New Orleans Pelicans Rank: Norris Cole Roundtable

Mar 19, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard

dives for a loose ball in the second half against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Pelicans 74-72. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Technially Norris Cole is not a member of the New Orleans Pelicans at the moment. Thanks to a much cooler market than Cole believed he would have, the Pelicans are the only team to have actually offered him a deal according to reports at this time.

What that means is that Cole is almost certainly going to be suiting up for the Pelicans this season and trying to make a contract push to secure a long-term deal with some team after the season.

What exactly that will take remains to be seen. Cole has a reputation as a spark-plug type off the bench who excells at defending and playing hard, though his offensive game is pretty up-and-down. Last season in New Orleans Cole road some incredible shooting, especially off the dribble and in the mid-range into a great end of the season. that said his early season with the Miami Heat was basically the exact opposite as he struggled to make any shots and got dumped for essentially nothing. Even if he does play well this season though it is doubtful that the Pelicans would lock themselves into Cole for an extended period due to the depth the team currently has in the backcourt.

With Cole’s contract situation in mind we decided to make the safe assumption that he would be returning to the Pelicans for this season and ranked him in our project.

For the roundtable we touched on a few of the most important things surrounding Cole this season for both his and the Pelicans benefit.

Will his mid-range shooting hold up? What will he shoot from beyond the arc and what do we feel about his contract in general.

All of that and more will be answered in the following slides. As always we welcome all readers to leave their thoughts on every question in the comment section below.

Next: The Mid-Range Shooting