New Orleans Pelicans: Time For Tyreke Evans to Get Some Shine

By Owen Sanborn | Mar 4, 2015

Feb 20, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans (1) drives to the basket against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Amway Center. Orlando Magic defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 95-84. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Tyreke Evans is not a small forward and he never will be. It does not suit his skill set and forces him to shoot more from outside the painted area. This is why whenever Jrue Holiday suffers an annual, unlucky injury, basketball fans get to see Evans unleashed in a way that he should be unleashed each time he steps onto the floor.

Evans is a point guard at heart, but a big one at that. At 6’6″ and 220 pounds, Tyreke can bully smaller guards en route to attacking the basket with his array of twisting right-handed layups. His handle is immaculate, with quick-hitting crossovers and slight hesitations that allow him to slice a defense and slither into the lane.

Penetration is the name of the game for Evans (I assume in more way than one …) and he doesn’t try to keep that a secret. He leads the NBA with 722 total drives this season, per SportVU tracking data and the next closest player to him is Ty Lawson with 649.

His ability to navigate through the lane whether it is via a pick and roll, isolation or transition has helped New Orleans withstand the loss of Anthony Davis and create open shots.

The above clip is a great example of Evans using his crafty ball handling during a pick and roll situation to set up a twelve foot jumper for Alexis Ajinca. Notice the initial hesitation dribble at the beginning to get the defense leaning and then the ensuing crossover dribble to force Miami’s Chris Anderson to slide over to him.

Each of Evans’ dribbles have a purpose and that can be difficult for a defense to react to.

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If you watch any of Evans’ summer mixtapes (I highly recommend it), you would know how lethal he can be with his handle on the fast break. He is very unique with the way he contorts his body to create an angle to get the ball up on the glass, which is a skill in itself.

There is no crease to get to the basket in the above sequence, yet Evans still squeezes between poor Goran Dragic and Luol Deng for the nifty lay-in. Again, notice the dribbling. He crosses over left — at full speed mind you — to get Dragic leaning that way (even though he rarely finishes left) only to set up the hop step to the right just before Deng can close the gap between them.

What a freaking work of art that move was.

During the month of February, Evans average nearly 15 points and 10 assists per game, and nobody is really saying anything about it. He has been the one constant for the New Orleans Pelicans amongst an injury-riddled team, playing 59 out of 60 games this season.

I remember his game against Toronto in January where he put the team on his back and hit a game-winner right after New Orleans had just endured tough losses to the Celtics and 76ers. A third loss to an Eastern Conference foe could have put a real damper on the road trip.

He has simply always been there to accept the challenge whenever his name is called upon. Sometimes the best attribute for an athlete is availability.

Sure, Evans may not shoot an efficient percentage (43 percent total, 42 percent on drives and 29 percent from beyond the arc) but his impact on an offense can easily be seen when he is the primary ball handler. Relegating him to a spot up small forward in the corner is not the correct way to get the most value out of the 4-year $44 million investment you made in him.

His poor shooting percentages will probably hurt his chances of ever being an elite player and will surely not make him a darling amongst the analytical minds of the NBA. However, those of us watching with our eyes can see that he has a skill set that few have.

He adds extreme value to the offense when he is the primary ball handler and I am already getting choked up thinking that the eventual return of Holiday will take that away from us.

It is time for Tyreke to get his due; get some recognition. His stats are accumulating in ways that benefit both FanDuel lineups and the success of his team.

Give the man some shine before we have to watch him egregiously play small forward again.

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