There is perhaps no tougher stress test to start the season than Yves Missi’s matchups through Halloween. Ivica Zubac, Jaren Jackson Jr., Nikola Jokic, and Domantas Sabonis are waiting. Jokic gets two cracks at Missi in a five-day span. It is hardly an ideal welcome to a starting role for a 22-year-old still learning the game. For better or worse, these New Orleans Pelicans will quickly learn how much patience Jamahl Mosley has for growing pains.
Missi has the athleticism, length, and defensive instincts to become a legitimate postseason-playable center. The former Baylor standout averaged 9.1 points and 8.2 rebounds as a rookie before slipping to 5.7 points and 5.8 rebounds in a reduced role last season. Everyone expects the Cameroonian star to be in the starting lineup on Opening Night against the Indiana Pacers.
Still, Mosley has already established a new accountability system that could make any potential early struggles impossible to ignore.
“I’m not doing 10-game sample sizes. I won’t do that,” Mosley told ClutchPoints. “We will break it down more into five-game segments, treating it like a series.”
There is a delicate balance between holding a young player accountable and destroying his confidence. No one expects Missi to outperform Jokic, Sabonis, or Jackson to justify a starting role moving forward. That would be ridiculous, even with the front office hyping up Defensive Player of the Year goals.
The Halloween matchup against the Atlanta Hawks offers a potentially more manageable assignment, particularly if they run out Asa Newell more than Onyeka Okongwu. By then, Mosley will have completed his first five-game evaluation window. However, will Missi still be the unquestioned starter, or will the five have to be more matchup-dependent?
Pelicans need a pivot
If Missi is consistently getting outmuscled, however, Mosley will need answers. EVP Joe Dumars and Mosley were clear about the postseason expectations during the Media Day sessions. So what’s the fallback option?
Derik Queen offers a more creative offensive option at center. His passing, scoring instincts, and ability to facilitate could give the Pelicans a different dimension, particularly alongside Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III. However, shifting Queen into the starting lineup would create its own defensive concerns.
Karlo Matkovic is another possibility. His size and ability to stretch the floor could give Williamson additional room to operate, although he would face many of the same physical challenges against the West’s elite centers. Herb Jones at the five has been effective in small sample sizes, but would be a break glass in case of emergency panic move.
None of those alternatives represents a perfect answer. That is precisely why Missi’s development matters so much. Mosley cannot afford to abandon his young center after a handful of difficult matchups. Getting beaten by an MVP is not necessarily evidence of failure. Getting beaten repeatedly because of poor positioning, missed assignments, or a lack of physicality is a different conversation.
Zach Edey (Nov. 2), Jackson Jr. again (Nov. 4), then Rudy Gobert (Nov. 6) is a scary follow-up after the first evaluation period. Jokic (Nov. 14) comes back to the Smoothie King Center before turkeys are defrosting. Jalen Duren (Nov. 18), the Chet Holmgren/Aday Mara duo (Nov. 20), and Victor Wembanyama (Nov. 21) are up the next week, with the latter two being a road-road back-to-back.
Assistant coach Dale Osbourne explained during a pre-camp coaching clinic that ‘Pray’ is the game plan against Jokic. The rest is down to getting creative defensively. It’s perhaps the only way Mosley’s Pelicans keep up with the Play-In pack through Thanksgiving.
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