New Orleans Pelicans NBA Summer League Roster plans, Schedule
The New Orleans Pelicans have agreed to the Anthony Davis trade and have officially drafted Zion Williamson, Jaxson Hayes, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. NBA Summer League is just weeks away, so what can we expect?
The New Orleans Pelicans have officially started the Zion Williamson era. The NBA Draft is now behind us, and the Anthony Davis trade is mostly complete, in theory. New Orleans can start looking towards actual games soon at the Las Vegas edition of NBA Summer League.
The New Orleans Pelicans have been lauded for their off-season moves. Gayle Benson had to hire a full front office staff. David Griffin is the new sheriff in town, with deputies Trajan Langdon, Swin Cash, and Aaron Nelson giving the Pelicans one of the most formidable front office groups in the NBA.
The Front Office Four were all hired knowing that Anthony Davis had a trade demand pending. There was mounting pressure to trade Davis before the NBA Draft. Griffin is now being lauded for the package received from the Los Angeles Lakers. Patience is a virtue.
The Pelicans family celebrated wildly when the team won the NBA Draft Lottery. The New Orleans Pelicans will be enjoying benefits from the Davis trade for the next half decade, or more. However, all of these moves need to lead to wins on the court.
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Winning NBA Summer League games is a goal for the players sure. Teams do not coach just to win the summer tournament though. Players and teams are focused more on player development in the minutes allotted. It’s that development that is crucial to the Pelicans’ culture building plans.
Zion Williamson will lead the new era. Hopefully Jrue Holiday is his Crescent City cohort for the next few years. Either way, the New Orleans Pelicans are trying to build a culture throughout the franchise. The front office is stocked with champions.
That front office is building a championship roster for the future. The winning ways need to flow from the star through the last man on the bench. Achieving that level of engagement requires instilling the system in the G-League and Summer League teams as well.
The Pelicans will hope to find a couple of bench contributors from the summer league squad. The obvious exception is Zion Williamson. His expected contributions during the regular season may limit his exposure to injury in Sin City.
Williamson should be held back during Las Vegas play. One overzealous undrafted free agent diving for a loose ball could crush the building positive spirits. Zion can start ramping up his professional efforts at Team USA’s alpha camp, the exact opposite of NBA Summer League.
In his place will be at least three undrafted free agents. Zylan Cheatham, Javon Bess, and Aubrey Dawkins who were all signed by the Pelicans immediately after the NBA Draft. That trio will serve as wing depth for the Pelicans.
Jaxson Hayes will get as many minutes as he can handle in Las Vegas. Hayes will need to see plenty of repetitions in the Pelicans offensive system to become comfortable. The Pelicans will want to test Hayes’ cardio, court awareness, and his knee. Hayes only play 23 minutes a game at Texas, averaging 3.3 fouls.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker will try do do his best Jrue Holiday impression. When Williamson is not on the court, Alexander-Walker should be asked to initiate the half court offense at least some of the time. It is unknown currently whether shooting guard Marcos Louzada Silva will be on the roster, or stay stashed in Europe.
Dairis Bertans, Kenrich Williams, and Trevon Bluiett could all use summer league minutes to become more acclimated to the Pelicans’ playbook. Someone from that group should emerge as a competent bench ball handler.
The Pelicans need someone to develop a rhythm with Hayes in the pick and roll. This group should produce at least one bench shooter to space the floor and give the defensive effort required to stick in the Association.
The schedule was released after the draft. The rest of the roster will be filled out soon. The New Orleans Pelicans will play four group stage games. They begin play July 5 at 8:30 versus the New York Knicks. That game will be given the full ESPN treatment. The debut of Zion and RJ Barrett will be the most hyped game in Las Vegas.
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The July 6 game against the Washington Wizards tips off at 9:00. Again, the New Orleans Pelicans will get the ESPN treatment. On July 8 at 8:30, the Pelicans will face the Chicago Bulls. That game will air on NBATV. The final game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on July 10 and will tip live on ESPN2 at 6:30. This will definitely be an NBA Summer League to keep an eye on.