New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for loss vs. Nets

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Nets: Grades for the bigs

Steven Adams was solid on offense and questionable defensively.

There isn’t much to write about Adams that we don’t know at this point. He will hustle on defense, crash the boards to gather up rebounds, and give you a few buckets per game. The rare thing is when he truly stands out, but this was not the case against the Nets.

Adams scored seven points, got five rebounds, and made two blocks. He missed a free throw intentionally with about 50 seconds left, which was a bit of a strange decision but I’m not sure ultimately impacts the result that much.

On defense, Adams had a tougher night. He was out of position at times defending the pick-and-roll, wasn’t quite sure how to defend Blake Griffin, and failed to have much of an impact in the clutch.

Willy Hernangómez got 18 minutes against the Nets and did okay.

Hernangómez continues to be impactful as a scoring big off the bench. He scored a useful seven points for the Pels, finishing down low and forcing himself to the free throw line using his physicality and size.

But on defense, the Spanish big continues to struggle. He wasn’t terrible against the Nets or anything, but it is evident that Hernangómez is not up to par when it comes to facing the best bigs in the league. If the Pels aren’t going to make the playoffs, then I would rather see his minutes go to Jaxson Hayes—even if that might produce fewer wins in the short-term.

Jaxson Hayes only played 10 minutes against the Nets.

Hayes wasn’t much of a factor in the New Orleans Pelicans’ loss to the Nets. He played as the 4 for most of his minutes, which I am adamant is not the best use of his abilities.

Because of his low minutes and usage, I don’t think he merits a grade. Hayes’ night will be remembered for being on the wrong end of a Jeff Green poster.