New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for dominant win vs. Lakers

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Lakers: Grades for the guards

It’s hard to get such a bad grade on a great night for your team, but Bledsoe managed to do it.

It probably seems like I’m picking on Bledsoe every time I write these player grades and that’s not really the case. It’s just that he has been so utterly uninspiring this season and his play isn’t picking up at all. If anything, Bledsoe has been getting worse.

The former Kentucky guard scored a meager two points against the Lakers. He has only scored more than 10 points once in his last eight games. This is someone who, until recently, was considered one of the best point guards in the NBA. It was nice to see Reggie Miller call out Bledsoe’s performances this season, pointing out his lack of interest while on the floor.

More worryingly, Bledsoe’s numbers from beyond the arc continue trending downward. Bledsoe missed all of his attempted threes against the Lakers and is shooting just 20 percent from deep in March.

If Bledsoe isn’t motivated to defend, has no sauce off the dribble, and can’t can his threes—what can he provide to a team? I don’t think the Pels will be able to trade him this week.

A career night, at least up to this point, for the Pels rookie.

Lewis scored 16 points in his 20 minutes on the floor, making three of his five attempted triples and dishing out six assists while not turning the ball over at all. It was the type of performance one would expect from a seasoned NBA guard, not a first-year player.

Lewis deserves all the playing time he can get. He always makes an impact on both ends of the floor—Lewis had two blocks against the Lakers and competed on defense against the much bigger Talen Horton-Tucker—and reinvigorates the Pelicans when he comes off the bench.

Watch out for Lewis getting more minutes after this week if any of the Pels’ guards get traded. I’m also sure that some teams around the NBA would be interested in acquiring Lewis, particularly those with a top-tier talent that want a good young player in return, but I don’t expect the Pelicans to pick up those calls.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker continues to get buckets and minutes.

The Virginia Tech draftee started for the Pels again in place of the injured Lonzo Ball and had another solid outing. Barring a down night against the Portland Trail Blazers two games ago, Alexander-Walker has scored 20, 20, and 18 points over three of his last four games.

He once again let the ball fly from deep, attempting nine threes. This is what Stan Van Gundy requires from his guards. On top of that, he was aggressive taking it to the rack, and didn’t look too sped up in terms of trying to score.

The main reason why Alexander-Walker gets docked down a bit is because of his turnovers. He turned the ball over four times to his three assists and is still trying to strike that balance between scoring and facilitating.