In this installment of our New Orleans Pelicans’ potential free agent series, we’ll take a look at two intriguing shooting guards that might be a good fit.
If you missed the New Orleans Pelicans “Reader’s Choice” free agent profiles, you can catch up with them here.
The offseason possibilities for the New Orleans Pelicans range from “running it back” to “making a big trade” to “adding to the core.”
With the league in hiatus and a chance it will be cancelled entirely, teams like the New Orleans Pelicans are bracing for one of the wildest offseasons of all time.
As of how, it is not clear how the league will deal with the draft, free agency or the fallout the lack of revenue will have on the salary cap.
With so much up in the air, it is almost impossible to guess what the New Orleans Pelicans will do when and if the NBA resumes its normal operations.
Here are a loose set of guidelines that we’ll be following for our free agent series:
- Unrestricted free agents only. There are too many moving parts to know how any of this will play out, but restricted free agency is always tricky.
- I’ll try to choose one free agent from the “premium” crop and one from a lower tier. This won’t always be the case, but we’ll try to mix it up.
- Money is not an object at this point. The New Orleans Pelicans will likely be capped out if they extend Brandon Ingram and don’t make a trade, but for these purposes, money will be more of an abstract concept.
If the New Orleans Pelicans do extend Ingram, they won’t have much cap space left barring a trade, but a lot can happen between now and then.
For this installment we’ll look at two veteran shooting guards who could both bring different assets to the New Orleans Pelicans next season.
Strengths: veteran leadership, defensive versatility, bench stability
Weaknesses: age, long distance shooting
Key Statistics: 35 percent career 3-point shooter
How he fits with the Pelicans:
With the possibility that veteran E’Twaun Moore has played his final game with the New Orleans Pelicans, the team will look to replace his leadership on the bench.
They won’t have much money to spend on this luxury, so they need a guy who can provide some toughness, defensive versatility and occasional shooting for a good price.
Kent Bazemore might be a guy who fits this description.
Bazemore is not particularly great at any one thing, but he has a nice all-around game and his defensive versatility would bring stability to the New Orleans’ Pelicans second unit.
Bazemore has already had his big payday, as he made $19.2 million in this last year of his contract, so at age 30, he might look to go to a winner as opposed to whoever offers the most money.
With Bazemore unlikely to sniff those kind of numbers again, he just might be in the range of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Bazemore is not huge at 6-foot-4 but has shown an ability to play small forward as well as shooting guard, which would give the Pelicans some defensive versatility off their bench.
He is just a 35 percent career 3-point shooter for his career, but has raised his average to 38.6 percent in his short time with the Kings.
Bazemore is certainly not going to move the needle that much for the New Orleans Pelicans, but he is a solid bench player who always knows his role and fills it.
Strengths: Elite 3-point shooting, size
Weaknesses: Possible price tag, on-the-ball defense
Key Statistics: Career 42.3 percent 3-point shooter
How he fits with the Pelicans:
For most of his career, Joe Harris has been one of the best values in the NBA.
He made just $7.67 million in his final year with the Brooklyn Nets, where he has provided elite 3-point shooting, the most valuable commodity in the NBA.
Harris is a career 42.3 percent 3-point shooter, but has had years as high as 47.4 percent, which led the NBA.
Harris is still just 28, so it is likely he is going to get paid, which means the New Orleans Pelicans would have to clear some cap space to sign him.
If they could find that space, Harris is the type of elite shooter that the Pelicans would like to put around lane-hogger Zion Williamson.
Having shooters like J.J. Redick, Ingram and potentially Harris would make it impossible for teams to double Zion without paying a heavy price.
Harris would fit in perfectly with the second unit, which has struggled at times with its long-range shooting, especially after Redick went down with an injury.
Harris is tall enough at 6-foot-6 to play small forward or two guard, though he is not a great individual defender.
Harris has increased his scoring average every year he’s been in the league, which would likely continue with more minutes and open looks.
The New Orleans Pelicans need another piece, preferably a wing or a big who can stretch the floor for Zion.
Harris fits the mold of what the Pelicans need most, but the only question is how the financial end of things would work out.
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