In a recent episode of the Numbers on the Board podcast, Kenny Beecham and his three co-hosts discussed X-factors for all 30 NBA teams. When they landed on the New Orleans Pelicans, Beecham's X-factor was Jeremiah Fears and what he could become long-term.
Beecham highlighted that he feels very confident in Derik Queen and could see him becoming an All-Star player in the league at some point, but that Fears is the biggest domino in the Pels rebuild. If Fears becomes a hit, the franchise’s future brightens, and the pain of surrendering a potential top-four pick in the 2026 NBA Draft to acquire Queen becomes far easier to justify.
That assessment captures the challenge of evaluating Fears. The rookie guard has delivered flashes of star potential but has had stretches of inconsistency, leaving Pelicans fans struggling to project exactly what he’ll become long-term.
Fears has a clear pathway to success
Fears is still top 10 in points and assists among rookies, but his consistency and inefficiency when shooting the ball have been the problem as of late.
Through his first 25 games, he was averaging just over 15 points per game and shooting an impressive 36.9 percent from three on over 3 attempts per game. During this run, he had a couple of big games, including two 20-plus point, five-plus assist performances against Minnesota. And a big game against the defending NBA champion Thunder, where he scored a career-high 24 points.
But since the middle of December, the rookie guard has been riding the struggle bus. Fears has been averaging just 11.9 points and 2.8 assists on poor shooting splits of 41.9 percent from the field and 27.4 percent from three over the last 27 games.
The swing skill is his three-point shot. When it was falling earlier in the season, Fears looked like the clear-cut point guard of the future for New Orleans. But now that the shot has fallen off, his nightly impact has dropped dramatically. Pre-draft, Fears was never looked at as a shooter, so his hot start from three shocked and surprised evaluators, but now appears more like a hot start than a true leap.
Fears has always had the speed, the IQ to be a trusted ball handler, the craftiness to create his own offense, and the swagger you want from a lead guard. The jump shot is the missing piece. If he finds it, the Pelicans could have a lethal Queen–Fears pairing for years to come. If not, the long-term vision becomes far murkier.