Jose Alvarado, The People's Champ: Pelicans Player Season Preview
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New Orleans Pelicans' guard Jose Alvarado is looking to continue his larger-than-life persona by having more success on the basketball court. Coming into the NBA as an undrafted guard from Georgia Tech, Alvarado has had to fight for playing time in the league.
His scrappy play and determination have earned him respect from the league's players and broadcasters during his rookie season.
Now, the Pelicans will expect more from the guard in 2022-23.
Alvarado started last season not playing in 15 of the first 17 games. He did not start getting regular rotation minutes until almost the season's midpoint. Instead of sulking on the bench about not getting time, he maximized his opportunity when his number was called. Alvarado flashed his defensive prowess, making him the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in college.
Over the last 47 games of the season, he recorded at least 1 steal in 31 of games. Fourteen times during that stretch, he had a multi-steal game and even a 6-steal performance against the Houston Rockets.
As his defensive production grew, so did his reputation. He was starting to garner national media attention, even given Grand Theft Alvarado as a nickname.
He also had a signature move where he would hide along the baseline, come up from behind the unsuspected dribbler, and steal the ball. The move had gotten so successful and popular that teams would begin to game plan for it when Alvarado was on the court.
The Pelicans rewarded Alvarado by converting his 2-way deal into a 4-year, $6.5 million contract.
The deal made him playoff eligible, and it's here where Alvarado's face-off with Chris Paul made him a household name.
Alvarado will be bringing that same toughness and grit into this upcoming season. He briefly played for the Puerto Rican National basketball team this summer but then rejoined his Pelicans teammates to focus on the upcoming season.
One area of improvement Alvarado will look to focus on is his outside shooting. He shot just 29% from 3-point land last season and just 44% overall from the field.
That number is significantly less than his college output when he shot 39% from 3 and 50% from the field his senior year. There is little doubt Jose' will improve upon those numbers and be a complete basketball player.
Seeing the type of impact an undrafted player had on this team is refreshing to see. Alvarado has proven that he is both a Pelicans' and the People's champ.
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