Nicolò Melli took some time to find his footing in his first year with the New Orleans Pelicans, but the tall forward with a sweet stroke is a huge piece.
The New Orleans Pelicans are building something special, or at the very least, something interesting with their core of young players. Not too flashy but making a solid impact in his first season, they might have a key piece of the mix in Nicolò Melli.
Coming over after spending a lot of his career playing European basketball, Melli found himself in a sizable role immediately as a member of the Pelicans’ bench, often subbing in and providing his big-time perimeter impact with the first team.
However, in years to come, the Pelicans should push Melli to play an even greater role with this bunch of players, replicating the impact Toni Kukoč had during the last three championships with the Chicago Bulls.
The parallels are interesting between Melli and Kukoč.
Both started their career playing European basketball, both stand 6’10” tall but are highly regarded as perimeter players, and both come from relative obscurity when entering the league; Melli was signed as an international free agent after the 2019 NBA Draft and Kukoč was selected with the second pick of the second round of the 1990 NBA Draft.
In his first season with the Bulls, when he was 25-years-old, Kukoč averaged 10.9 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists while shooting a meager 27.1% from three-point range. During that season, Kukoč started just 8 of 75 games for the 1993-1994 Bulls.
During the first year of his career, Kukoč developed next to a newly-impassioned Scottie Pippen, who led the Bulls with dignity while Michael Jordan tested out a baseball career.
Starting 6 of his first 52 games with the New Orleans Pelicans, Melli averages 6.8 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while shooting 36.1% from three on 3.5 attempts per game.
Fans will quickly recall that Melli didn’t have the chance to immediately gel with Zion Williamson as the superstar rookie dealt with an early-season injury, but played next to the blossoming Brandon Ingram.
Neither Kukoč nor Melli posted scorched-earth numbers during their first seasons in the NBA, but both showed signals that they could be important pieces of championship teams.
Sure, the Chicago Bulls didn’t win a championship in either of their first two seasons with Kukoč, but without a doubt, he played a big part when they won the next three in straights.
NBA fans during that era will certainly recall Kukoč hitting some monumental shots during those playoff runs.
Between the 1995-1998 seasons, Kukoč averaged 13.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting a much-improved 37% from three on 2.6 attempts per game, playing around 28.1 minutes per game over 212 appearances and 87 starts.
While Melli still has a lot of development left to do, he’s been an admirable and generally pretty trustworthy member of a topsy-turvy New Orleans Pelicans bench during the 2019-2020 season.
This team has a ton of star talent and Melli certainly doesn’t have the same level of stature as players like Zion or Lonzo Ball, but he does give this team an extra edge, an extra grit that seems to embody playoff basketball.
If Melli can be a big contributor for these Pelicans over the next span of years, especially if he feels comfortable starting next to Zion in small ball situations, that would be huge for this team.
Still having a lot of development left before they can be compared to the dynastic Chicago Bulls of old, it would be awesome if Nicolò Melli can give these New Orleans Pelicans a weapon during future playoff runs, especially if he can capture the spirit of Toni Kukoč.