The New Orleans Pelicans haven’t started strong in the Jamahl Mosley era. Three games, three losses, three blown leads. Not great. While closing games has been a bigger issue than starting them, I believe the starting five needs a change ahead of Wednesday night's rematch against the Denver Nuggets. I have recently highlighted how the Pelicans have been failing both Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III on offense by not getting them enough shots or on-ball touches.
The biggest reason is that New Orleans' two top-usage players this season are Jeremiah Fears and Dejounte Murray. With Mosley opting to start two players who naturally play point guard, they are dominating touches and leaving little opportunity for the Pelicans' two best scoring talents to get theirs. It’s time for Fears to make the move back to the bench and let Jordan Poole step into his spot in the starting five.
Yes, I know that sounds like it would create similar issues, as Poole is also another player who some may look at as a point guard. However, the way he's bought in defensively this season, and how he and Murray have looked in their reps together could bring the spark this group needs to get back on track.
Poole is the splash the Pelicans' starting five needs
Now, I know starting a guy who is shooting 16.7 percent from the field to start this season is bold and may actually make you question my understanding of the game of basketball. But please hear me out.
Even though people often classify JP as a lead guard, he really isn’t, and his time with the Golden State Warriors proves it. In the years when Poole was most impactful, he was playing off the ball, and while he still created his own offense, he wasn’t asked to carry the burden of being a point guard. His focus was filling it up and spacing the floor. That Pelicans starting five desperately needs another floor spacer outside of Murphy III to really open things up for Zion and Murray as drivers, and Poole can be that.
Then factor in that he looks more engaged defensively than I’ve ever seen, and that’s another reason to throw him in the starting lineup. He also looks comfortable playing alongside Murray.. The two guards have played super well off each other in their limited minutes, as there is an obvious comfort from Poole playing off a pass-first guard like Murray. But this isn’t just an eye-test thing—the numbers support JP and Murray’s connection this season too.
In 50 minutes together, Murray and Fears have a -20.1 net rating, while Murray and Poole have a +21.8 net rating in 18 minutes this season, according to Databallr. Obviously, both are small sample sizes, but the difference in how these two combinations have performed is still pretty drastic. On top of that, the Pelicans have a +12.3 net rating with Poole on the court, compared to -17.1 when he’s off, which is a 29.4-point swing per 100 possessions.
For the advanced numbers to love him like that while he’s shooting as poorly from the field and three-point range as he is, Mosley should be ready to pull the trigger on starting Poole. We already saw him experiment with Poole as a starter during training camp, and it’s time to give it a real test. His ability to play off the ball, his chemistry with Murray, his improved defensive effort, and gravity as a shooter make this feel like a no-brainer decision for Mosley to make.
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