game.

Bledsoe’s role for the Pelicans has been simplified to a laughable degree. Over 50 percent of his shots are threes so far, a career high by a gargantuan margin. For contrast, only 31 percent of Bledsoe’s shots with Milwaukee last year were threes. His career-high previous to now was two seasons ago when 39 percent of his shots were three.

This is a brand new role for Bledsoe. He’s technically been really efficient because of the sheer amount of threes he’s taking and making, but I’m not sure it’s overall a positive for this Pelicans team. Opponents would probably still rather Bledsoe take a three than concede an Ingram or Williamson drive, I would wager.