National Basketball Association

New Orleans Pelicans: Defensive Upgrade Key In Regular Season Success

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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After a disastrous season with several players shuffling on and off the medical ward, the New Orleans Pelicans invested in better defenders, resulting in a better defense.

Last season was one of the worst seasons in the history of the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans finished with a 30-52 record and used 21 players throughout those 82 games. The most notable players who suited up for New Orleans last season? Jordan Hamilton, Jimmer Fredette and the immortal Nate Robinson.

There were several anecdotes that came away from New Orleans’ middling season. Was head coach Alvin Gentry, just one season after being hired, on the way out? How was general manager Dell Demps — also firmly on the hot seat — going to build around Anthony Davis? What was Anthony Davis thinking about after signing that extension just one season before?

The two questions that intrigued me surrounding New Orleans were the defense and the health. Health has been an issue for New Orleans over the last five seasons, with the Pellies losing several players to injury. Two of their notable players who battled injury — Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson — opted to leave New Orleans this offseason, joining the Houston Rockets on four-year deals.

We’re already off to a bad start with Quincy Pondexter potentially out until January, Tyreke Evans — fresh off a third knee surgery within 21 months — on track to come back in November and Jrue Holiday taking a leave of absence as his wife, former United States Women’s Soccer player Lauren Holiday, battles a brain tumor after the birth of the couple’s first child.

(Prayers up for the Holiday family. Some things are more important than basketball.)

As for the defense, the Pelicans made it their No. 1 priority this offseason. Instead of adding players like Chandler Parsons, Harrison Barnes or Nicolas Batum — three players who would have theoretically formed a “Big Three” with Davis and Holiday — the Pelicans opted to make several smaller moves, adding better defenders to fix their 27th ranked defense.

The biggest addition was former Indiana Pacers forward Solomon Hill. Hill seemed like just another guy when Indiana decided to decline his team option. That proved to be a mistake, as Hill showed the ability to defend both wing positions and flashed an outside shot. It all came to a head when Hill averaged 7.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in the playoffs, but knocked down a staggering 57 percent of his three-pointers against the Toronto Raptors.

That was enough for New Orleans to invest $48 million over the next four seasons in him.

Whether or not Hill can become a consistent above-average shooter over 82 games is up for debate, but what New Orleans signed him for is his ability to defend multiple positions. For the last four seasons, the Pelicans tried several frontcourt pairings, from Davis and Omer Asik to even the three-man combination of Anderson, Davis, and Asik. It never had the balance needed to thrive.

With Hill alongside Davis, those are two players capable of defending two positions and flashing on the perimeter. Even against small-ball centers, Davis can defend those as well. Even if you worry about larger centers — the Andre Drummonds, DeMarcus Cousins and Marc Gasols of the world — that patrol some starting lineups, you have Asik handle them in bursts, with Davis alongside him and Hill at the 3.

After a painful shuffling of players at the guard position during the season, the Pelicans added two guards in free agency — Langston Galloway and E’Twaun Moore — to continue shoring up their defense.

Both Moore (signed to a four-year deal worth $34 million) and Galloway ($10 million over two years; player option after one) offer New Orleans some defensive versatility. With Holiday’s ability to both orchestrate the offense and defend both guard positions, Moore and Galloway could play alongside him, provide defensive value and even secondary ball-handing. The true skill, however, is that both work well as combo guards.

Last season, Galloway played 82 games (important!), knocked down 34 percent of his threes and played solid defense in the backcourt. Though his role will be coming off the bench, his essential position is alongside Holiday in the backcourt and playing alongside Davis. Much like he did with Carmelo Anthony, Galloway could be a nice catch-and-shoot player who gets most of his offense created for him.

As for Moore, he’s a bit more traveled than Galloway, spending his five-year career with three different teams. Moore emerged as a nice rotation player for the Bulls last season, averaging 7.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in a career-high 21.4 minutes per game.

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Despite such low per game totals, you saw everything you wanted out of a potential starter. Moore was a good catch-and-shoot player, finishing on 44 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes last season, per NBA.com. The Bulls were one point better with Moore on the bench, but even defenders are underrated and you saw some of the things that made him a solid defender — the ability to contest shots being one of them.

That $34 million price tag was slightly steep for Moore’s services, but in terms of fit on the roster, he’s an excellent player to have in tow as the Pelicans prepare to make numerous changes over the next several seasons.

The New Orleans Pelicans got off on the wrong foot with Evans, Pondexter and Holiday all missing the start of the regular season. Two of the three will be essential to New Orleans’ defensive identity with Davis terrorizing shooters with his shot-blocking abilities in the paint. It seems like that defensive upgrade will have to wait.

The Pelicans, however, have the ingredients to become a solid defense. Pondexter, Moore, Hill and Holiday on the perimeter bothering ball-handlers, Davis on the floor blocking jump shots and shots at the rim and assistant coach Darren Erman getting guys to properly execute his defensive schemes.

It may take some time, but if New Orleans could put it all together, that one leaky defense could be trending in the right direction.

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