Zach Lowe/ESPN+ giving us the goods on Naji (one of the best passages for a player that is essentially unknown nationally)

## 7. Every good team needs a [Naji Marshall](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4278594/naji-marshall)

Marshall is how you stick in the top-3 of the West despite your three best players missing games. Marshall projected to be at the back of the [New Orleans Pelicans](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/no/new-orleans-pelicans) rotation, but he has logged heavy minutes — including 14 starts — filling in at almost every position.

Marshall is a snarling high-energy jack-of-all-trades. He does everything hard, with an edge. He zooms into dribble hand-offs, and can manufacture offense as a secondary ball-handler; Marshall is a nifty passer with a workable floater. He is a marauder in transition. He gets to the rim a lot, and even misses at the rim are good for one of the league’s nastiest offensive-rebounding teams.

Marshall hits enough 3s to keep defenses honest — including 38% from the corners.

He can defend point guards, wings, and power forwards — even perimeter-oriented centers. He is uncanny slithering around screens unscathed. When Herbert Jones Jr. went down with an injury in Washington on Monday, the Pelicans — already without [Zion Williamson](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4395628/zion-williamson) and [Brandon Ingram](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3913176/brandon-ingram) \– needed someone to defend [Kristaps Porzingis](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3102531/kristaps-porzingis). They shifted Marshall from [Kyle Kuzma](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3134907/kyle-kuzma) onto Porzingis, and sacrificed nothing.

Marshall has started the Pelicans last five games, and averaged 20 points.

The Pelicans plucked Marshall on a two-way contract in Dec. 2020 and then re-upped him on a three-year, $3.4 million deal. Marshall has outplayed that contract, and earned a long-term spot in the NBA.

by kingralek