Despite this being a down season for the New Orleans Pelicans, who sit at 13th in the Western Conference with a record of 20-44, the team has seen individuals show encouraging signs.
Trey Murphy III has broken out into a legit three-level scorer, Saddiq Bey is posting career-best scoring numbers, and Zion Williamson has been on the healthiest stretch of his career. Dejounte Murray is back and looks like his old self, and the team's two lottery picks, Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, are looking like studs. However, one player who hasn't had a good individual year is Herb Jones, and it's starting to look like a long-term problem for the Pelicans.
Jones is having a down season all across the board. For the Pelicans, this down year has come at the worst possible time, as he signed a three-year extension worth around $67.5 million this past offseason.
Herb Jones hasn't looked like the same player
This season, Jones has struggled everywhere. Offensively, he has struggled to be a floor spacer, shooting just 27.6 percent from three this season. Only two seasons ago, Jones was a 40 percent three-point shooter, so this regression is rather alarming. What is more alarming than the lack of floor spacing is his inability to finish at the rim. Jones is in only the 13th percentile for wings finishing at the rim this season, according to Cleaning the Glass.
But with Jones, if the offense isn't there, at least the defense will be, right? Wrong.
Sure, Jones is still much stronger defensively than the average NBA player and is still on the verge of being an elite defender. But we are seeing that all the injuries he's dealt with over the past two seasons are catching up to him. While his hands are still very active, they aren't moving as fast, and he isn't as physically imposing defensively as he once was. In general, Jones looks a little off on that side of the floor.
This down season on both ends of the floor is extremely problematic for a Pelicans team that not only just signed Jones to an extension but also passed on trading him at this past deadline.
During trade season, one of the most consistent rumors linked to the Pelicans was that contending teams like the Lakers were interested in acquiring him despite New Orleans' unwillingness to move him. Pair these struggles with the emergence of Saddiq Bey and Trey Murphy III, and Jones' long-term future in New Orleans becomes much more complicated.
New Orleans may now have to come to terms with the possibility that it missed its window to receive an All-Defensive First Team–caliber return