The all-star break is finally upon the New Orleans Pelicans.
With the hectic nature of the day-to-day NBA season, it’s nice to sit back, enjoy the various contests that take place over the weekend, digest an all-star game that will hopefully be competitive, and get away from the breakneck pace of a basketball year still very much marked by the Covid-19 pandemic.
All-star weekend also serves as a time of reflection. The New Orleans Pelicans have played 36 games, exactly half of their scheduled 72. The Pels are currently eleventh in the western conference, tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder and behind the .500 Memphis Grizzlies.
That’s probably not good enough for a team aspiring to make the playoffs; however, the Pels are only one place away from making the play-in tournament that will take place at the end of the regular season. In that case, New Orleans could go into the postseason without being ranked among the top eight teams in the west.
It has been a largely inconsistent season for the New Orleans Pelicans. Their defensive and offensive performances have fluctuated almost at random. New Orleans started as one of the more plodding teams on attack, but are now a top five offense and a bottom five defense. That is contradictory to what most expected after the arrival of new head coach Stan Van Gundy.
Van Gundy has failed to imprint his personality on a team that needed a defensive retooling. The longtime NBA veteran is still tweaking things on a regular basis, trying to hit the right chord in order to maximize this Pelicans squad. Van Gundy even publicly called out his team over the week.
Yet, for all the Pels’ turbulences, they will once again be present during all-star weekend.
Zion Williamson is a first time all-star despite having played less than what would constitute a regular NBA season. It is the eighth year in a row that a New Orleans player is given that honor. Williamson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker were also selected for the Rising Stars game, although it won’t actually take place this year.
Still, it’s nice that the Pelicans’ youngsters are getting recognized early on in his career. Williamson and Alexander-Walker, among a couple of others, are the building blocks for New Orleans’ future.
Here is how the Pels’ up-and-comers are doing headed into the all-star break:
New Orleans Pelicans: Nickeil Alexander-Walker has a lot to prove
The New Orleans Pelicans are stacked with young talent, so I’ve decided to only consider players that were born in 1998 or later. That disqualifies Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, for instance, even though both are just 23-years-old. I also won’t mention Zion Willamson since, well, he is already an all-star.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker is the youngster that has played the most minutes for Stan Van Gundy. So far this season, he has logged 495 minutes and is averaging about eight points per game.
Alexander-Walker has struggled to find consistency in his second year in the league. He has been in and out of Van Gundy’s rotation. At times, he looks like the sparkplug that the Pelicans bench needs.
When Alexander-Walker is at his best, he looks like a combo guard that can create for himself and others in the pick-and-roll, hunt his own shot, and use his length to make defensive plays. When he’s at his worst, the former Virginia Tech recruit resembles an inefficient chucker whose shot selection vastly needs to improve.
The truth about Alexander-Walker is probably somewhere in between. It is difficult to expect a lot from a second-year player who has a relatively short leash, but at the same time, there are nights where you catch yourself thinking that the Canadian guard hasn’t made much progress since being drafted in 2019.
Too often, the speed of the NBA game still overwhelms Alexander-Walker. In terms of creation, he isn’t turning the ball over as much, but he is also facilitating less. The numbers indicate that he has improved his efficiency scoring, but that doesn’t really add up to when you watch Alexander-Walker. His scoring numbers from everywhere are still far below league average and he doesn’t create many easy looks for himself.
Alexander-Walker has largely been out of the rotation in February after playing plenty of minutes in January. He had a career high 37 points against the Los Angeles Clippers after which I wrote that his game was a snug fit next to some of the Pelicans’ stars and that this was the type of progress New Orleans was longing to see from Alexander-Walker.
But since that game, Alexander-Walker only scored about six points per night and his three-point shooting cratered to 26 percent. He saw some run against the Miami Heat earlier this week because of JJ Redick’s unavailability and looked spry. Despite going 4-of-14 from the field, Alexander-Walker injected the Pelicans with some much needed energy.
The Pelicans have a team option on Alexander-Walker coming up in 2022. By this time next year, he will already be 23-years-old and, although it’s unreasonable to expect him to play like Brandon Ingram who is currently the same age, Alexander-Walker needs to show more to prove that he can be a long term fixture for New Orleans.
New Orleans Pelicans: Jaxson Hayes is back
Jaxson Hayes has found his way back into the fold, at least somewhat, as of this last week.
The Pelicans’ big man exemplifies another inconsistent season, much like Alexander-Walker, although I would say he’s had more downs than ups. In part, that has to do with the position he plays. The Pelicans have struggled all year long at the center spot when Steven Adams isn’t on the court. That has led to Stan Van Gundy constantly tinkering with his frontcourt rotation.
At first, Hayes was well positioned to be Adams’ backup. However, the Pelicans’ rim protection completely disintegrated whenever Hayes was on the floor. Eventually, the second-year center was ushered out of the rotation and promptly replaced by Willy Hernangómez.
The Spaniard did well to stay ready and had some solid nights for the Pels, but Hernangómez’s spot in Van Gundy’s plans might not be as tight as it looked during the middle of February. In the past two games, Hernangómez has barely figured.
He played less than 15 minutes against the Chicago Bulls and then didn’t see a single minute against the Miami Heat. That probably shows that Van Gundy doesn’t see a role for him against faster, more mobile teams with versatile bigs. In turn, it also signifies that Hayes can still carve out a role for himself before the end of the season.
Hayes has benefited from Hernangómez’s lack of minutes. He almost singlehandedly provoked a comeback against the Bulls, scoring 10 points and getting three blocks in 11 second half minutes off the bench. Hayes earned his 20 subsequent minutes against the Heat, although he was less effective.
On paper, it’s very easy to see a role for Hayes in the NBA. He projects as an athletic rim-runner who can catch lobs, clean up around the basket, and block shots. The good thing is that he is still very moldable but has shown these flashes. It is also true that being a center in the NBA is hard and one of the hardest positions to figure out—you need patience.
However, what applied for Alexander-Walker also applies for Hayes. The Pelicans have a team option for him next year. I expect the team to pick it up, but Hayes needs to continue improving. The Pelicans cannot have another year without viable options at center from the bench and there are cheaper, more ready-to-go options that can probably play a similar role either in the G League or abroad.
New Orleans Pelicans: Kira Lewis Jr. is the future
Kira Lewis Jr. has played the least minutes out of the Pelicans’ youngsters. Still, he has played in 21 games and has gotten some run as a rookie, which isn’t particularly easy in a team coached by Stan Van Gundy.
The Pelicans likely think a lot of Lewis and, from what he’s shown this season, they are right to believe in him.
New Orleans selected Lewis in last year’s draft with the 13th overall pick out of Alabama. Lewis was only 17-years-old in his freshman season with the Crimson Tide and was actually the second youngest player in Division I basketball at one point. That means that he was essentially a college freshman when the Pels drafted him.
Lewis has had a tough rookie year solely because of circumstances outside of his control. He was drafted in November and the NBA season started about a month later. Lewis also didn’t have the benefit of playing Summer League basketball, for instance, nor a prolonged training camp. He was thrust into the league without an adjustment period, and he will only get that once this NBA season ends.
It has been a hectic start for Lewis, but he has done well in spite of it. In February, he played in most of the Pelicans’ games and was given some real run. It’s important to not expect too much from Lewis right now, though. The flashes are more important than the substance right now.
When Lewis gets on the floor, he instantly speeds the game up for New Orleans. This is a good thing in a team that often has a slow, methodical offense. Lewis will eventually be considered one of the fastest players in the league. He is a blur with the ball, always looking to push the tempo and put pressure on the opposing team’s rim. Lewis has a unique ability to speed up the game without looking rushed himself, as seen above.
He had a very solid game against the Miami Heat prior to the all-star break, scoring 11 points and being a +7 during his 17 minutes. Four of Lewis’ five made field goals came right at the basket, but he also made a pull-up three and made a couple of defensive plays.
It seems like Lewis already has Van Gundy’s trust and I only expect him to get better going forward, even though there’ll be some bumps along the way.
New Orleans Pelicans: What’s in store for Naji Marshall and Will Magnay?
Naji Marshall and Will Magnay are both effectively Erie BayHawks players right now, but could still play a role with the New Orleans Pelicans in the months to come. They are still on two-way contracts with the Pels.
The BayHawks are currently As of publication time, the BayHawks are second in the G League with an 11-4 record. No matter what, they are in the G League playoffs, so it will be fun to watch Marshall and Magnay compete in that type of environment if they aren’t called up by the Pels prior to that.
A call-up could still happen. For instance, the Oklahoma City Thunder recalled their rookie Aleksej Pokusevski from their development team despite being on the edge of a playoff spot. The Chicago Bulls also recalled Devon Dotson from the G League Bubble recently, while the G League Ignite had their big man Donta Hall signed to a 10-day contract by the Toronto Raptors in the middle of the regular season.
Magnay and Marshall have both impressed in the Lake Buena Vista bubble.
Marshall is averaging roughly 16 points per game and over one steal. He has the makings to be a 3-and-D type of wing in the NBA, although his shot is definitely the biggest question. He’s shooting 35 percent from deep in the G League, which isn’t too bad. Marshall went undrafted out of Xavier and actually played eight minutes for the Pelicans earlier this season before the G League got underway.
Meanwhile, Magnay is a 6-foot-10 Australian big man who has the potential to block shots and stretch the floor. He has missed some G League games, but he is scoring about nine points per night while dishing out a couple of assists and getting five rebounds.
Magnay’s numbers are not as impressive as Marshall’s, but he might have a higher ceiling. I can envision him having a role for the Pelicans, especially given the dire frontcourt situation. Many Pels fans probably would’ve preferred Magnay getting a chance over the often criticized Nicolò Melli, for instance.
This G League season will officially end on March 11. The eight teams that qualify for the playoffs will play single-elimination games until a champion is decided. Let’s see what happens with Marshall and Magnay then.