Tyreke Evans took the league by storm in his rookie year, averaging 20 points, almost 6 assists, and over 5 rebounds per game while managing to post a respectable 52.3% TS%, which is fairly average, but good for a rookie. Unfortunately, the rest of the league caught onto his major weakness: shooting. The rest of his career has been spent trapped on a Sacramento team with no stability, an overload of gunner guards, and an altogether poisonous atmosphere. Last year, Tyreke managed to quietly post his most efficient season as a pro, though he did suffer a reduction in playing time.
This summer, the Pelicans were reportedly meeting Tyreke the minute free agency started, and he was a priority throughout the free agent period. The Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to a 3 way trade (with the primary focus of Tyreke being signed/traded to us), and Tyreke will enter his first season as a Pelican this year after receiving what is reported to be a 4 year, $44 million contract.
At this moment, the Pelicans are looking to make Tyreke their Manu Ginobili, which means that he will be in control of the second-team offense. This by no means excludes Tyreke from playing alongside Eric Gordon and Jrue Holiday, but it does likely mean that he will be doing plenty of ball-handling and scoring for the second unit. Here are some reasons why I think Tyreke is poised to make a jump in his effectiveness.
