SAN FRANCISCO – According to play-by-play data from Basketball-Reference.com, 23 percent of Solomon Hill’s career minutes have been spent at shooting guard, though none of those have occurred since he joined the New Orleans Pelicans this season. However, after another backcourt player has been sidelined – Lance Stephenson is out for potentially an extended stretch with a groin injury – anything might be on the table.
“I’ll play wherever,” Hill said after Sunday’s practice at the University of San Francisco. “Wherever Coach (Alvin Gentry) puts me. I played point guard in Indiana. I can play wherever.”
New Orleans is facing abbreviated roster depth at guard entering Monday’s matchup against Golden State, which boasts the NBA’s premier backcourt duo of two-time MVP Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. In addition to Stephenson being out, starting point guard Jrue Holiday (personal) and Tyreke Evans (knee) are not available. With small forward Quincy Pondexter (knee) still trying to return to the court, that means four of the Pelicans’ 15 roster players are inactive. Of the 11 players who are eligible to play Monday against the Warriors, seven of them are frontcourt players, with just four guards at Gentry’s disposal. Tim Frazier and E’Twaun Moore have started each of the first six games, while Langston Galloway and Buddy Hield have been backcourt reserves.
“Everybody just has to step a level up,” Hill said of compensating for Stephenson’s absence. “Lance was coming into his own and getting comfortable. He was that second point guard for the second unit. Now we’ve just got to figure things out again.”
“It’s tough,” forward Anthony Davis said of the Stephenson news. “He was doing a lot of good stuff for us. It’s tough to have him out. It’s kind of been our M.O. all year – we’ve just got to do more. We’re going to have guys come in who will have to pick it up (for Stephenson being out).”
Based on NBA rules that dictate the circumstances for how a team can use the hardship exemption, it does not appear that the Pelicans will exercise that option. Part of that is based on the fact that the exemption forces teams to declare injured players out for a specified amount of time. At the moment, the possible return dates of some of New Orleans’ unavailable players, including Evans and Holiday, is uncertain.