5 New Orleans Pelicans Who Have Stepped Up This Season
The New Orleans Pelicans' once-raging postseason hopes are dwindling down like a dying fire. But there are still some glowing embers capable of flaring up again.
Despite the absence of Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder are sitting on a 2.5-game lead over the Pels, who have watched the Phoenix Suns also hop back into the playoff conversation.
Prior to its recent back-to-back wins, New Orleans had dropped four straight games. OKC is 5-3 in its last eight.
The Pelicans have ridden Anthony Davis all year, and the heroics of the 22-year-old are why the team has gotten this far. While his bid for NBA MVP will probably come up short, it’s now clearer than ever that The Brow is one the best players in all of basketball.
"It’s not Davis’ fault New Orleans missed the playoffs," critics will say if the Thunder hold on to their lead. "If only he had a better team…"
That perspective is simply misguided. What killed the Pelicans was injuries—just like last year.
In reality, especially when AD was on the sidelines, his teammates stepped up in a big way.
5. Norris Cole
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Norris Cole has only played 19 games as a Pelican, but during that time, the flat-topped floor general answered the bell.
In his fourth season with the Miami Heat, the former Cleveland State standout struggled mightily. His 6.3 points per game and 38.6 shooting percentage were the lowest numbers of his career.
Then, Pelicans general manager Dell Demps put on a ski mask and robbed the Heat as part of the Goran Dragic trade. All New Orleans had to give up for Cole was lackluster journeyman John Salmons.
Cole has averaged 10.2 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 41.4 percent from the field with the Pelicans. They ripped off five straight wins following the trade and went on to win nine of their next 11. He gave the team what it was sorely missing for much of the year—a true backup point guard.
Here’s what the 6’2” 26-year-old told NBA.com’s Jim Eichenhofer in late February:
"I play hard. I go after every ball that I can get. Gaining possession is the most important thing in this game. Whether it be on offense or defense. That’s what I try to do, give my team as many opportunities to score. It’s part of my makeup, being a defender and a competitor, taking on the challenge. It’s part of my DNA. I want to bring that to this team.
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Cole will be a restricted free agent after this season. Given Jrue Holiday’s injury history, New Orleans would be wise to keep the Cole Train around for a few more years.
4. Quincy Pondexter
2 of 5For four years, Quincy Pondexter struggled to find a meaningful role.
In his rookie campaign with the then-Hornets, the former University of Washington star saw a hair over 11 minutes a game of action. After being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, he spent the next three-and-a-half years battling injuries and clashing with coaches over playing time.
On Jan. 10, the Pelicans decided to cut ties with Austin Rivers...and that’s all the deal appeared to be. They weren’t getting Pondexter, they were getting rid of Rivers—at least, that’s what everyone seemed to think.
Pondexter has gone from an afterthought to a key role player for the Pelicans. He’s had quiet nights and explosive ones, but no matter what his scoring numbers look like, Q-Pon always goes hard on both ends.
In the midst of New Orleans’ season-best five-game winning streak, Pondexter went for a career-high 25 points (9-of-13 shooting) and 18 points (7-of-11) in consecutive games. Since becoming a starter on Feb. 21, he’s averaged 9.7 points (46 percent from the field, 43.7 percent from deep), 3.2 boards and 1.8 assists.
Pondexter’s numbers aren’t as gaudy as those of some of the players ahead of him on this list, but that doesn’t diminish the enormous impact he had in New Orleans this year.
3. Eric Gordon
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For the first half of the year, Eric Gordon didn’t step up—he brought his team down.
Through 12 games, the 26-year-old shooting guard was scoring just 9.5 points a game on 39.8 percent shooting and 34.1 percent from three-point land. Throw in two assists, 1.9 rebounds and the heaviest contract on the roster, and Pelicans fans were understandably frustrated with the sixth-year vet.
Gordon’s season almost ended on a sour note when he tore a shoulder labrum on Nov. 22. Coaches, doctors and the player himself deliberated on surgery for a while and then decided rehab was his best option.
On Jan. 5, Gordon returned to the lineup without much hoopla. But it was a different, deadlier Gordon who donned New Orleans’ colors this time around.
Since he reclaimed his starting spot, Gordon has been good for 14.2 points per game on 41.3 percent from the field. His lethal 46 percent mark from downtown has catapulted him into the league’s third-most accurate three-point shooter.
Fellow Pelican Luke Babbitt and Kyle Korver are the only ones above Gordon.
“I’ve just been focused. I’ve been a little bit healthier than in previous years,” Gordon said on March 13, per Eichenhofer. “I’m just taking my time and knocking them down. It was tough (in previous seasons). It was tough to get a rhythm playing basketball each year. It’s been a tough road, but I’m finally starting to get it back.”
Cole, who appeared on this list earlier, had high praise for Gordon.
“He’s a sticker. He can shoot,” the point guard said. “Everyone in the league knows the scouting report: Close out on him. And even if you close out on him, he can still make it. He’s a prolific shooter. Obviously he works on it a lot.”
Gordon scored 16-plus points in eight of nine games from Feb. 27 to March 15 but has cooled off a bit, scoring just 22 total points in his last three outings.
He stepped up in a big way following that shoulder injury. It would have been easy to throw in the towel and get season-ending surgery in the midst of a poor shooting year.
But Gordon fought through it and caught fire. Hopefully for New Orleans, he sparks up again and keeps roaring until the final buzzer of 2014-15.
2. Alexis Ajinca
4 of 5Prior to this season, if Alexis Ajinca walked past you on the street, you’d think, “Wow, that guy is tall!” rather than “Hey, that’s NBA player Alexis Ajinca!”
By now, though, you’ve heard of the long-limbed Frechman who has made a name for himself in New Orleans. The 7-footer proved his worth in the limited minutes he got early on, but coach Monty Williams was much more confident giving Davis and Omer Asik the lion’s share of frontcourt minutes.
But then AD got hurt and in came Ajinca, who had relied on a mental coach to help him deal with an undefined role in the beginning of the season.
Ryan Anderson's sprained MCL opened up ever more playing time.
Since Feb. 4, the journeyman center has given New Orleans 9.2 points and 5.9 boards per game while shooting a wildly efficient 53.6 percent. In that time, he’s racked up 12 double-digit scoring outings. In the 34 games prior, he did that just seven times.
“He’s a great player,” Davis said of Ajinca, per Eichenhofer. “He can shoot it, he’s great in the post, defends, hustles. He’s been huge for us, especially in the games that I missed. That’s what we need, with him coming off the bench.”
Against the Miami Heat on Feb. 27, Ajinca erupted for a career-high 24 points and the game-winner. Gordon, who had been hot all night, knew the Heat defense would zero in on him down the stretch, so he told his lengthy teammate to be ready.
"I told [Ajinca], once you dive (toward the hoop) and you're open, I'm going to give it to you because you've been playing well," Gordon said, per The Associated Press (h/t USA Today). "He's been big. He's a problem (for opponents). He's scoring. He's defending. He's working hard."
Ajinca added that while he thrived without AD, he was looking forward to the superstar’s return.
"It put a little more pressure on me, but I try to do everything I can to help the team and so far it works well," he said. "Hopefully it keeps going that way, but I want [Davis] to be back. ... Hopefully I can play with him the same way."
He might not be playing with The Brow for long, though.
With unrestricted free agency looming this summer, Ajinca could be snatched away by a team willing to overpay for his services.
The Pels, however, have done wonders for the Ajinca’s development—and he knows it—so maybe they’ll get a hometown discount.
1. Tyreke Evans
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Whether the Pelicans make the playoffs or not, they've made it this far because of Tyreke Evans.
Yes, Davis was the team's best player and the driving force. But Evans, who went from small forward to starting point guard at the drop of a dime, was like a flotation device as the ocean of injuries continued to crash on New Orleans.
Jrue Holiday re-aggravated what’s proven to be a troublesome lower right leg (ankle) injury back on Jan. 12, leaving the Pelicans—before Cole’s arrival—without a capable starting PG.
That forced Evans to run the show after struggling at the 1 earlier in his career with the Sacramento Kings.
In the 34 games following Holiday’s injury, Evans has averaged 16.5 points on 45.4 percent shooting while dishing out 7.8 assists and snagging 4.9 boards. He’s gone for 20-plus points 11 times and double-digit assists 12 times.
The 6’6”, 220-pound bruiser is strong enough to barrel past the speedsters who so often line up against him. If opponents put bigger wingmen on him, though, he’s quick enough to jet past them. Evans represents the best of both worlds.
One of the few knocks on Evans is that sometimes he shoots too much, especially when those touches could go to Davis. But if he weren’t aggressive against Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Mike Conley, Tony Parker and every other elite guard in the West, how could he dream of holding his own?
Cole and Pondexter were unexpectedly great additions. Gordon and Ajinca were surprising standouts, too.
But aside from the single-browed MVP candidate, Evans stepped up for the Pelicans in the biggest way this season.
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