It's early, and Jamahl Mosley's upstart New Orleans Pelicans are still very much a work in progress, but it feels like Jeremiah Fears has staked an undeniable claim for the starting lead guard role. Looking at the stat splits and going by what other NBA coaches are saying publicly, the 20-year-old might want to start thinking about a Most Improved Player award speech.
Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets survived a couple of close calls, snagging two wins over the Pelicans. However, despite a few stumbles, the wins are coming after a 0-4 start to the season. Fears, working without Dejounte Murray (personal reasons – birth of child), has averaged 21 points, 10 assists, 6.5 rebounds, two blocks, and 1.5 steals over the past two games.
David Adelman, speaking to ClutchPoints before a win in New Orleans, gave the best quote to summarize the scouting report. It also came with some advice to every young player in the league.
“Yeah, Fears is legit. I mean, he is a very exciting young player,” Adelman said. “We saw that last year. I'm sure for him, with guys coming back and being healthy, there is that balancing act. Last year, the ball was in his hands all the time, and now he is sharing it more. So for all of the young guys in our league, every year is its own thing, its own chapter, but he is very exciting to watch.”
Doug Christie found out the hard way. Fears stuffed the box score against the visiting Sacramento Kings with 22 points, a career-high 13 assists, eight rebounds, four blocks, and two steals in a 132-120 victory. Two nights later, he picked apart the Atlanta Hawks with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting, seven assists and five rebounds as New Orleans cruised to a 121-99 Halloween win.
That's 42 points, 20 assists and two victories in less than 72 hours for a young guard still learning how to balance his own offensive ambitions with the responsibilities of running an NBA team.
“Jeremiah Fears, great young player. Extremely fast. When we played against them last year, I was very impressed with the things he did and the poise that he showed in some of those games,” Christie noted. “We've got to make sure we are corralling him.”
Article Continues BelowCorral Fears? It's looking more difficult every day and the Pelicans love it. As for what Mosley wants to see from Fears moving forward? It starts with defense, of course.
“Just being aggressive. You know, (Fears) has had to play on the ball, off the ball, defensively guarding their guards, but also guarding some bigs,” Mosley told ClutchPoints. “He's been able to switch in certain situations, but just his tenacity and his will and want to win. That's what you see in him every single day. He has a competitive spirit like not many that I've seen, and he wants it just that bad. So, I think his ability to do those things are just part of how bad he wants to impact winning.”
Just look at the past winners like Tyrese Maxey and how long it took them to get to where the 20-year-old future PG1 is now, arguably ahead of schedule. If Fears can lead these Pelicans to a few more wins, it will be hard for MIP voters to ignore the rise from rotational piece to indispensable starter. Team USA might want a word too, after the 2028 Olympics, if this progression continues.