The All-Star break has finally arrived, but two Pels will have to wait a little longer before that break officially begins. As rookies, Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen will both participate in Friday’s Rising Stars game.
We often see the most special young players return from the break and take the next step in their development. And while Fears is coming off a solid rookie season, it would mean a lot for the future of the Pelicans if he were to step up beyond the team’s last 26 games.
This season, Fears averaged 13.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while shooting just 42.9 percent from the field and connecting on just 32.4 percent of his triples. But over the team’s final five games heading into All-Star weekend, he’s trending in the right direction when it comes to his outside shooting and overall offensive production.
That suggests the second-half breakout I alluded to could be on the way.
Signs of a second half jump are already there
In the Pelicans’ 120-94 win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night, he scored 20 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists, along with a pair of steals and a pair of blocks. The other big thing in this game was his efficiency, as Fears reached the basket with ease, shooting 8/14 from the field and going 2/4 from deep.
He followed that game up with a double-double and a near triple-double against the Miami Heat on Wednesday. While his efficiency wasn’t great, as Fears shot 33 percent from the field on 18 shots, he found other ways to impact the game with a career-high 10 rebounds, eight assists and 13 points.
Combine these two performances with a three-point shooting percentage of 38.9 percent over his last five games, and it’s starting to look like Fears is primed for a breakout.
Trae Young struggled early in his rookie season before flipping a switch after the All-Star break and nearly stealing Rookie of the Year.
Young averaged just under 17 points per game, but shot an abysmal 40.6 percent from the field and 31.2 percent from three. first half of his rookie season. But then, after the All-Star break, things were different. We saw Young make a huge leap. In his last 23 gameshe scored nearly 25 points per game, and his shooting splits jumped to 44.2 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from deep.
Not to mention that Fears will go into the second half and make a run at Kon Knueppel or Cooper Flagg for Rookie of the Year as Young did in 2019. However, his production over the team’s last five games suggests a jump is coming, and for a Pelicans team without a first-round pick in this upcoming draft, seeing Fears make a jump now would ease the pain of not controlling their own draft future.
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