Tyreke Evans: Season in Review

[jonathanlambert33]

On July 5th, 2013, the New Orleans Pelicans acquired guard Tyreke Evans from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Greivis Vasquez, also sending Robin Lopez to the Portland Trailblazers to make room for Evans brand new 4 year, $44 million contract. The move was the second big trade executed by GM Dell Demps, agreed to just over a week after the Pelicans draft day trade for Jrue Holiday. In conjunction, the moves signaled a clear change of direction for this New Orleans franchise, quickly shifting away from the patient rebuild model to one of a relatively unique nature. Demps and his staff moved to piece together a team of young veterans players who were young and talented, but were not new to the league. More importantly, Dell wanted players who could grow together as a core while still maintaining the ability to move a piece didnt end up fitting for someone who would.

For the first month or two of the 2013-14 NBA season, Tyreke Evans struggled with inconsistency, seemingly unable to get into any sort of rhythm. As a result, speculation was rampant in regards to whether or not the contract was a good idea. At seasons end, there are still some around the league who question the signing, but those who have watched Tyreke closely are much less skeptical. Without further adieu, lets dive into the good and bad associated with Evans play this season.

When presenting Evans statistical output, it simply cannot be done without showing his production both from a starting and bench role (all data from the NBAs media stats tool except for PER, which came from ESPN). Early on in Tyrekes first season in New Orleans, he often struggled to get into any sort of rhythm, and the numbers back up that assessment. He was below average for his position in most statistical categories apart from rebounding (his rebounding will come up again later). However, after entering the starting lineup largely out of necessity due to injuries Evans began to flourish. Despite seeing more minutes against the oppositions best talent while playing alongside the same level of talent as before or worse (again, thanks to injuries), his eFG and TS% shot up about 10% each, and experienced no significant drop-off in any other category. On a per-36 minute basis, he went from scoring 17.4 points on 16.2 shots (1.07 PPP) all the way up to 20.3 points on 15.5 shots (1.31 PPP).

http://www.bourbonstreetshots.com/2014/04/28/season-in-review-tyreke-evans/

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Dell Demps wasted no time targeting Tyreke Evans in Free Agency. Ultimately the two sides came to an agreement on a 4 year, $44 Million contract. Due to salary cap constraints, the Pelicans worked out a three team trade with Portland and Sacramento. Greivis Vasquez, Robin Lopez, and Terrel Harris (oh, a guy signed to an unguaranteed second year on March 27th that greases the skids for a future trade, imagine that) were sent out in exchange for Tyreke Evans and Jeff Withey.

Reaction to this move (in concert with the trade for Jrue Holiday) was pretty mixed. Most grades of the trade were in the B+ to C- range. Bill Simmons hated it. Tyreke Evans as a Manu Ginobli-esque 6th Man was intriguing to most writers, although there were concerns about how three high usage guards would co-exist. Unfortunately for Demps, the Pelicans only got 91 minutes of evidence with the "Finishing Five" on the court thanks to injuries. The Pelicans outscored opponents by 9.5 points per 100 possessions in that sampling. Do we know if the three of them together will work? No. Does anyone know it failed? No.

Struggles off the Bench

In his first two regular season games as a New Orleans Pelican, Tyreke shot 2-15. Already, anyone who was against the signing to begin with, had all the ammunition they needed. Putting up 15 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds against the Bobcats did nothing to quell this as it was "just the Bobcats." Then, Tyreke logged just 7 minutes against the Phoenix Suns due to "conditioning" and #MontyBall was in full effect.

Overall, without Ryan Anderson to create space for Tyreke to operate, the results were horrendous. Evans averaged just 9.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 3.6 APG while shooting 36.2% from the field. New Orleans was 3-6. The buzzards were circling.

Ryan Anderson is the Perfect Partner

The surprise benching did have the desired effect. Or the return of Ryan Anderson did; along with some luck (for Tyreke) in the form of an MCL sprain for Greg Stiemsma. Once Anderson returned Evans went off. In 20 games, Evans averaged 15.4 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 5.0 APG on 44.5% from the field. The Pelicans went 12-8 in that stretch (Evans missed two games due to another ankle sprain) and pushed within a game of .500. But that last victory against Boston came at great cost, one which would effect Tyreke Evans most of all.

http://www.thebirdwrites.com/2014/4/21/5623342/tyreke-evans-season-recap

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Afternoon bump.