Pelicans’ Rookie Ignites in Close Loss to Rockets

The New Orleans Pelicans 2025 draft night was largely overshadowed by its trading up near the end of the lottery. And potentially rightfully so due to the team giving up an immensely valuable 2026 asset.

But New Orleans still managed to make it out of the draft with not one, but two talented prospects. And it won’t be out of the realm of possibility that the Pelicans massively bolstered their future at the ’25 draft.

That prospect seemed especially possible on Tuesday, when the team’s No. 7 pick in Jeremiah Fears saw his best professional game to date versus the Houston Rockets.

Fears, most simply, did everything in the down-to-the-wire loss to Houston. He scored a team-high 20 points from the bench, doing so on decent efficiency at 53% from the field and a fine 30% from three. He also managed to tack on six rebounds — a skill he showed often in his lone collegiate season for Oklahoma — as well as four assists and two steals.

Fears’ 20 points were already impressive, but a streak of 14 points in the final frame to bring the Pelicans back into the ballgame were the cherry on top.

Pelicans’ rookie Jeremiah Fears with a great preseason performance tonight — scored 14 in the fourth.

Some of the smoothest tape you’ll ever watch. pic.twitter.com/1ViW9y6bQj
— Derek Parker (@DParkOK) October 15, 2025

The face-value stats were great, but the beauty behind Fears’ game lies in his tape. He’s an exceptionally smooth lead guard, able to float around the court utilizing a solid handle, glide-y step-backs and more.

He navigated screens with ease, rose high for pure mid-range jumpers, and played through contact on a number of plays. All in all, the upcoming rookie looked well ahead of schedule for New Orleans — a trend that’s followed him for two games now.

Fears didn’t see a great start to preseason, shooting 3-for-15 versus Melbourne, but quickly course-corrected. He bounced back versus the same squad, scoring 12 points on 50% shooting both overall and from three, adding three assists in the process.

Fears is very much still a project guard, as showcased by a handful of turnovers and a few errant shots Tuesday night. But he also has some of the highest upside for a Pelicans' draftee in some time with plenty more shot-making, handling and play-making to tap into.

There's no guarantee he'll be a mainstay in New Orleans' rotation as a rookie, but if he can replicate performances like Tuesday's, he'll join the starting lineup sooner rather than laters.

The Pelicans are next in action versus the Magic on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. CT.