Tim Frazier immediately impressed coaches and teammates by demonstrating a high-level basketball IQ when he made his New Orleans debut on March 16 at Sacramento. But it definitely didn’t take a hoops genius to recognize the importance of a certain Pelicans player getting as many touches as possible in the team’s offense.
“He made me look good,” a grinning Frazier remembered of Anthony Davis being on the finishing end of several of the pass-first point guard’s nine assists vs. the Kings. “He knocks down shots for you. My only focus was to get him the ball and make him happy, and do whatever it takes to win.
“When you get to play with AD, you get to play with an All-Star. I get to see it first-hand. He makes great shots, makes tough moves. On defense, he protects the rim. He blocked a couple of my shots (in intrasquad scrimmages) and just comes out of nowhere. It takes a lot of pressure off you when you have someone of his caliber.”
Frazier only got to play with Davis twice last season, prior to the power forward being sidelined for the remainder of the season by injuries. As a result, Frazier is partly using training camp to become even more familiar with Davis and each of his teammates, including several new Pelicans.
“It’s a process, but you spend most of the summer trying to figure that out,” Frazier said after Sunday’s morning practice of gaining knowledge about teammates. “I know the (voluntary workout) trip to L.A. (in August) helped out a lot. Being here before training camp helped a lot. We’ll continue to learn where guys want the ball, especially myself, trying to figure out what they can do and what they can’t do. I want to be able to play with everybody.”
“Any time you can spend time with a teammate,” Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry compared, “it’s no different than a quarterback having a wide receiver come to his house and throwing him a football before training camp actually starts.”
Having played with Frazier in voluntary workouts and the first two days of official practices, Pelicans free-agent pickup Terrence Jones said he’s enjoyed playing with the Penn State product.
“Great floor general,” the forward described. “He’s out there making sure everything is running smoothly and everybody’s in the right spots, and being a vocal point guard (is something) I think we need. It’s been fun playing with him. He’s a great facilitator, great passer, and he gets everybody involved.”
Frazier, who averaged 7.5 assists over 16 games with New Orleans and was one of the team’s biggest bright spots late in 2015-16, is a candidate to fill a very prominent role. He has the most career-long point-guard experience of anyone on the roster, with Jrue Holiday expected to miss at least the early portion of the regular season. Asked after Sunday’s practice if he considers himself to be an NBA starter, Frazier responded, “I see myself as a player. Whatever Coach needs me to do, on the bench or starter, 15 minutes, first man off the bench. I want to be in this league and do whatever the team needs to win.”
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