Life can come at you fast as a rookie in the NBA.
There was no better example of this than Yves Missi finding himself on an island against the NBA’s all-time leading scorer on Saturday night during the biggest possession of the game.
This time a year ago, Missi wasn’t even considering being in the NBA this soon. Once he overcame the odds and became a first-round pick, the expectation was that New Orleans would slowly bring him along during his first season.
There’s no way he — or anyone with the team — could’ve envisioned Missi’s 14th appearance as a pro ending with him guarding LeBron James one-on-one with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter of a highly competitive game.
The possession ended with a familiar visual: James sizing up his defender, knocking down a jumper to seal the win and taunting the crowd with his patented “Silencer” celebration.
LEBRON HITS THE SILENCER ON THE PELS 🔥
THE LAKE SHOW WIN THEIR 5TH IN A ROW 🌟 pic.twitter.com/W0od94xq4C
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 17, 2024
James has been doing stuff like this since Missi was in diapers. The Pelicans rookie just happened to be the latest addition to the highlight reel of an all-time great.
James’ clutch shooting helped the Lakers escape with a 104-99 victory that dropped the Pelicans’ record down to 4-10 during this disastrous, injury-riddled start to the season. However, if there’s one bright spot to take away from all the dark clouds hanging over the Pelicans in recent weeks, it’s been the surprising emergence of Missi and the experience he’s gained from situations like this.
“It’s great for him to get these minutes and these experiences early in the season. It’s going to pay off huge for him as we progress throughout the year,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “We expect this is going to pay off for him in the long run.”
But Missi hasn’t been getting playing time because there aren’t enough bodies available. He’s shown steady improvement just about every time he’s stepped on the floor, and he’s proven to be the most effective center on the roster by a wide margin.
Coming into the season, the belief was the Pels would try to avoid using their centers as much as possible because they lacked reliable options that could be effective playing 30-plus minutes per night.
It certainly feels like Missi will be the starting center in New Orleans for the rest of the season (and perhaps for the foreseeable future) even when all the injured players start coming back.
He’s shown he can make an impact from day one with his energy, rim protection and vertical spacing. While it was apparent he had the physical gifts to provide those things, his feel for the game is much more advanced than some people expected from someone who didn’t start playing organized basketball until he was 15.
Facing off with Lakers star Anthony Davis on Saturday was the biggest test to date for Missi, and while Davis finished with 31 points and 14 rebounds, Missi did a decent job of making things difficult for him whenever they went at each other. There were even times when his energy on the offensive glass presented some clear issues for Davis. Holding your own against a superstar of Davis’ caliber is always a great sign for an up-and-coming center.
At the start of training camp, it was clear Missi still had a lot to learn about the little things centers must grasp when entering the NBA: defending without fouling, screening effectively, spacing the floor, etc. Having great size and athleticism isn’t enough to earn consistent minutes.
However, one of the qualities the coaching staff and his teammates have raved about the most since Missi’s arrival is how quickly he’s retained information and immediately applied it to what he’s doing on the floor. By the end of training camp, some members of the coaching staff couldn’t believe how much his game developed in a short time before the start of the regular season.
“It’s special. You don’t find many sponges who can absorb information and apply it to the next game or apply it to the moment,” Pelicans star Brandon Ingram said. “We’re happy that we have him and we can count on him to defend and make the right plays on the offensive end.”
His steady growth and improved understanding of the game have allowed him to become more productive in recent weeks. Over the last four games, he’s averaging 10.3 points and 10 rebounds, grabbing double-digit boards in three of those four games.
Among rookies, he’s second in rebounds (94), third in blocks (16) and sixth in minutes (329). He’s also played the second-most minutes of any Pelicans player this season. Missi’s fluid movement in the open floor and explosive athleticism were the biggest reasons he became an intriguing first-round prospect for a lot of teams after his one year at Baylor. Still, what the Pelicans have enjoyed most about his development is how quickly he’s picked up some of the smaller details that gave him issues a few months ago.
He went from fouling uncontrollably in the preseason to never having more than three fouls in his first 14 games. His defensive rebounding numbers have gradually gone up over time. His footwork is also pretty underrated, and he’ll bust out a move now and then that leaves unsuspecting defenders in the dust.
The more he adds these layers to his game, the more apparent it becomes that he will be a crucial part of this team’s future and an important part of the solution as they try to dig themselves out of this early hole in the standings.
Many observers this summer said the Pelicans needed to get a center back in any potential Ingram trade to be ready for potential matchups against All-Stars like Davis, Nikola Jokić and Domatas Sabonis. If Missi keeps playing like this, he will make it easier for the team to explore other opportunities and not feel as obligated to fill what once looked like a massive hole in the lineup. And finding an answer that will be cost-effective for the next few years is an even bigger win for a Pels team already going through a financial crunch.
“Each game is different. You’ve just got to come with the same energy every day,” Missi said. “It’s been a lot of learning. It’s a lot that’s been thrown at me. I feel like I’m showing I can be like a sponge and absorb everything and then put it on the court. Of course, I’m going to make some mistakes. I feel like that’s part of learning too.”
Even though Missi has shown steady improvement in certain areas of his game, aspects of his offensive repertoire still need to grow so he can become a better complement to the stars on his team.
In particular, with so many players out with injuries, Ingram has seen an incredible amount of double-teams and traps whenever he has the ball in his hands. In those situations, Ingram has done a better job of getting rid of the ball early and allowing his teammates to play four-on-three on the back side. However, for those plays to work, Missi has to make the right plays as the short roller to punish defenses.
He’s done a better job in that role over time, but he’s still got a lot of room to grow with his handle and with his feel. It’s not something he’ll learn overnight.
A few times, Missi has looked uncomfortable having the ball in his hands with that much space around him and defenders circling around to cut off passing lanes. He’ll either fumble his handle or toss a pass out to the perimeter earlier than he should:
Some centers just aren’t good at making the right plays in those situations. If Missi falls into that category, it would certainly lower his ceiling, but he’s shown some glimpses that he can make that jump eventually. It’ll just take more time on task and more work with his teammates to figure out timing and where they like to get the ball.
In the last two games alone, Missi combined for a whopping nine turnovers, as opposing defenses have ramped up the pressure on Ingram and dared the rookie center to punish them with his passing. That’s an incredibly high number for a player with such a low usage rate.
Once he becomes more comfortable making plays in those situations, the easier it’ll be for the Pelicans stars. But much like he did with his isolation defense, Missi has to show the coaching staff and his teammates that he’s willing to learn through his mistakes. Missi’s fearlessness as a shot blocker is perhaps the most entertaining part of his game at this stage of his career. He’s got to play with that same level of freedom on the other end of the court.
“We always have this back-and-forth about where I’m passing him the basketball. … That’s been a constant communication,” Ingram said. “It’s just him helping me, me helping him, him rolling to the basket and finishing. Knowing when to kick the ball out sometimes and knowing when to go finish strong.”
Even with all the depressing news this team has dealt with, the Missi experiment is one of the biggest wins the Pelicans could’ve hoped for. He’s far from perfect, and there are still going to be certain nights when New Orleans is better off playing without a traditional big, but having a strong option who can provide basic necessities like rebounding and rim protection will be key to succeeding in the West.
What makes Missi’s development an even brighter spot is that he’s already showing the potential to be more than just another big who grabs rebounds and throws down alley-oops. The more he can accentuate the nuances in his game, the more obvious it’ll be that the Pelicans got a steal with the 21st pick in last year’s draft.
(Photo: Alika Jenner / Getty Images)
