With the Pelicans season officially over, we begin our look back at each individual player’s season and recap what we learned and where they stand with the Pelicans moving forward.
Overview
From the moment he stepped onto the court his rookie season, Josh Hart was a role player capable of playing for any team, rebuilding or contender. Since his rookie season, he’s only continued to build on those skills.
In his third season in New Orleans, he played in a team-high 65 games, both a testament to his durability and an indictment on the Pelicans’ injuries this season. Largely speaking, he had a career-best season, playing the most minutes of his career, averaging a career-high in rebounds and points and improving his field goal percentage.
While his three-point percentage fell between his career-best mark his rookie season and his large dip his sophomore season, Hart still was a consistent presence off the bench this season in a myriad of roles.
What was learned?
Hart’s jack-of-all-trades skillset allowed him to fit a variety of roles this season. According to Cleaning the Glass, after playing 55% of his minutes at shooting guard last season with the Lakers, 71% of Hart’s minutes this season came at small forward. As the Pelicans lacked depth on the wing, Hart filled in valiantly this season, leading to his career-best season as a rebounder.
As the rest of the adage goes after “jack of all trades,” Hart was a master of none this season, at least according to his Synergy profile. It’s certainly not a bad thing as having a player who can do a bit of everything. Hart was a 55th percentile spot-up shooter and finished in the 46th percentile in transition. Those two play types accounted for 75.8% of his plays this season.
Of Hart’s 212 transition possessions, 94 of those came as a ballhandler, accounting for his ability to go coast-to-coast as a result of his rebounding prowess as a guard. And as a ballhandler in transition, Hart finished in the 87th percentile.
Hart did take a step back defensively, though it likely came as a result of playing more minutes at the small forward position.
What does the future hold?
While much has been discussed about Lonzo Ball being extension-eligible this upcoming off-season, Josh Hart, too, is extension-eligible. And if Ball’s extension number is a question, Hart’s is even more up in the air.
He’ll need to improve both as a shooter and a defender, as one would expect a 3&D player to do in the off-season. With the Pelicans having so many ballhandlers, being a spacer and a spot-up shooter will be the utmost importance moving forward.
Defining his role is difficult but defining his impact isn’t. Hart will have a long career in the NBA.