For NBA big men, best and worst of times

A TrueHoop Coachspeak investigation, part 1

BY DAVID THORPE

Jaxson Hayes and the Pelicans won two play-in games last week. In the second, the Clippers played small, and Hayes barely played. In the Pelicans’ Game 2 win over the Suns, Hayes guarded everybody including Chris Paul, and scored nine beautiful points (see below). SEAN GARDNER/GETTY IMAGES

Pelicans big man Jaxson Hayes knows what I’m talking about. Last Friday night, in a must-win play-in game against the Clippers, he played so skillfully on pick-and-roll actions on offense that the Clippers pulled their center, Ivica Zubac, who had been defending him, out of the game entirely. Zubac finished having played only 13 minutes, because big men are a little bit expendable these days. The Pelicans won and made the playoffs. 

But here’s the bad news for Hayes: once Zubac sat, he sat too, because … big men are a little bit expendable these days. Would Hayes even see the court in the playoffs? If his minutes fell mightily he’d be joined by plenty of other huge men—Steven Adams, Kev…