New Orleans Pelicans Summer League Roster Analysis

With the New Orleans Pelicans Summer League Roster announced, the look to find under-the-radar players for the NBA team begins.

Now that the gigantic free agency wave has passed, it’s time for the New Orleans Pelicans to focus on their next project:

NBA Summer League.

On Saturday, the Pelicans announced their Summer League roster, with competitive play set to begin on July 8th.

With roster holes to fill in the team’s third string spots, New Orleans could look at these games as tryouts for youngsters looking to make an NBA team. So here comes the big question:

Do any of these guys sans Hield and Diallo have a chance at making it?

With the Pelicans financial situation, the odds might be in their favor.

The New Orleans Pelicans are down to just about $3.4 million in cap room with just 11 roster slots filled, pending Tim Frazier‘s decision. Two of those spots are for the rookies. That means there’s four possible positions to fill. Something the Pelicans do not have the quality money to fill. Even if they were to move a player like Tyreke Evans to sign someone else, it wouldn’t help their lack of bodies.

So spots will be up for grabs if the Pelicans want to go for a full 15-man roster. So which of the players have the best odds?

At guard, the leading candidate is between Anthony “Cat” Barber and Larry Drew II.

Cat Barber was a standout at NC State last season. He bypassed his senior season to enter the NBA Draft and ended up going undrafted. Barber averaged 23.5 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game and 4.5 assists per game in his Junior season. If Tim Frazier is not brought back or Toney Douglas is dumped, Barber could sneak on the roster.

Another point who could sneak on the roster over Cat is Larry Drew II. Drew played on the Pelicans Summer League team last year and was a standout player. He had earned time on the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014-2015 season prior and brings more experience at the competitive level than anyone on this roster.

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The New Orleans Pelicans may also have holes at the forward spots with Anthony Davis the only true power forward. Dante Cunningham could be asked to fill that hole, but the small forward spot is something that could use a better positional option than Luke Babbitt.

The Pelicans have a few good options at both the small and power forward slots. The three could be filled by former Milwaukee Buck Damien Inglis. Inglis missed his entire rookie season and the majority of his sophomore season due to injury, however his potential from the 31st overall pick in the 2014 Draft might still be there.

In his 20 games this past season, Inglis averaged 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds in 7.8 minutes of play. The put it simply, he was just a “garbage-time” player for the Bucks. For him to find a spot in New Orleans, he’ll need to show he can fulfill his potential in the few games of Summer League.

The small forward could also be filled by a better scoring prospect in K.T. Harrell. The former Auburn standout averaged 16.8 points per game in Turkey last year after going undrafted in 2015. Harrell had averaged 18.5 points per game in his senior season at Auburn and shot 45.3% from the field in that stretch.

The power forward prospect to watch for summer league is Nick Minnerath. He was originally signed out of the University of Detroit by the Cleveland Cavaliers. After being waved shortly after, Minnerath went to Europe to polish his game.

In his past season on France’s Cholet Basket, Nick averaged 13.6 points and 4.1 rebounds a game in just over 25 minutes per. Those numbers aren’t staggering, but he does have the skill set to translate to the NBA in due time.

At the center spot, the best true big on the team is Alex Olah. The Northwestern graduate went undrafted and plans on playing on the Romanian National Team after his appearance this summer.

Other than that, there’s not much to see past this summer league team for players. Ryan Boatright has the best sleeper potential from his time at the University of Connecticut. Boatright is best known for being the sidekick to Kemba Walker for UConn’s NCAA Championship in 2014. After going undrafted last year, Boatright played in Italy instead of taking a deal in the NBA D-League.

If the other players such as D.J. Kennedy of St.Johns, David Lighty Jr of Ohio State, Liam McMorrow of Tennessee Tech or Vladimir Jankovic of Greece want to make an NBA roster, they will have to surprise many with strong play in their limited time. General Managers and Coaches of the NBA will be looking at how the players use their time on the floor and what kind of impact they can make.

Next: What do the free agency signings mean?

With free agency now on the sidelines, the NBA Summer League will take center stage. If young basketball players want to get a deal, this is their place to prove they deserve it. While fans will be hoping for the New Orleans Pelicans to win in Las Vegas, the players wearing the jerseys will be looking for something else: An NBA Contract.