pelicans 2022 postseason profile

Jim Eichenhofer

Jaxson Hayes’ father Jonathan played a total of 12 years in the NFL as a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers, so it probably wasn’t much of a surprise that Jaxson focused on football as a youngster, eventually becoming a college recruiting prospect at wide receiver. On an old Rivals.com football webpage, Hayes is listed as a 6-foot-7, 189-pound wideout, drawing interest from pigskin powers Notre Dame and Ohio State.

However, after growing to 6-foot-11, Hayes’ high center of gravity made basketball more conducive to his frame (his mother Kristi was also a hoops star in college at Drake). Following a season with the Texas Longhorns’ hoops program, the Cincinnati native was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, landing in New Orleans.

There is no evidence online that Hayes attracted the attention of some of the NCAA’s elite track and field programs, but maybe they should have pursued him. During three seasons with the Pelicans, the now-21-year-old has proven capable of outrunning virtually any big man matched against him. That was on full display during the third quarter of Tuesday’s Game 2 in Phoenix, when Hayes beat the Suns down the floor three times over a four-minute span for fast-break baskets. The power forward helped spark New Orleans to a 69-53 second-half edge, part of a 125-114 road victory.

“Jaxson Hayes is putting on his own transition show here in this third quarter!” TNT analyst Reggie Miller said on the national broadcast.

After one of Hayes’ three consecutive dunks, TNT’s cameras panned to Pelicans veteran teammate Larry Nance Jr., who celebrated on the bench with a “raise the roof” gesture, a move that perhaps peaked in popularity before Hayes was even born in 2000. Aside from showing his support from sideline, Nance has taken the precocious Hayes under his wing since joining the Pelicans in February, often awed by the youngster’s athleticism. Nance himself was invited to the NBA slam dunk contest in 2018, but notes that Hayes’ physical ability is on a different level. During Hayes’ third-quarter binge, he seemed to be playing at a different speed than the other nine players on the Footprint Center court.

“I’m a very good athlete,” the 29-year-old Nance said afterward, smiling. “Like a top-one-percent athlete. Jaxson Hayes is like a one percent of the one percent (athlete). It’s gross the things he can do.

“I’m a good athlete, but I was a really good athlete about four or five years ago. He would kill me in the 100 meters. The way he was running up and down the court, I don’t know who would catch him.”

Hayes was considered a project as a lottery pick in 2019, but has intermittently gotten significant opportunities to play in the Crescent City. His performance has sometimes been as up-and-down as you’d expect from a player who only averaged 23 minutes a game during his lone college season, but he found his stride in February when head coach Willie Green decided to make him the starting power forward. Including the postseason, New Orleans is 19-12 with Hayes as a starter in 2021-22, compared to 13-30 in games he played but came off the bench. He posted four double-doubles during the regular season, all after Feb. 1.

The third-year pro has been one of the Pelicans’ most improved in-season players, making major strides after he'd been replaced in the rotation in November and December by the always-ready Willy Hernangomez. But what often excites New Orleans and teammates most is Hayes’ long-term potential to continue developing, particularly given some of his unique traits that can’t be taught or coached.

“Defensively, how good he can be hasn’t even begun to be tapped into yet,” Nance said. “He’s 21. He’s a baby, and the fact that he can do the things he can do, at that height and with that athleticism, his ceiling is ridiculously high.

“He’s a freak. He’s (listed as) 6-11, (but) I think he’s a full 7 foot. The things he can do with the ball, off the ball, catching and finishing, he’s impressive. Physical specimen. Obviously he just keeps getting better and better. I’m excited to work with him.”

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Pelicans 2022 postseason profile: Jaxson Hayes

Larry Nance Sr. is a legendary former NBA player, perhaps best known among longtime basketball fans as the soaring winner of the league’s first-ever dunk contest in 1984, an epic, star-studded affair in which he beat out a hoops superhero field featuring Hall of Famers Julius Erving, Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins. Nance retired from the game in 1994, but handed down those aerial genes to his son, Larry Jr.

Like his father, the younger Nance is capable of jaw-dropping slams, resulting in an invite to the 2018 NBA dunk contest. At that event in Los Angeles, Larry Jr. paid tribute to Dad by donning a retro Phoenix Suns No. 22 uniform and replicating one of Pop’s famous cradle dunks, en route to a runner-up finish to Utah’s Donovan Mitchell.

Now seven years into his own pro career, 6-foot-7 Larry Jr. remains capable of highlight-reel throwdowns – even if a taller frontcourt player is standing in the way – but his elite leaping ability is no longer the first thing players mention about the 29-year-old. Less than a month after making his New Orleans debut in a March 24 win over Chicago, Nance is thriving in the role of savvy, established veteran, a “glue guy” for a Pelicans second unit that often changes games. That was never more the case than this weekend, starting Friday with Nance’s 14-point, 16-rebound, four-assist vital outing against the Clippers, as New Orleans advanced to the Western Conference playoffs. In Sunday’s Game 1 at Phoenix – where his father starred as a forward from 1981-88 – he delivered 14 points, six boards and three assists in 20 minutes of action. He shot 5/8 from the field, including sinking a three-pointer that cut NOLA’s deficit to just six points in the fourth quarter, after it had trailed by 20-plus.

“Watching him on the floor, he’s a high IQ player,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said of what makes Nance successful. “You can put the ball in his hands, and he just makes the right play over and over and over again. That’s on both ends. Defensively, he’s talking, he’s communicating. He just allows us to have different looks offensively and defensively. It adds a different dynamic to our team.”

“He’s athletic,” described forward Brandon Ingram, also a two-year Nance teammate with the Lakers. “He knows the game and sees the game in a different way than some of the guys on the floor. He sets a hard screen and rolls. He understands his role. He’s finishing around the rim and even stepped out and knocked down a three today. Everything he’s been doing, we needed it out of him.”

Nance made his first NBA playoff appearance since 2018, when Cleveland reached the NBA Finals, before LeBron James and the Cavaliers were swept by Golden State. From that ’18 postseason run alone, Nance’s 20 career games of playoff experience ranked him fifth on the Pelicans’ current roster entering Sunday’s Phoenix opener.

“He’s gotten smarter, and that comes with experience,” Ingram said. “He’s played with LeBron. He’s played with different guys. He has experience, so coming into these games, he knows what to expect.”

Nance also knew what to expect on Feb. 8 when he was traded to New Orleans. From afar, the University of Wyoming product saw a Pelicans roster filled with young talent and potential. After three straight losing seasons in Cleveland, Nance indicated that he believed his 2021 offseason trade to Portland would mean a return to the playoffs, but as it turns out, a second deal to the Crescent City got him back where he hoped to be.

Asked Friday about the reaction he and CJ McCollum had to being traded to the Pelicans, Nance responded, “We were thrilled about it. Look at what we’ve got (on the roster). This is a situation anybody can look at from the outside (positively). When I was in Portland I knew it, then when I got here I really knew it.

“Willie Green is a heck of a coach. We have Brandon Ingram who’s an All-Star at (24) years old. CJ is playing like an All-Star, and (we have) a freak on ice (sidelined Zion Williamson) right now. So who wouldn’t be thrilled about coming to this situation? This summer I left Cleveland and wanted to go to a playoff team, and here we sit. So I’m thrilled to be here. Me and CJ both are.”

Based on New Orleans reaching the playoffs – aided greatly by a midseason trade that received little attention, particularly compared to the nonstop drama from teams in the NBA’s biggest markets – so are the Pelicans.

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Pelicans 2022 postseason profile: Larry Nance Jr.

There may be an argument on this from supporters of Chicago All-Star guard Zach LaVine, but at the start of this NBA season, sixth-year forward Brandon Ingram might have been the league’s best player who’d yet to participate in a playoff game. By pouring in 30 points on 14/21 shooting Friday – spearheading New Orleans to a 105-101 win over the Clippers in an elimination game – Ingram made sure his name will be permanently removed from that discussion by the end of this weekend.

The talented LaVine (478 career games) and Ingram (368) will each perform in the national showcase of the NBA playoffs for the first time Sunday evening, after Ingram helped lead the Pelicans to two play-in tournament victories. Do-or-die play-in matchups vs. San Antonio and the Clippers provided two national TV opportunities for Ingram to show how far he’s come as a player since being drafted No. 2 overall by the Lakers in 2016. He took full advantage. The Duke product averaged 28.5 points and shot 25/40 from the field (63 percent), taking over at times during Friday’s game in Crypto.com Arena, the venue where he began his pro career.

“I tell him the same thing every single game: ‘I don’t care who we’re playing, you’re the best player on the court.’ I believe it,” said Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr., also an Ingram teammate for two seasons with the Lakers. “I saw it in L.A. I see it now. He was a man on a mission tonight.”

Ingram ranks fourth on the list of active players without a playoff appearance, but that will no longer be the case at tip-off of Sunday’s 8 p.m. game in Phoenix’s Footprint Center. Ingram battled injuries throughout 2021-22, but the Pelicans’ improbable run to the playoffs would not have been possible without their 31-26 overall record with the 24-year-old in uniform, including a 10-2 mark since the All-Star break.

Beloved by teammates, partly due to his work ethic and unselfish, lowkey personality, Ingram’s initial playoff trip was a source of pride for New Orleans players Friday.

“I’m glad the world gets to see how good he truly is,” guard CJ McCollum said. “Oftentimes, if you don’t make the playoffs, people kind of forget about you, or underestimate your talent. Now he has a chance to play on the biggest stage. He showed tonight how great he is – he can get to his spots, get to the rim, make plays, defensively he’s active and engaged, he can initiate the offense. I’m happy for him.”

Nance: “I’m just thrilled I can be here with him. I got to be with him a little bit (with the Lakers). I got to see the work he put in. I tell everybody that asked, (among) the two hardest workers I’ve ever seen in my entire life, one of them is Brandon Ingram. If we had practice at 10 (a.m.), he was there at 8. Sweating heavy by the time we got to practice. Every single day of his rookie year.”

Minutes after Friday’s buzzer, which signaled the ninth-seeded Pelicans’ clinch of a West playoff spot, Ingram was given a platform normally reserved for only the NBA’s biggest stars, joining TNT’s Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith for a postgame walk-off interview. After five previous seasons of being left out of the NBA’s annual 16-team field, Ingram noted how much he’s looking forward to his first opportunity to be part of it.

“I never had a winning record, never been in the postseason,” Ingram said on the ultra-popular postgame show. “To get a chance to showcase my talent on the biggest stage is beautiful.

“It’s our time. All the work we put in every day, all the work we put in in the summer, we finally get to showcase it on the biggest stage. I’m excited. I know my teammates are excited. It’s going to be fun.”

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Pelicans 2022 postseason profile: Brandon Ingram

CJ McCollum hasn’t established a true residence in New Orleans yet, living out of a downtown hotel over the past two-plus months since a trade from Portland. The 30-year-old is still awaiting the eventual arrival of his wife and newborn son (born Jan. 10), who’s not old enough for a cross-country flight.

Although McCollum may not be able to kick off his shoes and toss down his keys at a long-term address in the Crescent City, he still sounded like a longtime New Orleanian on Wednesday, after scoring 32 points and handing out seven assists in a play-in game victory over San Antonio. Based on recent interviews, it’s clear the nine-year veteran chose the Big Easy for the next chapter of his NBA career, after eight straight playoff berths with the Trail Blazers. A Pelicans fan base eager to wrap their arms around players who embrace their city gave McCollum several enormous ovations during Wednesday’s game, including as he walked to the locker room minutes after the 113-103 win.

“I’m at home. It’s my new home,” McCollum told ESPN sideline reporter Cassidy Hubbarth in a postgame interview. “I’m happy to be here. I’m thankful. I have a great opportunity to continue to get better, as a player, as a person, as a leader.”

New Orleans was already trending in the right direction at midseason, recovering nicely from a 3-16 start to get back into the Western Conference play-in race, but the Feb. 8 trade for McCollum elevated the Pelicans to another level. When McCollum and 2020 All-Star forward Brandon Ingram have both been in uniform since the All-Star break, New Orleans is 9-2.

With the season on the line Wednesday, McCollum made nine consecutive first-half shots from the field against the Spurs, one shy of his career high. Six of the 10 Pelicans who played in Wednesday’s game had never participated in the NBA postseason – including three rookies – but McCollum helped ease any potential nerves by pouring in 27 first-half points, staking New Orleans to an 11-point intermission advantage.

“I understood the magnitude of this game,” McCollum said, when asked about his approach to a new, pressure-filled situation for several teammates. “I tried to be aggressive.”

“He was great,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said. “He set the tone early. He understood the moment and it sort of calmed the rest of the guys down. We just got the ball to him and he made play after play, and the rest of the guys started to feed off CJ.”

A sellout crowd of 18,610 fans also fed off McCollum’s performance Wednesday, buzzing in anticipation every time he fired from three-point range or adeptly drove to the basket. McCollum generated one of the highest decibel levels in the Smoothie King Center in years when he sank a trail three-pointer late in the first half, running to the other baseline and gesturing toward the stands.

“This is the start of something special, for sure,” McCollum said of the Pelicans’ future in New Orleans. “You can see the energy, feel the energy. You can kind of feel the city is starting to be excited about basketball, as they should – there is a lot of talent here, we’re hungry, we’re playing the right way. And there is going to be a lot of winning in our future.

“I think this is indicative of the type of support we’ll have going forward. I’m happy about it, excited. Obviously we have to take care of business (Friday) in L.A. (against the Clippers), but when we get back here, I look forward to seeing more sellouts, and I’m sure the fans do. And we’ll reward them with a high level of play, a high level of energy, and leave it all out there on the court.”

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Pelicans 2022 postseason profile: CJ McCollum

A horn sounds during a stoppage in a New Orleans game. One of the opposing team’s top scorers breathes a brief sigh of relief, watching as Pelicans All-Defense candidate Herbert Jones trots to the sideline for some rest. As it turns out, a respite from “Not On Herb” time hasn’t been quite the break one might assume recently, because once Jones checks out, second-year forward Naji Marshall is ready to bring similar ferocity and intensity to the defensive end.

Moved into an every-night rotation spot after the All-Star break, the Xavier (Ohio) product helped New Orleans become a much stingier defense in the second half of 2021-22, ranking ninth in the NBA in efficiency. Prior to All-Star, the Pelicans were 22nd.

“It’s important to show different guys different looks,” head coach Willie Green said of having multiple shutdown options. “Herb can do certain things defensively; Naji brings another dynamic for us, tons of energy, (he’s) aggressive, denying you (the ball), taking guys out of plays. So it’s a luxury to have.

“Naji’s been great, doing all the things we’re asking him to do. He’s aggressive defensively. He and Herb are kind of taking turns guarding the best players. He’s just coming out and being solid for us, and because of it, he’s having some very good games for us.”

Marshall’s defensive potential was one reason NBA teams scouted him entering the 2020 draft, but he went unselected. New Orleans signed him to a two-way contract, focused on developing him long term. After only playing in seven of the Pelicans’ first 47 games as a rookie in 2020-21, he made 25 straight appearances to close the campaign, including 10 starts. Then in 2021 summer league, he spearheaded an unbeaten Pelicans run, impressing new teammates with his relentlessness.

“He’s a dog,” rookie forward Trey Murphy III said of Marshall’s on-court determination. “He’s been a dog his whole life. It’s just in him to be that type of guy. When we were in summer league, there were a few possessions where he almost caused a shot-clock violation by himself. That just shows the type of heart that he has as a competitor.”

The 24-year-old Marshall’s elevation to a more prominent second-unit role helped New Orleans notch double-digit steals in 14 of its 23 games after the All-Star break. The Pelicans also registered 14 double-figure steal games prior to the midseason hiatus – but in 59 contests. For New Orleans reserves, forcing opponent mistakes and generating transition baskets has become central to the group’s identity. Marshall ranks third on New Orleans in steals per 36 minutes (1.6), behind only Jose Alvarado (3.1) and Herbert Jones (2.0).

“That’s what Coach Green has been preaching all year,” Marshall said. “To be aggressive, put pressure on the ball and make teams uncomfortable. It leads to more steals and more turnovers.

“I think that started in summer league. Before all of the players got here (for training camp, Green) told us he was trying to build a Pelicans program, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that.”

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Pelicans 2022 postseason profile: Naji Marshall

Four different New Orleans players have made an NBA All-Star appearance since 2018, but apparently what the Pelicans needed to get national writers, broadcasters and podcasters to finally start paying close attention to the franchise was a defensive-minded, second-round draft pick who averaged 7.3 points per game in college.

It’s unclear exactly when rookie Herbert Jones became the darling of credentialed members of the media, but the 23-year-old wing began stealing the hearts of blue checkmarks not long after joining Willie Green’s starting lineup in his second pro game. Maybe it was his lockdown defense against some of the league’s top scorers. Maybe it was Jones’ all-business, often-expressionless approach to carrying out his duties, which include jumping passing lanes, using his quick hands to poke the ball away from unsuspecting opponents, or springing into action from parts unknown to swat a three-pointer, leaving his own teammates in disbelief at how he pulled off another low-odds rejection.

“I love Herbert Jones,” ESPN.com’s Kevin Arnovitz said on Zach Lowe’s podcast this week. “He’s going to be on my first-team All-Rookie (vote), as a second-round pick. I’m a big fan of Herbert Jones. He was even a late scratch for my second-team (NBA) All-Defense. I’m enjoying the Herbert Jones experience.”

“Not on Herb!” Lowe exclaimed on the same episode, referencing the popular phrase – coined by Pelicans teammates in preseason – that acknowledges how difficult it is to score against Jones.

As Lowe wrote in January during an ode to the University of Alabama product, “His ludicrous arms appear everywhere at once – right in your face if you have the ball, but also somehow in every passing lane. He averages 1.5 steals and one block per game, and is one of only four guys leading their respective teams in both categories.”

By February, the Pelicans began flashing a “Not On Herb!” scoreboard graphic in the Smoothie King Center to honor his many impactful defensive plays. “His defense (has) been both effective and spectacular,” The Ringer’s Damian Burchardt described, “so much so that it inspired a cultural phenomenon of sorts in New Orleans.”

After becoming a major difference-maker for a Pelicans team that rebounded from a 3-16 start, the Tuscaloosa-born Jones has emerged as more than a local or regional favorite. He’s at the center of what’s become a national lovefest.

“Jones is already one of the game’s best individual defenders,” The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor wrote in February. “He’s a ball of energy with elastic arms who can swat shots and intercept passes. He’s the type of player who will make big plays on a championship stage if he’s ever fortunate enough to be in that position.”

Like Arnovitz, O’Connor also spoke for many with microphones, notebooks and laptops when he tweeted, “I love Herb Jones.”

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Pelicans 2022 postseason profile: Herbert Jones

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