New Orleans Pelicans: 5 free agent targets to pair with Zion Williamson
By Dalton Sell
New Orleans Pelicans targets in 2021 NBA Free Agency: 5. Bryn Forbes
Surrounding Williamson with outside shooting will be the ultimate recipe for success moving forward, making Bryn Forbes a feasible target for the Pelicans.
Forbes is coming off a championship-winning season with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he played a key role for most of the season. He managed to carve out a spot in the rotation due to his electric 3-point shot, knocking down 45.2 percent of his shots from behind the arc during the year. That was good enough for the fourth-best percentage in the league during the regular season, also a career-best for him.
The main reason Forbes was such a good fit for the Bucks was because of his pairing next to Giannis Antetokounmpo. Everyone knows that the team has placed shooting around the two-time MVP because of his own inability to space the floor, and as evidenced by the team’s recent title, it is a winning formula. Indeed, Forbes spent 698 minutes on the court alongside Antetokounmpo in the regular season, according to NBA.com/stats, the most among any other teammate.
That is important because the Pelicans must follow a similar blueprint and look to give Williamson a reliable threat on the perimeter. With Williamson commanding so much attention close to the hoop, kicking the ball out to Forbes in 3-point territory would create an immeasurable amount of open looks for the guard to shore up the team’s shooting woes. It would be a fantastic one-two punch for New Orleans, and with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reporting that Forbes will decline his player option with the Bucks to test the free-agent market, the Pelicans should be first in line to try and sign him.