Halo

If Wednesday’s showdown between the New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers was about anything, it was two teams and a pair of superstars—the stunning Anthony Davis, the gunning Kobe Bryant—heading in polar-opposite directions.

Between Bryant’s stubborn ballistics (33 points on 10-of-28 shooting) and Davis’ steady brilliance (25 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks), that narrative held tight and true throughout New Orleans’ 109-102 win.

But it was the play of Tyreke Evans—the one-time surefire stud long taken to treading career water—that continued to prove the sneaky-big storyline behind the Pelicans' steady ascendance.



Evans, who finished with 19 points, 11 assists and five rebounds (on a crisp 8-of-16 shooting), has quietly emerged as a heady, steady playmaking option for New Orleans.

In fact, if it weren’t for a dreadful 2-of-14 performance against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night, we might be talking about the versatile combo guard as an (incredibly) early contender for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award—a full five years after the one-time Memphis standout captured Rookie of the Year honors.

As it is, Evans’ shooting efficiency (he’s registering just 38.3 percent from the floor) leaves plenty to be desired, just as it has for much of his six-year career.

Still, there’s plenty of reason for guarded optimism. Case in point: Evans’ 50.0 percent three-point clip, which—should it hold—would be 16.2 percentage points better than his previous best of 33.8 percent, tallied during the 2012-13 season.



"[Evans] has put a lot of work into his game,'' head coach Monty Williams recently told the The Times Picayune’s John Reid. ''He and Coach Fred (Vinson) spent the last five or six months together working on his shot. He re-created his shot a little bit. He had some things going on in his shot that weren't helping."

A regression to the mean on this front is more than likely, of course. So long as Evans continues his torrid rebounding (6.9 per game) and overall playmaking (7.1 assists per game), however, New Orleans can doubtless live with a bit of Evans' signature freelancing. SB Nation's The Bird Writes provided Evans' stats for the night:



The good news: Judging by Evans' performance down last season’s stretch, his impressive play may be a bigger trend than many believe.



Granted, much of Evans' increased production can be chalked up to his assuming a bigger role in the wake of injuries to fellow backcourt mates Jrue Holiday and Eric Gordon last year. Not to mention the garbage-time aspect of New Orleans’ postseasonless campaign.

Still, Evans’ play was sound and sturdy enough to earn him the status as full-time starter heading into 2014-15—a designation the 6’6” Evans has only continued to justify.

That Davis would eventually become a global basketball icon has long felt like a foregone conclusion. With his colossal play thus far this season, the Pelicans’ superstar forward has met and exceeded those lofty expectations.



Long at question, though, was who if anyone among NOLA’s trio of backcourt prospects—Evans, Holiday and Gordon—might emerge as a viable, reliable second fiddle.

As the only one with All-Star ink on his resume, the 24-year-old Holiday still seems like the best bet to reach that rung—particularly given the speedy point guard’s abilities as an initiator of the pick-and-roll, where Davis has proven a nearly unstoppable force.

Evans, meanwhile, brings to the table something both more compelling and unpredictable: He's a speedy-strong bowling-ball of a player as prone to brilliant finishes and vision as he is crippling bouts of carelessness.

Recently, Bleacher Report’s Stephen Babb took key to screen on behalf of perhaps Evans' single greatest offensive gift: the dribble-drive, writing:

Evans has made a living of getting into the lane, collapsing the defense and kicking to open shooters. His playmaking penchant takes some of the pressure off point guard Jrue Holiday and assures the Pelicans another weapon who can create off the dribble.

More than Holiday or shooting guard Eric Gordon, Evans was born to slash his way to the basket and attack the paint. For his career, he averages 4.8 free-throw attempts per game—a sometimes forgotten perk that's compensated in part for a subpar three-point shot.

It’s here that Evans’ newfound stroke from distance begins to yield devastating dividends: The more consistent his perimeter game becomes, the more opportunities Evans will have to break down defenders on the dribble drive, eager as they’ll be to quickly close out on the three.



That means more trips to the line (where Evans maintains a 76.5 percent career clip) and—perhaps more important—opportunities aplenty for perimeter kick-outs and lobs the way of the high-flying Davis.

Lest this sound like some premature coronation, a couple of caveats: The Pelicans are by no means a playoff shoo-in, and Evans—incendiary start to the season aside—is far from guaranteed to produce apace.

As a bellwether for New Orleans’ near-future prospects, though, Evans’ re-emergence—a half-decade after first taking the league by storm—couldn’t have been better timed. Even if his fate lies squarely in a larger star's shadow.

Read more New Orleans Pelicans news on BleacherReport.com



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