Coming into the 2025 NBA Summer League, I was beyond excited to see Yves Missi play. He was coming off a great rookie year, during which he was a force at the rim on both ends. He told the media before summer league that he had been putting on weight to be stronger for his sophomore season.
The idea of Missi adding size after a great rookie season intrigued me and led me to believe he would dominate the lower level of competition, that is, summer league. However, things haven't worked that way.
Missi has struggled tremendously on the offensive end, and on Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, he shot 1-for-11 from the field. Finishing was never really a struggle for Missi in his rookie year, as according to cleaning the glass statistics, he shot 59% at the rim during his rookie season. But now, with the Pelicans three-quarters of the way through the summer league, that same finishing ability appears to be gone.
This issue has remained consistent throughout summer league
Across all three of the Pelicans' summer league games, one thing has been consistent: Missi hasn't been able to score. It wasn't just a one-game blunder against Portland, as he's shooting on average 29% from the field over his three appearances. Missi is getting to all the right spots, but his touch has been so bad around the basket.
He's making mistakes that he rarely did in his rookie season, overshooting layups, shooting too short, and even failing to get shots on the rim. Part of his struggles is that head coach Corey Brewer has forced Missi to share the paint with rookie Derik Queen. That being said, I still find it hard to believe that is the sole reason Missi's touch has been off.
While he has struggled with finishing, his rebounding and rim defense have been solid, as he has averaged 10.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game during his time in Las Vegas. However, he isn't some generational defender or rebounder who can get away with being a nothing on the offensive end.
These struggles make it extremely difficult to determine where he fits in next season with the Pelicans.
On top of his struggles at the rim, he isn't a stretch big, so most, if not all, of the scoring chances next season will come from the pick-and-roll. If he can't finish in pick-and-roll situations, I genuinely don't know where he fits with this group going forward.
Derik Queen showed Tuesday night that when Missi is off the floor and he is the only big, he can be dominant. However, the case wasn't the same for Missi, as his struggles at the rim continued. This really makes me believe that Missi may be at the bottom of the Pelicans' big rotation next season, as his poor summer league has done significant damage to his future with the organization.