Tyreke Evans: May Supplant Gordon As Starting Shooting Guard

Evans may officially supplant Eric Gordon as the Pelicans' starting shooting guard next season, the Times-Picayune reports. "When you look at Tyreke and his effectiveness as a starter, you can't just sneeze at that," coach Monty Williams said. "It's a valid conversation."

Analysis:

Evans was signed by the Pelicans last offseason to be the team's Manu-Ginobili-esque sixth man, but when Gordon was forced to miss the team's last 14 games due to a left knee issue that required a minor surgical procedure to resolve, Evans was finally pushed into a regular role as a starter. Evans started nine games at small forward and 13 at shooting guard. In his 22 starts, Evans averaged an impressive 19.9 points on 50 percent shooting, 5.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.6 three-pointers in 35 minutes per game. Those stats would likely make Evans worthy of a second or third round pick next season, but we're more likely to see Evans going in the fourth round or later in most drafts when mocks start in the later part of the summer, and that's probably a safer range to take him. Evans has volatility issues that make him too risky to pick too early in drafts.