New Orleans Pelicans: Making Sense Of The Roster Moves
By Owen Sanborn
To the surprise of many fans, the Pelicans decided to part ways with undrafted free agent Patric Young and 2012 second-round pick Darius Miller over the weekend.
The case of Miller’s release is especially curious, given that as recently as last week he was getting the starting nod in place of an injured Eric Gordon. It’s hard not to feel for the guy, but even he will have a hard time for defending his play thus far in his short NBA career.
In five games played this season, the 24-year-old is averaging an anemic 0.4 points per game.
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As for Young, although he is a fantastic athlete with a mean volleyball spike (not to mention his potential impact as a red zone target) he is far too undersized to be a productive center in the NBA.
Sadly, there was a reason why he was not drafted this summer and it will likely be difficult for him to find a home on another roster in the near future.
The timing of the moves has raised plenty of questions throughout the NBA Twittersphere and Alex Kennedy of basketball insiders.com has heard rumblings of New Orleans being involved in trade talks.
I was recently told the Pelicans are being aggressive in trade talks. They just waived Darius Miller and Patric Young to open roster spots.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) November 30, 2014
One can only assume that the rumored “aggressive trade talks” have to involve acquiring another small forward — a position that the Pelicans are glaringly thin. The injury to Eric Gordon rules out any potential for a blockbuster trade, but a small move appears to be imminent.
Free agent forward Dante Cunningham has been linked to New Orleans in recent days, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
The 27 year-old Cunningham has been working hard over the past few months to clear his name after having charges of domestic assault against him dropped. He worked out with the Pelicans over the weekend and is apparently very close to signing with the team. The waiving of Young and Miller would only endorse those claims.
Cunningham would be an interesting fit to say the least for New Orleans, considering he has no floor spacing capabilities (one career three-pointer made in 28 attempts). The Pelicans are in need of a starting small forward with the ability to sit in the corner and hit the occasional three-pointer, not one with only one career three-pointer.
Because of his shooting struggles, the 6’8″ Cunningham profiles more as a power forward rather than a small forward, meaning that he would have to be a part of the second unit. The Pelicans already have an assortment of bigs to hold down the second unit with Ryan Anderson, Jeff Withey and Alexis Ajinca, so it is hard to envision him finding a role there.
Signing an undersized bruiser like Cunningham does not sound like a slam dunk move.
A player with the skill set of free agent Reggie Williams (37 percent career three-point shooter) is a bit more of an appealing addition when it comes to New Orleans’ current roster construction.
One thing is for certain, change is coming in New Orleans and it is coming quickly.
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