Tom Szczerbowski – USA Today Sports Images
The New Orleans Hornets are essentially just playing the rest of the season to see where they finish in terms of the NBA Draft Lottery. That’s relatively depressing, but it also allows them to develop their young and inexperienced players by giving them solid minutes. One of the players that fits that bill and has shown a ton of promise lately has been Brian Roberts.
Roberts is in his first season in the Association, despite being 27 years old as he played for a season in Israel and for three seasons in Germany after college. Looking at Roberts, there’s nothing particularly striking about his frame. At just 6’1” and 180 pounds, he seems like many NBA players that have come and gone.
However, he’s been reliable for the Hornets for most of the season coming off of the bench. He’s appeared in 72 of their 76 games and has averaged 15.9 minutes per game on the season. In that time, he has averaged 6.7 points, 2.6 assists and 1.1 rebounds per game. The only thing that could be questioned about his game is the fact that he has shot just 41.5 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from three on the year.
Over his last 10 games, though, Roberts has been given a larger role and has shown a ton of improvement. He’s averaged 23.7 minutes per game over this time and has put up 8.6 points, 4.2 assists and 1.7 rebounds per game. His improved efficiency is the most important thing that he’s shown, though, shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three over these last 10 games. For a bench player, he has shown value.
Roberts, with his age and with the roster that he’s on, probably won’t work his way into the starting rotation in the future. However, Roberts has proven over the past few weeks that he can play well and give the Hornets solid minutes as a reserve. As the team is rebuilding, Roberts has made a case for himself to stick around.
Cody Williams is a Senior NBA Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.
