New Orleans Pelicans: Who is the team’s third-best player?

It’s fair to say that rookie sensation Zion Williamson and the ever-rising Brandom Ingram are the New Orleans Pelicans’ two stars, but who comes after them?

After years of trying to get on the right track, the New Orleans Pelicans finally seem to be in a very positive place. In the wake of striking gold in getting the number one pick in last year’s draft, the Pelicans now have the budding superstar they’ve been longing for in Zion Williamson. As well as having Williamson on board, the addition of Brandon Ingram, who they received in the Anthony Davis trade from the Los Angeles Lakers last summer, gives New Orleans its young core.

At just 22-years-old, Ingram earned his first All-Star appearance this season and has come on incredibly since arriving in New Orleans. That’s not all the Pelicans have to be happy about, though. This roster has heaps of talent outside of their two young stars and this begins with their third most influential player in veteran guard Jrue Holiday.

The 2019-20 season is Holiday’s eleventh season in the league – his seventh with the Pelicans – and he has developed into an essential player at both ends. Holiday is the heart and soul of this group. On a team full of so many younger players, his experience comes in as essential while talking about team performances and the development of those guys around him.

The one negative aspect people always tend to bring up about Holiday is his contract. He is currently in the third year of a five-year/$131.8 million deal. Perhaps you don’t consider Holiday as a player worth that amount of cash, but on a team like the Pelicans – who were on the verge of a total rebuild when they gave him this deal – it is essential to have a player like him on board during an era like this.

Holiday, who earned his only All-Star appearance back in 2013, compliments the likes of Williamson, Ingram and up-and-coming stars like Jaxson Hayes very well. He is also important to some extent towards Lonzo Ball‘s progress. Holiday’s ability to shift over to the two-spot and co-exist alongside Ball in that Pelicans backcourt has been significant for the team. Holiday has mainly played as a two-guard over the last few seasons, but his versatility provides the Pelicans with options that other teams would love to have.

Holiday, who was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team last season and the First Team the year before that, gives this Pelicans defense a different dimension and ability to guard the league’s top perimeter players is vital.

On the season, Holiday is averaging 19.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game on a 51.4 effective field goal percentage. His ability to score efficiently from the floor and the fact that he is such a good defensive player gets him that third option spot from Ball at this moment in time.

Ball’s shooting has come on very well this year, but he’s still only shooting 41.2 percent from the field. It hasn’t been Holiday’s best shooting year, but his scoring is far more dependable than Ball’s. Defensively speaking, Holiday is the Pelicans’ best player and perhaps their most valuable when it comes to crunch time.

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Veteran leadership, which you’ll get from the likes of Holiday, Derrick Favors and JJ Redick, will go a long way on a team as young as the Pelicans. When you can do your talking on and off the court like Holiday, you’re always going to be considered a key player.

For a team with so many talented players, it’s pretty hard to rank them on their overall basketball abilities, but Holiday’s play is vital to this team and that makes him their third-best player. There are several players on this roster who could overtake him in the future, but that just goes to show that Holiday is in a better situation for himself in terms of winning basketball games.