Tyreke Evans finally finds a home with the Pelicans
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Tyreke Evans was poised for superstardom when he burst onto the scene in 2009.
Evans averaged 20-5-5 in his rookie season, a feat matched only by LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Oscar Robertson. And while he always seemed like a statistical oddity among those legends, here was a 6-foot-6 guard who got to the rim at will, played interchangeably along the perimeter, and had a penchant for nailing buzzer-beaters.
In a loaded draft class that included James Harden and Stephen Curry, it was Evans who took home Rookie of the Year honors.
It all went downhill, however, after Evans's starry debut. His averages dipped across the board and the teams he led went nowhere. Across his first five years in the league, he never once crossed the 35-win plateau.
Owing to his versatility, Evans's coaches tinkered with his game. He was a point guard to start, but was later moved to shooting guard, then small forward. He played the role of primary playmaker, off-ball slasher, and even tried his hand at the Sixth Man role.
He never found permanency, and his game suffered as a result.
Jrue Holiday's broken leg forced the New Orleans Pelicans to get creative last season. Pressed for options, head coach Monty Williams put the ball into Evans's hands, and, to everyone's surprise, the team flourished.
The Pelicans finished the year on a 27-18 run with Evans running the show. New Orleans scored 107.5 points per 100 possessions with Evans on the floor, a mark that would have ranked fifth-best in the NBA.
As always, Evans was impossible to stop with a head of steam toward the basket. Owing to his combination of size, strength, and handles, he was a matchup nightmare. He overpowered smaller defenders and out-quicked bigger wings as he bulldozed his way to the league lead in shots attempted from the restricted area.
Evans also maintained his penchant for inefficiency, as he finished the year with a ghastly true shooting percentage of 50.8. But that's deceiving, because even Evans's misses were productive. Shooting at the basket generally creates shorter rebounds, and the Pelicans managed to rebound 47 percent of Evans's close-range misses, according to Grantland's Kirk Goldsberry.
He led the league in "Kobe Assists" by creating a slew of putback chances for the likes of Anthony Davis and Omer Asik.
The oft-underrated Evans was no slouch in the real assist column, either. From mid-January onward, Evans topped double-digits in assists on 13 occasions, including a career-high 16 dimes as part of a 22-10-16 triple-double against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who the Pelicans beat out for the eighth playoff spot in the West.
Make no mistake: The Pelicans' success came largely on the back of Davis, who blossomed into a superstar last season. But don't discount the importance of Evans in their run, because he saved the Pelicans when all was lost after Holiday's injury.
After years of being the talented enigma that never quite fit, Evans found a home in New Orleans and flourished.
The Pelicans replaced Williams with Alvin Gentry this offseason, but they're not changing Evans's role.
"I think with Tyreke, he is mostly going to be a point guard,'' Gentry told John Reid of NOLA.com. ''Obviously there are going to be situations where he may play a couple of other positions, but right now I see him mainly as point guard with potential to really push the ball.''
That's good enough for Evans, who's just hoping to settle in after so much tinkering around in his career to date.
"Hopefully I can focus on one position this year," Evans told The Sporting News. "This year, I just want to get with the team and get back and get ready for this year. And hopefully this year, we can stay healthy."
Staying healthy is out of the question with Holiday on a heavy minute restriction until January. But that still leaves Evans, who will be counted on once again to captain their offense. And if last season was any indication, he is ready to meet the challenge.