The NBA season didn’t go as planned for the New Orleans Pelicans, as they limped to a 6-17 record before December. Zion Williamson never played a game and the awkwardness of his situation percolated throughout the league, oftentimes overshadowing New Orleans’ on-court production and play.
Brandon Ingram played 55 games himself during the regular season, playing in only eight games in March and April. Promising sophomore lottery pick, Kira Lewis Jr., went out for the season in December with a knee injury.
NBA injury plot. Games missed by injured players and health protocols versus team wins. Bubble size represents cumulative quality of players lost for games (Lost-ws metric) https://t.co/b97rKvtLgP pic.twitter.com/9mcKNqskqX
— Man Games Lost NBA (@ManGamesLostNBA) April 8, 2022
The Pelicans’ season was consistently defined and reshaped by injuries, and to their most important players no less.
That’s what makes their season all the more impressive in my eyes. A 36-46 final record in 2021-22 loses the plot of how this team got here and why it matters.
Willie Green won’t win it, but he would be down ballot for my Coach of the Year rankings. Words like “culture,” and “togetherness,” get thrown around like candy at a Memorial Day parade, but they are warranted when zooming into the micro of New Orleans.
A proper sendoff for Josh Hart and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, as @PelicansNBA posts a live video of them sitting courtside with the caption, “Thank you Josh & Nickeil.”
👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 pic.twitter.com/bV89M6CjIM
— Oleh Kosel 🇺🇦 (@OlehKosel) February 9, 2022
Josh Hart and Nickeil Alexander-Walker were traded by the Pelicans to Portland for CJ McCollum, and stayed that day to watch their teammates from the sideline one last time. It sounds like something easy to drum up, but this just doesn’t really happen much if at all in professional sports or the NBA (Not a downvote to those who don’t stick around, rather “Wow, this is wild”).
Ingram and Green commented after the game on how cool it was, on “building…connectivity,” and it really set the tone for what to feel about the Pelicans; they’re building something here. After that rough start over the first 23 games, they played slightly over .500 basketball (30-29) the remainder of the year, including a 13-10 stretch to close-out after the All-Star Break.
The trio of McCollum, Ingram, and Jonas Valanciunas started 14 games together with eight wins. Add in rookie Herb Jones (more on him later), and per Cleaning the Glass, those lineups absolutely blitzed opposition, outscoring opponents by 9.0 points per 100 possessions across 587 total possessions. Line-up data can be finicky, but over a solid sample size can be meaningful and indicative of what played out on court: this 4-man group was very good!
As a side note, I’m very interested to see how this team operates defensively next season. They finished 15th in defensive efficiency from December onwards, but slid a bit with CJ’s acquisition, albeit with a sizable offensive uptick. There’s the basis of a really potent offense here when theoretically adding Zion Williamson (Yeah that dude is pretty darned good!), but on a team that found its stride through a pretty solid defense, I’m very intrigued to see how Green handles that next year.
Speaking of the future, let’s talk about this 2021 draft class.
Herb Jones has already cemented himself as the best 2nd round pick of the class. He has some buzz and a real shot to be the first rookie to make an All-Defensive team (potentially with Evan Mobley!) since Tim Duncan in 1997-98.
I thought coming out of Alabama after scouting him much of last year that there was something there as a rotation player if he could figure out the shot. The drive game intrigued and he had very fun and effective passing chops. I’ve already been blown out of the water by what he did this season. He went from basically factoring in as a cutter and occasional shooter to begin the year, to bringing the ball up in transition, to eventually running ball screens fairly consistently.
Herb has a real verve to his game, finding some counters and added flexibility around the rim will be interesting to track. The shot was up and down this year, but he had some good moments on high volume and NOLA shooting coach Fred Vinson has done wonders for countless players and prospects in the big easy. It’s too early to do re-drafts (in my opinion), but Herb would inevitably be just about the highest riser in one.
Jose Alvarado is so fun. Love his funk pic.twitter.com/F8o9kflbvA
— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) March 3, 2022
Jose Alvarado went undrafted, but he can flat-out play. His defense is astounding regardless of stature. He hounds on the ball, slides into gaps and juts into and under handles as an off-ball defender; he finished in the 92nd percentile of Defensive-EPM! That’s absurd for a rookie. It doesn’t capture everything, but it tracks well with what plays out on court and paints the picture of just how impactful he can be as a defender.
He’s a capable and funky probe driver, who certainly has some barriers to scoring, but he just kinda makes it work with his movement and shiftiness off the ball. His outside shot was pretty inconsistent, but his willingness improved as the season went on, an important step. I’m not sure how to view his long term outlook, but he clearly appears to have a place on this team next year as Green leaned into him more down the stretch.
I hit on Trey Murphy III a few weeks ago in a piece here, but he’s continued to have very intriguing flashes and the upside is clear with him. An off-season and strength program will do him wonders headed to next season.
Finding three players who appear to, at the minimum, be primed as future rotation players on a solid team, is a sizable organizational win.
Ingram had rough stretches shooting and missed a good deal of games, but it’s so important to note how much better he got this season. His defense improved from damning to passable and at times good! He made incredible strides as a passer and playmaker, a large part of the Pels’ starting to turn around the season. Barring health, I feel even better about his future with the team than I did prior to the season.
Valanciunas was by and large New Orleans’ MVP this season. Many questioned the Valanciunas/Steven Adams trade from both sides and at the moment, it seems to have been a boon for both sides. Time is always undefeated and the ultimate determinant of trade success and viability, but it can’t be undersold just how good JV was. While he is certainly limited as a defender, his rim protection and capability to play New Orleans’ system (a lot of playing centerfield and drop, ICE on the sides, crunching in on the paint and forcing tough shots) was great to see this season. He carried the offense at times earlier this year and started to develop nice chemistry with McCollum.
