3 Ways Jaylen Nowell will aid flailing Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans came into the 2024-25 NBA season with an open roster spot, leaving their 15th slot empty. Fans and analysts were intrigued by their plans, but the mystery didn't stay buried for long, as the team announced on Saturday, November 2, that they were signing veteran guard Jaylen Nowell.

New Orleans has struggled this season, sitting at 3-3 after a huge bounce-back win against the Indiana Pacers. Before that victory, the Pelicans had dropped three straight games against inferior opponents: one versus a rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers squad and two in a row to a Golden State Warriors team without Stephen Curry.

The Pelicans have also dealt with a monumental injury report in this early season. Against the Pacers, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, and Trey Murphy III were all held out with various ailments. Three other players were ruled questionable but were ultimately able to go. All four of the guys who missed the Pacers game are slated to be out for a couple of weeks at least, leaving Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram responsible for keeping this team afloat with a barebones roster. To help alleviate some of their absences, the Pelicans have added Jaylen Nowell, but he could be a lot more for them than just an available body.

3 Ways Jaylen Nowell could have a big impact on the Pelicans this season

1. 3-point shooting

Jaylen Nowell isn't a great shooter by any means, but he's a willing one. Through five seasons, he's averaged over six triples per 36 minutes, hitting at a 32 percent rate. The accuracy could be much better, but his aggressiveness from beyond the arc, as well as the type of shots he's able to take and make, leaves him as a much more dangerous deep threat than his 3-point percentage implies.

The Pelicans are starved for 3-point shooting right now, especially with several of their top snipers shelved due to injury. They came into this season with a mandate to shoot 40 treys a game from Head Coach Willie Green. They haven't hit that mark even once so far. Adding a player like Nowell should help greatly. He may not make a ton of them, but defenses will have to respect his shot and fear his quick trigger at the least.

2. Playmaking

Nowell's long been one of the most underrated playmakers in the league. In his early career playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was mostly buried under a litany of different high-level ball-handlers, including D'Angelo Russell, Anthony Edwards, and Mike Conley.

When he had his opportunities to create offense, though, he took full advantage. For his career, he's notched a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, showing his ability to find open teammates while taking care of the basketball. He's also averaged nearly four assists per 36 minutes which is a respectable mark for a backup combo guard. For the Pelicans, he'll be a capable passer with better instincts than the majority of the roster. They'll need the extra ball-handling and playmaking to survive this stretch without a bulk of their core players.

3. Rim pressure

The way Nowell's been able to free up his teammates for assists has been through his relentless driving. In 2022-23, by far his best season, over 52 percent of his points came inside of the paint. That rate was fifth of all Timberwolves who played 30 or more games that season.

He was fourth among qualified players on the team in drives per game at 5.6, behind only Ant, D-Lo, and Kyle Anderson. He did that in just under 20 minutes a night. He was carving his way into the lane over 10.4 times per 36 minutes which would have put him behind only Edwards.

So far this season, the Pelicans only have four players averaging more than 5.6 drives per game and two of them are out with injuries. Nowell's ability to put the ball on the floor, get into the paint, and collapse the defense will be a sight for sore eyes in the Big Easy, and they've only had Zion and BI to do so for the majority of the year.