The six greatest words in sports: New Orleans Pelicans basketball is back.
Despite falling 105-92 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in their summer league opener, the Pelicans showed a ton of positives Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas. When the roster was originally announced, I didn’t know what to expect as the team was missing last year's standout rookies, Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen.
Without that top-end talent, the Pelicans had to embrace a dog-like mentality, and it was truly a joy to watch. In this piece, I’ll go over the notable performances, players who need more burn in New Orleans's next game, and disappointments.
The Standouts
The No. 1 standout, especially in the early stages of this game, was Kobe Bufkin. The former Hawks first-round pick entered the summer league as the player on this team with the most years of NBA experience under his belt, and it showed. From the opening tip, Bufkin was aggressive and assertive on offense, attacking downhill, isolating weaker defenders, drawing contact, and showing off a nasty pull-up game. He finished the first half with 21 points and ended the game with an even 30, to go with six rebounds and two assists.
Entering summer league, I was familiar with Bufkin both as a draft prospect from the 2023 NBA Draft and as an NBA player. The version Pelicans fans saw Thursday was the same Bufkin that had Atlanta invest a top-15 pick in him coming out of Michigan. High-level shot-making, and more importantly, he went 5-of-9 from three, which has been his biggest weakness in his NBA career.
Defensively, Bufkin also showed a ton of compete and left his handprints on that side of the game and even took a charge.
It is extremely early on, but Kobe Bufkin is definitely a favorite to land at least a two-way deal with the Pelicans following their time in Vegas.
The other massive standout was Micah Peavy. Coming into the summer league, I had incredibly high expectations for Peavy, and his debut game didn’t disappoint.
Peavy finished the game with 16 points, three rebounds, five assists, two steals, and obviously playing elite lockdown defense on the perimeter. Doing a bit of everything production is nothing new for Peavy, and seeing him translate it to high usage is really encouraging but what stood out the most was his three-point shooting.
The most important thing the Pelicans needed to see from Peavy was him becoming a more competent shooter, and while it was one game, his shooting 2-of-4 from three is encouraging. It wasn’t even about making or missing the shots that caught my eye when Peavy shot the ball, it was the confidence he shot it with. There was no second-guessing. There was no moment where he seemed unsure. Peavy was in a mood that was simply catch-and-shoot. If he can carry that in the regular season, he’ll be a surefire piece in Jamahl Mosley’s rotation.
Markquis Nowell is the last guy who really stood out in his Pelicans summer league. The 5-foot-7 guard did an excellent job being a conductor offensively, dishing out six assists, knocking down five threes, and finishing with 20 points. Defensively, he also showed a ton of heart, recording five steals.
Any time the offense had a blowup, it felt like the ball found Nowell’s hands, and he was willing to answer the bell. Given his height, I’m not sure what his NBA future looks like, but if he can keep this type of play up, he’s bound to get an NBA contract or two-way deal from some team.
The letdown
It’s funny that I originally titled this section “the let downs” because only one player was really a letdown in this game: Hunter Dickinson. The former Kansas big man didn’t have bad counting stats as he usually does, finishing with 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists. But to anyone who watched this game, it was obvious how much of a negative Dickinson was.
On the first play of the game, he got burnt off the opening tip, giving up and easy two to Minnesota, almost right after he set an illegal screen and from there the bad plays just continued to pile up. His lack of athleticism was brutally exposed by Timberwolves second-year big man Joan Beringer. At one point, Beringer jumped over Dickinson on a baseline out-of-bounds play to catch a lob like it was nothing.
For a player with his level of experience collegiately, his lack of awareness, particularly as a rebounder, was incredibly disappointing. New Orleans gave up 17 offensive rebounds, and he played a massive factor in that.
I still can’t wrap my mind around why New Orleans gave him another two-way contract after last season, but here we are.
Guys who want to see more of
The No. 1 in the needs more playing time category is Jaron Pierre Jr.
Why he didn’t start, I don’t understand, given that he’s New Orleans' only draft pick from the 2026 class. He only logged 11 minutes, and while he shot 1-of-5 from the field, you could see how eager and hungry he was to compete.
His heart was on full display, and with more playing time, Pierre Jr. could really find a rhythm and show off what made him such a special scoring talent at SMU.
Next up is Jalon Moore, who, entering this game, I had one big question for: how does he look coming off an Achilles injury that sidelined him for over a year? The answer: like he was never hurt. There was no player on this team who was more active and bounced on the glass than Moore. That energy carried over to the offensive end, where he had the highlight of the game with a monster dunk.
Moore finished the game with two points, six rebounds, and one assist while shooting 1-of-6 from the field. His percentages weren’t great, but for his first full game in over a year, some rust was to be expected.
The last player that head coach Shammgod God needs to give more burn to is Malik Dia. The 6-foot-9 has a unique skillset for a frontcourt player as he has a tight handle and is willing to shoot jump shots. In his nearly 12 minutes of action, he shot 3-of-6 from the field for six points, while pulling in three rebounds.
I’m not sure if he’s an NBA player at this point in time, but his skillset left me intrigued and should earn him more playing time in their game on Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets (3 p.m. CST)
Add us as a preferred source on Google