New Orleans Pelicans Facing Uncertainty At Point Guard

The point guard position for the New Orleans Pelicans is once again up in the air as Jrue Holiday is out indefinitely and Tyreke Evans recovers from a blood clot discovered in his calf during offseason knee surgery.

Once again the New Orleans Pelicans are being forced enter the season with a point guard-by-committee approach.

New Orleans trotted out 42 different starting lineups a year ago, as Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Norris Cole, Tim Frazier, Toney Douglas, Nate Robinson and Ish Smith all took turns as the starting point guard.

A combination of injuries and ineffective play compelled the Pelicans to start 26 different combinations for just a single game last season, and the most common starting unit the team employed made just 13 appearances together during the 2015-16 campaign.

The revolving door at the point guard position didn’t bode well for head coach Alvin Gentry during his first season in New Orleans, as he was expected to transform the offense from plodding to blockbuster, as he had done during his stints with the Pistons, Clippers and Suns, along with his championship run as an associate head coach in Golden State.

The team did manage boost its scoring number by more than three points a night, but the points weren’t being generated by superior ball movement, as the team added just 0.2 assists a night from the 2014-15 season.

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While the New Orleans managed to increase its assist total to 22.2 a night, the team dropped from 11th to 17th in assist average during Gentry’s debut year.

Three seasons ago, the Pelicans believed they resolved any issues at the point guard position by dealing the draft rights of Nerlens Noel to Philadelphia for All-Star Jrue Holiday.

While Holiday has been effective, averaging 15.6 points, 6.7 assists and 1.5 steals a night with the Pelicans, his time on the floor has been limited by numerous injuries.

Numerous issues related to stress fractures in his lower leg have limited Holiday to just 139 appearances out of a possible 246 regular season games over the past three seasons.

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As a result, the NBA stepped in and assessed Philadelphia a fine of $3 million for its failure to disclose Holiday’s injury history with the Pelicans.

New Orleans opens its season against the Nuggets on Oct. 26, but Holiday won’t be in the starting lineup for a different reason. Holiday has taken a leave of absence from the team to be with his wife, Lauren, as she prepares to undergo an operation to remove a tumor from her brain after giving birth to a baby girl last month.

Since being acquired from the 76ers, Holiday has appeared in 139 regular season games for the Pelicans, but has also missed 107 total contests.

Evans has served as the primary replacement at the point guard position for New Orleans, but he is also dealing with medical issues heading into the 2016-17 campaign.

After appearing in just 25 games, the season came to an end for Evans in late January as he underwent a surgical procedure on his right knee.

The surgery yielded an unexpected result — the exact same medical situation that ended Chris Bosh‘s career in Miami.

The Pelicans anticipated playing Evans at the small forward position, with Holiday serving as the point guard and Eric Gordon at shooting guard, but instead, Evans spent the majority of his time directing the offense.

The 27-year-old spent 42 percent of his time on the floor playing point guard, according to Basketball-Reference, and his 6.6 assists a night were the highest of any Pelicans player to appear in more than 17 games during the 2015-16 season.

Evans ranked 11th in points generated off assists, as his passing led to 12.9 points a night. The figure was higher than All-Star point guards Stephen Curry, Kyle Lowry and Isaiah Thomas last year.

New Orleans isn’t anticipating Evans back into the lineup until December.

Frazier, an un-drafted point guard out of Penn State, impressed during his limited time with the team last season. The 6’1″ guard posted 13.1 points, 7.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game in 16 appearances with the Pelicans.

During initial team scrimmages, Frazier has played with the starters, but the team may consider Langston Galloway, a free agent signing this summer, for the role.

Galloway signed a two-year, $10.6 million deal after posting an assist-to-turnover of 3.39, the fifth best in the NBA last year.

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The Pelicans are looking to return to the playoffs, but are unsure which player will line up at the point guard position to make them a true contender in the Western Conference.