8th January - New Orleans Pelicans VS Chicago Bulls - 12-25

[ragincaucasian]

How would you guys suggest getting NAW more minutes with Jrue in the line-up, Ball playing better, and Moore playing pretty solid? And how many minutes do you see him getting realistically under those conditions?

For the record I'd like to see him out there more.

Props to Alvin because he put them in at perfect times tonight. More nights with these same rotations and i'm happy as hell.

[6warddude]

Okafor is completely useless. He's a big with a pulse.

We need a backup for Zion honestly.

gentry dont play okafor so i hope he is on the trading block for a backup pf/c that can play like gentry need...

[Pelicanidae]

Fun fact: with a statline of 14pts, 12rbds, 4blks tonight, Jaxson Hayes became only the 10th teenager in NBA history to record such a statline, the first in the NBA since Wendell Carter Jr did it in 2018, and the first (and only other) Pelican to do it since AD in 2015.

The other teenagers to post such a statline were

- KAT (x2)
- Kevin Garnett (x1)
- Dwight Howard (x3)
- Eddie Griffin (x1)
- Amir Johnson (x1)
- Darius Miles (x1)
- Josh Smith (x1)
- AD (x2)
- Wendell Carter Jr (x1)

[Eman5805]

NAW deserves to be out there. And a lot. He's got a lot of potential, IMO. But not as much as Jaxson. Like someone said on Twitter, not even Anthony Davis was making passes like Hayes has been making well into his 3rd and 4th season. Let alone as a rookie.

I can 100% see a future where the ball gets brought up, then passed to Hayes at the top of hte key and we run some actions off of him and let him kinda play a Jokic role.

If his passing is just scratching the surface, why not?

[Pelicanidae]

Jaxson Hayes becomes the third rookie in New Orleans franchise history with multiple games with four blocks, joining Anthony Davis (6) and Jeff Withey (4). #WontBowDown

— Pelicans PR (@PelicansPR) January 9, 2020

[AusPel]

Jeff Withey

[Pelicanidae]

Jeff Withey

The proud days of Jeff Withey

[Pelicanidae]

Rookie comparisons of the 3 (per 36)

Jaxson Hayes (19): 14.5pts, 8rbds, 1.7asts, 1.1stls, 2.0blks. 66.1% TS, +17 Net Rating, 1.6 BPM, 0.6 VORP, .157 WS/48
Anthony Davis (19): 16.9pts, 10.5rbds, 1.2asts, 1.5stls, 2.2blks. 51.6%TS, +7 Net Rating, 2.3 BPM, 2.0 VORP, .159 WS/48
Jeff Withey (23): 10pts, 7.9rbds, 1.4asts, 0.8stls, 2.6blks. 59% TS, +14 Net Rating, 0.3 BPM, 0.4 VORP, .128 WS/48

[ragincaucasian]

When will I see Zion dammit?

[Pelicanidae]

When will I see Zion dammit?

Current popular prediction is 16th so I'm going with it

[msusousaphone]

Just finished.....and......

CHAAAAMPIONSHIIIIIIIIIP!!! Lol

[msusousaphone]

How would you guys suggest getting NAW more minutes with Jrue in the line-up, Ball playing better, and Moore playing pretty solid? And how many minutes do you see him getting realistically under those conditions?

For the record I'd like to see him out there more.

Trading players.

That started as a joke....but then I thought about it and....that's really it. Especially with Zion coming back. Play Zion on the wing and Kenny Hustle gets no minutes. Play Zion at C and Hayes loses minutes. The good problem we currently have is that we have too many players that deserve minutes. We also have one of the richest treasure chests of upcoming draft picks. The only logical answer is to package a good bit of that together and get an all-star level player.

[Pelicanidae]

Asked if this was his best game of rookie season, Jaxson Hayes didn't want to take a victory lap, saying: "Stat-wise, yes. (But) I can definitely do a lot more stuff to get better. I made a lot of mistakes today, so (I want to) focus on that."

— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) January 9, 2020

[Biasvasospasm]

NAW deserves to be out there. And a lot. He's got a lot of potential, IMO. But not as much as Jaxson. Like someone said on Twitter, not even Anthony Davis was making passes like Hayes has been making well into his 3rd and 4th season. Let alone as a rookie.

I can 100% see a future where the ball gets brought up, then passed to Hayes at the top of hte key and we run some actions off of him and let him kinda play a Jokic role.

If his passing is just scratching the surface, why not?

He had a GREAT pass to JJ cutting for a layup against the Jazz. Was right on the money and was a great read. For a guy who literally never had the opportunity to pass in college, he is way ahead of where he should be on offense.

I look forward to when he gets a bit more freedom in the DHO game to challenge defenses and drive from the perimeter. I didn't realize this when he was drafted, but his combination of height, length, coordination, explosiveness and touch is special. He has potential to be way more than a good rim runner offensively, and he is a ridiculous athlete just like Zion.

[Pelicanidae]

He had a GREAT pass to JJ cutting for a layup against the Jazz. Was right on the money and was a great read. For a guy who literally never had the opportunity to pass in college, he is way ahead of where he should be on offense.

I look forward to when he gets a bit more freedom in the DHO game to challenge defenses and drive from the perimeter. I didn't realize this when he was drafted, but his combination of height, length, coordination, explosiveness and touch is special. He has potential to be way more than a good rim runner offensively, and he is a ridiculous athlete just like Zion.

This is what I was saying when he got drafted, and why I was so pleased with it. Such incredible touch at the rim (he shot 84% at the rim in college and not only on dunks) and a 77% FT shot as a big who is relatively raw? He has real potential to add a 3pt point shot with time.

Add to that the length and co-ordination (dude has quick feet, runs like a wing, great body control, quick hips, etc) and I'm convinced he can be a 3, 4 position defender who can switch and cover guards well.

Obviously this assumes he has a good work ethic, assumes that he gets the mental aspect of the game down, assumes he puts on some weight well, etc, but his ceiling is super high.

[P_B_&_G]

I actually feel bad for McGee because he's a perfectly fine backup big who is just prone to mental lapses sometimes, but unfortunately the whole Shaqtin thing has turned his career into a joke.

If the shoe fits though...

[Biasvasospasm]

Defensively, if he can turn a couple of his fouls into verticality plays instead of trying for blocks or initially trying for verticality and then bringing his arms down, he will be a very positive player. And that's even 40 pounds lighter than he ultimately will be as an NBA center. The switching stuff is also possible based on foot speed and agility, but upper body discipline will be even more important against smalls in space.

Still way better in that regard than he was in summer league.

[JJackisangry]

That 2nd half was genuinely one of our better moments this year. More of that and we will be fine. Ball movement and good drives will take you a long way.

[Pelicanidae]

Looking at tonight's advanced stats.

Best Net Rating: Redick (+28)
Worst Net Rating: Frank Jackson (-150, but in less than 1 minute play so it doesn't count really lol)

Best TS%: Favors (87.2%) followed by Redick (76.1%) and Jax (70%)

Highest USG%: Frank, at 50%. Again, he played less than a minute. Among players who got more than 10 minutes, it's Ingram at 29%

Highest RBD%: Jaxson at 22.6%

Highest AST%: NAW at 40%. Ingram was second at 39.3%

[JJackisangry]

Props to Alvin because he put them in at perfect times tonight. More nights with these same rotations and i'm happy as hell.

It was a good second half from Alvin for sure. I didn’t see the first half, but he made the changes when they needed to be made, called a good timeout and had them playing decent stuff

[Pelicanidae]

Defensively, if he can turn a couple of his fouls into verticality plays instead of trying for blocks or initially trying for verticality and then bringing his arms down, he will be a very positive player. And that's even 40 pounds lighter than he ultimately will be as an NBA center. The switching stuff is also possible based on foot speed and agility, but upper body discipline will be even more important against smalls in space.

Still way better in that regard than he was in summer league.

Oh agreed, he has a way to go before he actually reaches that peak, but like you said the improvement just from Summer League until now is impressive. Still months left in this season, plus an off season of training and another camp? Who knows what he'll look like come next October.

And yeah, he's listed at about 220lbs right now: I don't know if that's correct. I'd be inclined to think more like 210 his final weight will probably end up somewhere in the region of 235lbs, 240lbs, which is roughly what Gobert weighs at a similar height and length.

[Nichols]

Trading players.

That started as a joke....but then I thought about it and....that's really it. Especially with Zion coming back. Play Zion on the wing and Kenny Hustle gets no minutes. Play Zion at C and Hayes loses minutes. The good problem we currently have is that we have too many players that deserve minutes. We also have one of the richest treasure chests of upcoming draft picks. The only logical answer is to package a good bit of that together and get an all-star level player.

Makes sense.. That would be a long term solution.

[Biasvasospasm]

Oh agreed, he has a way to go before he actually reaches that peak, but like you said the improvement just from Summer League until now is impressive. Still months left in this season, plus an off season of training and another camp? Who knows what he'll look like come next October.

And yeah, he's listed at about 220lbs right now: I don't know if that's correct. I'd be inclined to think more like 210 his final weight will probably end up somewhere in the region of 235lbs, 240lbs, which is roughly what Gobert weighs at a similar height and length.

I share your skepticism for his listed weight. He's perhaps a bit thinner than rookie AD, who was also listed at around 220.

Gobert is listed at 258, but he's a couple inches taller.

Jaxson is about the same height with the same broad shoulders as AD. AD is listed at an oddly specific 6'10", 253. I think he ends up at around the same weight, 245-255.

[Pelicanidae]

I share your skepticism for his listed weight. He's perhaps a bit thinner than rookie AD, who was also listed at around 220.

Gobert is listed at 258, but he's a couple inches taller.

Jaxson is about the same height with the same broad shoulders as AD. AD is listed at an oddly specific 6'10", 253. I think he ends up at around the same weight, 245-255.

Yeah, you're right. NBA Stats has Jax at 6'11.5, with Gobert at 7'1, so there's about 1.5'' difference there. Also has Gobert at 258, like you said.

Current NBA bigs that have played at least 30 games this year, who are listed at 6'11 by weight:

- Deandre Jordan - 265lbs
- Domantas Sabonis - 240lbs
- Giannis Antetokoumnpo - 242lbs
- Jaren Jackson Jr - 242lbs
- Jarrett Allen - 243lbs
- Jonas Valanciunas - 265lbs
- Kelly Olynyk - 240lbs
- LaMarcus Aldridge - 250lbs
- Myles Turner - 250lbs
- Steven Adams - 265lbs
- Mason Plumlee - 254lbs
- Jonathan Isaac - 230lbs

- Jaxson Hayes - 220lbs

So yeah, he's the lightest 6'11 guy who has actually played in games this year, by a fair margin: the closest guy is Isaac from Orlando, and he's in need of some extra weight too. Really, it seems like about 240 is the practical minimum for a 6'11 guy in the NBA who actually gets minutes.

[GuardianAngel25]

I share your skepticism for his listed weight. He's perhaps a bit thinner than rookie AD, who was also listed at around 220.

Gobert is listed at 258, but he's a couple inches taller.

Jaxson is about the same height with the same broad shoulders as AD. AD is listed at an oddly specific 6'10", 253. I think he ends up at around the same weight, 245-255.

Hayes is not even close to 220lbs anymore. That was what this kid weighed in at after a Freshman year of college where he barely had a chance to workout. Since then he has near 8 months or something on an NBA strength program. I would say Hayes is around 230-235lbs and much much stronger then he was when he entered here. You can tell looking at him he’s filled out a little in the arms since he first got here. I think a comfortable weight for Hayes if he gets no taller is around 245-255 max with his best assets being his athleticism and speed which would be somewhat taken away. He simply needs to get stronger while adding good core weight. Now I wouldn’t have a problem if he turned into Dwight looking and playing like him but I see a more Anthony Davis type of body even with a similar play. He will have less usage of course which will be perfect for him and his mid-long range shots will obviously be taken much less. I do see Hayes becoming a threat shooting the ball mid-long range as he develops but again not the usage of AD which is a good thing. Hayes needs to be our college version of AD!