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The NBA is a few weeks into free agency, now, and the New Orleans Pelicans have still made just one move in bringing back DeAndre Jordan. The pool is shrinking and they have limited money to make a move.
It was never likely that the Pelicans were going to land a real splash player in free agency, given that they have less than $10 million to work with, but the valuable depth pieces are getting picked off as well at this point.
New Orleans will be best off looking to find a rotational wing player who can fill out the rotation and answer at least a couple of questions they still have on this roster. They have already taken a swing at one, getting beat out by the Los Angeles Lakers for Ziaire Williams.
One remaining wing who could make sense, and has already been on the Pelicans before, is veteran Bruce Brown Jr, who spent last season on the Denver Nuggets.
Brown put up 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game last year on 47.5/38.5/76.2 shooting splits and 24.4 minutes per game. Maybe the most important stat, though, is that he played in all 82 games. It's his second time reaching 80 games in a year. New Orleans needs players they can rely on to stay healthy, because a fair bit of their roster has had major injury questions throughout their careers.
At the worst, Brown isn't an awful defender, though he is a slight negative on that side of the ball, and would give the Pelicans another shooting option off the bench.
The 29-year-old was traded to the Pelicans ahead of the 2025 trade deadline, in the deal that sent Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors. He might not have the best memory of
The other interesting thing that they could do with this roster spot, as opposed to signing someone like Brown, is giving it to the No. 58 overall pick in the previous draft, Jaron Pierre Jr.
Pierre fills a similar role to what Brown would, and has a higher ceiling, but also has a much lower floor. The Summer League showed that Pierre is a talented scorer, but his game is still rough around the edges. It might be better to send him to the G League to get him more game reps instead. That would allow them to go for a bridge player like Brown.
Continue reading...
It was never likely that the Pelicans were going to land a real splash player in free agency, given that they have less than $10 million to work with, but the valuable depth pieces are getting picked off as well at this point.
New Orleans will be best off looking to find a rotational wing player who can fill out the rotation and answer at least a couple of questions they still have on this roster. They have already taken a swing at one, getting beat out by the Los Angeles Lakers for Ziaire Williams.
One remaining wing who could make sense, and has already been on the Pelicans before, is veteran Bruce Brown Jr, who spent last season on the Denver Nuggets.
Brown put up 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game last year on 47.5/38.5/76.2 shooting splits and 24.4 minutes per game. Maybe the most important stat, though, is that he played in all 82 games. It's his second time reaching 80 games in a year. New Orleans needs players they can rely on to stay healthy, because a fair bit of their roster has had major injury questions throughout their careers.
At the worst, Brown isn't an awful defender, though he is a slight negative on that side of the ball, and would give the Pelicans another shooting option off the bench.
The 29-year-old was traded to the Pelicans ahead of the 2025 trade deadline, in the deal that sent Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors. He might not have the best memory of
The other interesting thing that they could do with this roster spot, as opposed to signing someone like Brown, is giving it to the No. 58 overall pick in the previous draft, Jaron Pierre Jr.
Pierre fills a similar role to what Brown would, and has a higher ceiling, but also has a much lower floor. The Summer League showed that Pierre is a talented scorer, but his game is still rough around the edges. It might be better to send him to the G League to get him more game reps instead. That would allow them to go for a bridge player like Brown.
Continue reading...
