New Orleans Pelicans: 3 storylines to follow in the 2nd half of the season

New Orleans Pelicans: Are any of the young players keepers?

One of the most disappointing parts of the season has been the play of the Pelicans’ trio of young players, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jaxson Hayes and Kira Lewis Jr.

While all of them have shown flashes of promise, none have really been able to carve out a role in the rotation and have been on and off the bench all season.

David Griffin is probably not going to admit that he hasn’t drafted well outside of Zion Williamson, and trading any of them would be such an admission.

But it is also hard to see how they fit with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram who need to be surrounded with athletic and versatile defenders and guys who can shoot.

NAW looks like he took a step back after showing some promise late last season. Same for Jaxson Hayes, who played well recently but has been mostly unplayable all season and lost his spot in the rotation to journeyman Willy Hernangomez.

Kira Lewis Jr. has been the best of the three and is the youngest, so the book is still out on him though it’s fair to question how he fits with what they already have.

The New Orleans Pelicans would love to get a long look at these three in the second half so they have some idea of what they have and how they fit with the future.

It’s way to early to use the word “bust” but it’s fair to question these picks given that other guys in those drafts are better and contributing more to their teams.

The New Orleans Pelicans have a lot of questions going into the second half and the answers will determine the short-term future of the team.