SAN ANTONIO – He just arrived in the AT&T Center at approximately 5:40 p.m. Central to join his new team for the first time, but roughly two-plus hours after that Wednesday, expect to see James Ennis on the court playing for the New Orleans Pelicans. Ennis – a D-League call-up who’s played a total of 75 NBA games over the past two seasons, split between Miami and Memphis – is needed immediately by New Orleans (27-46) for its Southwest Division game against San Antonio (62-12). Including Ennis, the Pelicans only have nine players available.
“He just got here to the arena about 20 minutes ago,” Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry said during his pregame media session. “We’ll give him a quick overview of what we try to do, but he’ll definitely be in the game tonight.”
Ennis is known for his athleticism and has been an explosive dunker during his brief time in the league. He could potentially be an interesting fit for a team that pushes the ball and plays at a fast tempo. That hasn’t been the case in his previous stops, with last season’s Miami team playing the second-slowest pace in the league and the current Memphis squad fourth-slowest in 2015-16. New Orleans has had an objective to be one of the fastest teams in the NBA under Gentry, but hasn’t always been able to do that amid a high number of injuries.
“He’s athletic,” Gentry said of Ennis. “He has a little bit of versatility. He can get out and run. We want to try to establish the pace we want to play in the future. He’s a young kid, who still could potentially become a real solid player in the league, so that’s why we figured he was a good guy to bring in… He plays better in the open court. That’s what we want to try to establish anyway.”
Other notes from pregame Wednesday in Texas:
Asked if he's angry at Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich for resting key players in several recent games, but not tonight against New Orleans, a joking Gentry said, “Well, he's scared of us. That’s probably why.” …
Popovich on New Orleans getting a win Monday vs. New York, despite an extreme short-handed situation roster-wise: “Alvin Gentry and his staff are not going to give in to anything. They’re going to play with whoever shows up. They’re competitors. It’s a testament to the players’ character, too. They want to keep competing. That’s their job. They take pride in it.”