Pelicans Lose Point Guard Jrue Holiday Indefinitely To Serious Injury, Who Is His Replacement?
Already missing leading scorer Ryan Anderson for an indefinite amount of time, the New Orleans Pelicans will now be without an All-Star indefinitely.
Point guard Jrue Holiday has been diagnosed with a stress fracture to his right tibia. He suffered the injury in Wednesday night's loss to the Washington Wizards, though it's unclear at what point during the game it occurred.
Stress fractures occur over time. Holiday was averaging just under 34 minutes a game. In December, he seemed to be settling into his role on the floor, and his role as a leader. At 23 years old, he's the only player on the Pelicans roster that's been an All-Star (last season while with the 76ers).
Jrue is averaging 14.3 points, 7.9 assists and 4.2 rebounds a game this season.
Second year pro Brian Roberts will likely step into the starting point guard role. Robert is nowhere near the defender Holiday is, and offensively he's a shooter more than a creator. He's also
Point guard is one position the Pelicans don't have a ton of depth at.
Forward Tyreke Evans, who has also missed games this year with a sprained ankle, played point guard his rookie year with the Sacramento Kings. He could also be an option at PG in stretches, as could backup second year guard Austin Rivers.
One other option rookie Pierre Jackson. Jackson has yet to play an NBA game, but New Orleans second round pick out of Baylor is a scoring machine, leading the D-League at 30 points a game. At under 6'0 tall, Jackson can bring instant scoring, though he may struggle in other areas of his game while getting used to the speed of the NBA.
None are the option that Holiday is, but as the roster currently stands, head coach Monty Williams will have to be creative with a shuffling lineup.
New Orleans hosts the Dallas Mavericks tonight. Tip-off is set for 7:00.