New Orleans Pelicans: Impressive debuts for Hayes, Alexander-Walker

2019 first round picks Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker looked very good in their first NBA Summer League game for the New Orleans Pelicans.

On Saturday, the trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans that involved six-time all star Anthony Davis was finalized and made official. This meant that Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, two 2019 first round picks who were involved in the trade, were finally able to join the Pelicans.

The two rookies made their NBA debut on Monday night, as the Pelicans took on the Chicago Bulls in an earthquake-free Summer League game in Las Vegas. The Pelicans ended up walloping the Bulls 109-72, and all of the talk afterwards was about the impressive debuts of the newcomers.

Hayes ended with a stat line of 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting, along with three blocks and one MONSTER dunk that erupted NBA Twitter and may have killed Mychal Mulder in the process.

Meanwhile, Alexander-Walker finished with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting (3-of-6 from 3), eight assists and three steals while only turning the ball over twice.

Obviously this is only Summer League, and the competition is nothing at all compared to what they will see come regular season. Be that as it may, these two certainly showed enough to prove that they have what it takes to perform at the NBA level.

Hayes was by far the biggest takeaway from the game, as he put on an aerial display with all of his dunks and blocks, showing off his athleticism. Although that was all very impressive, there were some other things that stood out.

Hayes did most of his damage around the rim, as he continued to run the floor consistently, catching every pass and lob thrown his way. He showed that he is able to find the weak spots in the defense, and by finishing off all of those chances, Hayes showed that he can finish very well above and around the rim.

This bodes well for New Orleans, as a player like that can thrive with the team’s new look roster. Lonzo Ball is known to be a point guard who is always looking to push the pace and play fast, and is also an elite passer. If Hayes continues to run the floor like this, Ball and the other ball-handlers on the Pelicans will definitely be looking to dump it down to him. Playing with Ball, he will certainly have many more chances to play above the rim and finish off alley-oops.

Another thing that stood out with Hayes was his help defense. He had a block in the game in which he came and helped off his man to block the shot, and another where he came out of nowhere to pin the shot off the backboard.

As we have seen before, a lot of big men who come into the league get exposed right away because of how poor they are on the defensive side (sorry, Jahlil Okafor). However, Hayes showed immediately that he has good defensive instincts and can not only see the play that is developing, but go and stop it dead in its tracks.

During this free agency season, New Orleans picked up Derrick Favors, mainly to shore up the team’s interior defense and rim protection. Now, Hayes can learn and improve his game directly under the nine-year veteran and may end up being a younger, even better version of the big man. The 1-2 punch of these two down low has the potential to really shut things down around the rim and cause fits for any player who decides to drive to the hoop.

Although Hayes stole most of the headlines following the game, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was just as impressive. The Virginia Tech product stuffed the stat sheet and really gave us all a showcase of what all he can do out on the floor.

The biggest takeaway was his use of both hands. The Canadian is right-handed, but showed he was very comfortable using his left and almost seemed to prefer it a lot of times compared to his dominant hand.

Being able to use both hands at a high level out on the court is an extremely valuable attribute to have, as it can open up even more passing lanes, which then leads to good looks on offense that you might not get otherwise. With players such as Hayes and Zion Williamson running the floor, having another guy who can find and use any passing lane possible to find the open man will create a lot more scoring opportunities.

Alexander-Walker used the pick-and-roll to his advantage and found those passing lanes well, as he finished with eight assists and a 4.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. He seemed to really take command of things with the ball in his hands and more importantly, seemed very relaxed and comfortable when handling the rock, showing incredible touch on some of the passes he made.

This bodes very well for the Pelicans, as you really can’t have enough players on the roster who are able to handle the ball and make good decisions with it. NAW seems to be just that and will add to their guard depth nicely. Although it is way too early to tell, in a draft that many said really falls off after the first three picks, the 17th overall pick may very well end up being a steal coming out of the 2019 NBA draft.

Coming into Summer League, all talk involving New Orleans was around the other rookie — check that, THE rookie — Zion Williamson. Unfortunately, a bruised left knee knocked him out of his first game, and now the Pelicans are taking the safe route and just shutting him down for the rest of Summer League.

However, even though there is no Zion in Vegas, his fellow rooks on the team are still providing the highlights and stellar play. The future of this franchise already looked very bright heading into Monday night, but now after the show that Hayes and Alexander-Walker put on, there is a chance that this young core will be even better than we expected.