The Associated Press reported Tuesday that rookie center Jeff Withey, the 39th overall pick in June’s draft, has signed with the New Orleans Pelicans. Terms of the deal weren’t released.
Withey was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers and was subsequently sent to the Pelicans as part of the three-team sign-and-trade deal that brought restricted free agent Tyreke Evans to New Orleans.
In the deal, the Pelicans got Evans and Withey, while sending Terrel Harris to Portland and Robin Lopez and Greivis Vasquez to the Kings. The Trail Blazers also traded cash and two future second-round picks to the Kings.
A look at the Pelicans’ roster shows a dearth of frontcourt depth—or perhaps too much depth and not enough actual performers.
Anthony Davis, last year’s No. 1 overall pick, is back for a second season at power forward and, with Lopez gone, may see some more time at the 5. Other bigs on the roster are journeyman Jason Smith, free-agent acquisition Greg Stiemsma and Withey.
The Pelicans are reportedly interested in bringing in another former No. 1 overall draft pick, Greg Oden, as our Ryan Tennison discussed on Wednesday.
Withey played in four of the Pelicans’ five games at the recently concluded Las Vegas Summer League session, averaging 18 minutes a game while scoring four points, five rebounds and 1.5 blocks. He shot 46.2 percent. In fairness, the team New Orleans put on the floor in Las Vegas will bear almost no resemblance to the team that will play at the New Orleans Arena this fall—Austin Rivers was the only rotation player on the roster.
But his Summer League exploits seem to fall pretty much in line with what draft experts expected from Withey. He will bang, he will block shots and he will defend. And anything he provides on the offensive end will be a nice bonus.
Withey set a Kansas and Big 12 record last season by blocking 146 shots, an average of 3.95 per game, and left the Jayhawks as the school and conference all-time leader with 312. He was also the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year as both a junior and senior.
Against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Las Vegas, Withey showed that shot-blocking prowess, swatting a couple of shots on the same Cavalier possession:
At 7’ and 222 pounds, Withey is a former volleyball player with great mobility. But his lack of bulk could be an issue on both ends of the court—he could be pushed around by offensive low-post players on one end and pushed out of the post by stronger, bigger centers at the other.
But DraftExpress.com had Withey as the top finisher in college basketball last season in non-post-up situations, converting 79.2 percent of his shots when cutting to the rim.
Smith played in 51 games last year and averaged 17.2 minutes per game, while scoring 8.2 points and 3.6 rebounds. Over 36 minutes, that projects to a solid 17.3 points and a less impressive 7.6 rebounds (the guy is 7’ and 240 pounds), but one must remember to take per 36 minute rates with at least a partial grain of salt—there is usually a reason a player only gets 17 minutes when his per-36 production looks so good.
Stiemsma, meanwhile, spent last year backing up Nikola Pekovic with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He started 19 games, averaged just a shade less than 16 minutes a night and averaged four points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks—a per-36 projection of 9.1 points, 7.8 boards and 2.7 blocks.
If coach Monty Williams opts to keep Ryan Anderson coming off the bench as a stretch 4—which he did a phenomenal job at last year—it creates an opening in the starting lineup at center, because Lopez started all 82 games a season ago.
There is also a chance, however, that Anderson could start at the 4 with Davis moving to the 5, but that could be a defensive nightmare for New Orleans—primarily because of Anderson’s defensive abilities (or lack thereof; he had a defensive rating of 112 points per 100 possessions in 2012-13) and Davis’ size disadvantage at 6’10” and pounds.
If the Pelicans land Oden, he would become the most talented center on the roster, even though he hasn’t played an NBA game since 2009. But if Oden ends up with one of his other suitors (read: Miami Heat), Withey becomes an option at the 5 along with Smith and Stiemsma.
If nothing else, it could shape up to be a heckuva training camp battle.