The New Orleans Pelicans Are The Most UNDERRATED Team In The NBA

The New Orleans Pelicans Are The Most UNDERRATED Team In The NBA

The New Orleans Pelicans might be the most underrated team in the NBA right now they obviously have their two stars in Zion and Ingram but their phenomenal collection of role players around them makes me think this team is built for a real run Trey Murphy and Herb Jones

Might be the ideal role players for the modern NBA and you also have another 20 a night guy in CJ McCullum not to mention the rest of the pieces the wide range of Rim pressure shooting shot creation playmaking and defense on this roster makes me think they could compete

With just about anyone utilizing Zion as a primary ball handler has opened up new doors for the Pelicans they also have an ability to win games despite less than Gody stats from their Superstars partially due to both Zion and Ingram’s impact beyond the stat sheet and partially due to the collection of

Pieces around them the Pelicans are 15 and five in their last 20 and are getting hot at the right time today I’m going to be spelling out why I think the New Orleans Pelicans could be a real problem in the Western Conference playoffs and how they elevated from

Fringe playoff team to Elite Team without much core roster movement before we get into this if youall could like the video sub the channel hit that noty Bell I would really really appreciate it smaller NBA YouTuber trying to grow you know we on the road to 4K right now so

If y’all could hit that I would really really appreciate it and without further Ado let’s get right into the video I’m going to start with the man that has unlocked another part of his game and another level for this team Zion Williamson first off i’ just like to say

How happy I am to see him back consistently the discourse around Zion was very strange and still is people acting like he isn’t the player he’s supposed to be is also strange this man put up 27 a night on over 6 61% from the field in 61 games at 20 years old

Skepticism about his injuries that isn’t just plain weird fine but people thinking Zion wasn’t an Elite basketball player was funny to me and now despite a scoring dip Zion is playing some of his best basketball in a new role as a primary ball handler I knew Zion was a

Solid passer but having him fully unlocked as an offensive initiator was something I never even imagined Zion handles the ball in the pick and roll with a big and you pretty much always have three snipers out there whether it’s Trey herb CJ Naji Hawkins or be and

Even Larry Nance is shooting just shy of 43% from Deep or one of the multiple other guys shooting a good number from three I cut the list there because I’m going to get more into that later but basically the unreal amount of spacing around Zion is also what has unlocked

Him in this role he is scoring less than his past two seasons but don’t let that fool you Zion having the shooters to dish out to is great but having to guard these shooters also opens up the game for him as a scorer and as of late Zion

Has gotten back into his scoring bag over his past five games one of which was against the Cavs top three defense Z has been showing that that scoring didn’t go anywhere over his past five games against the Hawks Cavs Clippers Blazers and Nets Zion Williamson is

Averaging 38 and four on 66.3% from the field 0% from three and 75% from the line for a true shooting percentage of 69.4% his even further lack of three-point shooting is also a result of this spacing if Zion has the ball in his hands and everyone in the court can

Shoot including him who’s a 35% career three-point shooter how often is he going to end end up shooting a three the answer like once every three games Zion having the ability to shoot but almost never needing to utilize it is scary his 0% from three is because he didn’t shoot

One three in these five games you can’t leave him and you can’t leave anyone else and that is the key that unlocks this whole team Brandon Ingram is one of the most underrated passers and Playmakers in the league his frame and scoring ability and I believe in large

Part his comparison to Kevin Durant made him known as a scorer to the Casual fan but Brandon Ingram impacts the game in a multitude of ways Ingram’s a ability to facilitate with the amount of spacing on this roster is another key and while doing this he’s also had the space to

Score when needed now is what I’m going to come back to the point about this team being able to win despite numbers from their stars that most would dismiss today the Pelicans are 20 and8 this season when Brandon Ingram scores less than 20 points most people would take

This statement as an insult to Ingram and his impact but it’s actually quite the opposite he and Zion’s abilities to make reads and passes combined with the spacing and shooting present here is what makes me really believe in this Pelican team despite all of this I can understand a concern with thinking that

A guy that was near 25 a night last year that’s down to 21 could have regressed scoring wise but when he has the volume bi has shown that like Zion that hasn’t gone anywhere in 17 games this season where he took 20 or more shots Brandon

Ingram is averaging 286 and six on 50% from the field 31% from three and 79% from the line for a true shooting percentage nearly identical to his season number 57.9% Ingram still having the ability to be a volume scorer when needed is very reassuring in come playoffs often times

It becomes about the stars and if Zion and Ingram both need to take 20 shots I feel great about that Prospect now for the rest of the pieces and as I’ve been saying this is what makes this team what they are I will be discussing a number

Of guys but I want to start with herb Jones I said in my video about the Pelicans from the summer that he was League average three-point shooting from becoming Elite and he completely blew this out of the water the three-point shooting Improvement this season from herb is nothing short of unbelievable

Over his first two seasons herb had nearly identical set from Deep shooting 33.7% from Deep on 2.2 attempts a game as a rookie and 33 1.2% from Deep on 2 and 1/2 attempts last season these aren’t unplayable numbers but are far from ideal in today’s league and Herb

Clearly realized that as this season Herbert Jones is shooting 43.3% from Deep on three and a half attempts a night we all know what herb gets into on the defensive end and becoming not only a serviceable shooter but an elite one makes him an absolutely Elite role player the even better part

For New Orleans a guy who’s providing 20 to $25 million value is under contract for this year in the next three at around 12 13 14 and 15 million with Trey Murphy and Brandon ingrams extensions coming up contracts like these will be critical to keeping this core Together

Trey Murphy is another piece that is a huge part of the immense spacing on this Pelican scene Del lanky forward is an absolute sniper and has upped his three-point volume this season he is one of the main spacers that helps everything else largely due to his ability to shoot from well beyond the

Three-point line Trey shot distance is actually funny because he is shooting 36 1.2% on 96 24f Footers and 38 1.2% on 213 25 to 29 Footers Trey can not only shoot threes but can pull up from anywhere and having not only snipers but Dynamic ones like Trey is a key for a

Highly effective modern offense Murphy also embodies the threes and layups or dunk school of thought as 88% of his 457 field goal attempts this season are either threes or inside 5T Trey’s finishing has also been effective when needed as he is shooting a whopping 78.1% from inside 5 ft on about 1.7

Attempts a night Trey Murphy is Du for a big payday and it’s absolutely coming and it will absolutely be worth it the 23-year-old will only continue improving and I believe he could be an efficient 20 a night guy already in a situation more centered around him a guy who has

Gone very Under The Radars despite still putting him work in his 30s is CJ McCullum he is averaging 184 and4 with some of the best shooting from Deep of his career considering volume he is a supplementary playmaker and shot creator for this Pelicans team having a ton of

Shooters is great but striking a balance with Straight Shooters and shot creators is where you see Elite offenses CJ has taken a bit of a backseat compared to his other time in New Orleans but has moved his game to even more three-point shooting while increasing his efficiency

There no longer is CJ a main focal point of a team but he has moved into a tertiary scoring role gracefully and is contributing in New Orleans while I would love to dive into more guys individually instead I’m going to make a point about the rest of the roster as a

Unit I knew the Pelicans had an unreal amount of spacing but going to look at the numbers earlier just blew me away only one person who’s getting consistent minutes for this team isn’t a good shooter outside of Dyson Daniels basically the entire Pelicans rotation are good or Elite three-point Shooters

Let’s run down the numbers herb Jones 43.3% on three and a half attempts Larry Nance 42.3% on 1.1 attempts CJ McCullum 41.2% on 7.9 attempts nji Marshall 38 1.5% on 2.3 attempts Trey Murphy 37.3% on 7.7 attempts Jose Alvarado 37.3% on 3.4 attempts Jordan Hawkins 36.6% on

Five attempts bi 35.7% on 3.8 attempts Zion 35.7% on0 2 attempts I guess you could question this one due to volume but my point is you can’t leave him and jonis valent chunis 34.6% on one and a half attempts the Pelicans saw the direction the NBA was going and also how

That could help such a dynamic paint scorer in Zion and went all in on spacing this is basically what I would do if I was an NBA G having three Superstars is great and all but I think the NBA is moving towards two stars and ideal Supporting Cast we’re seeing this

Right now with Bradley Beal and Phoenix he isn’t bad himself but how much can his 50 million plus a year be utilized alongside Booker and KD yic and Murray put this mold on the biggest stage and I believe many teams will follow soon as far as my expectations for this team

With how deep and tight the West is it’s hard to say I will probably pick them no matter their first round matchup but if they end up in a 4 five with the Clippers as it appears they will right now it’ll be tough to say what I I can

Say confidently is that this is a Conference Finals level team whether that actually happens or not I can’t say for sure due to the immense Talent out west but I still think they could I just don’t know if they’re favored in the series against OKC Minnesota Denver or

The Clippers despite this I might take the pels against anyone but Denver and even then I think they can make that interesting no matter what happens this season the Pelicans have found their formula and have a mostly very young core should they keep this mold somewhat

They will be a contender for years to come and I cannot wait to watch Zion play playoff basketball that’s going to wrap this one up if you’all enjoyed it please like it up sub to the channel hit that Noy Bell I would really really appreciate it comment down below I don’t

Know clip I got a little bag clip with me and I’ll catch you on the next one I’m out peace

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