The five-player deal with Sacramento has received rave reviews on New Orleans’ end, but a less-discussed aspect of the transaction was that the Pelicans (23-34) had to trade three guards who’ve been important contributors at various times in 2016-17: starter Buddy Hield and reserves Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway. With that trio leaving the Crescent City and heading to California’s capital city, it leaves New Orleans in a situation where backcourt depth is greatly reduced.
Partly as a result, the Pelicans signed Hollis Thompson, who’s best known around the NBA for his three-point shooting on some Philadelphia teams that struggled mightily in recent years. Thompson is a 38.9 percent career shooter from three-point range, including topping the 40 percent mark in his first two NBA seasons. The Georgetown product is having another above-average season beyond the arc in 2016-17, at 36.6 percent over 31 games with Philadelphia, but the 76ers waived him Jan. 4.
New Orleans has the option of using Thompson for some minutes at backup shooting guard – E’Twaun Moore is expected to take over Hield’s starting role at the 2 – or it could give some of those minutes to forwards Solomon Hill and Omri Casspi.
“Both of those guys may see a little bit of time as a two guard,” Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry said of Hill and Casspi. “That’s kind of what we’ve got right now. We’ll make it work.”
The short-term plan for Casspi’s overall role with New Orleans is uncertain. He has not played since mid-January, due to a calf strain, but he is not even listed on the injury report.
“I don’t really know how much he’ll play tonight, but what I wanted everybody to know was he was not just a throw-in (in the Sacramento trade),” Gentry said of Casspi. “This is somebody we talked about in the middle of the season, trying to acquire. What he adds to our team is he’s a great weakside cutter, he’s a very capable three-point shooter, he’s got good size. So we’re excited about having him, also.”
Other notes from pregame at the Smoothie King Center:
Gentry on what Thompson brings to the Pelicans: “He’s a really knockdown shooter. If you look, he’s shooting 48 percent right now in the D-League from three. Our thinking is there are going to be shots available for perimeter players. We have two guys now who are capable of getting double-teamed (in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins). When you swing the basketball, you have to someone that can knock down shots.” …
New Orleans is 2.5 games behind eighth-place Denver entering Thursday; the Nuggets are coincidentally in Sacramento for a 9:30 Central game. Gentry said of his team’s final 25 games, “We basically have a college schedule left. Our goal has to be, what do we have to do to go to the NCAA Tournament?” …
Gentry on watching Cousins over the past day-plus: “He’s a very cerebral player. He’s got a good feel for the game. Very athletic guy for his size. (But it’s) not anything we hadn’t seen sitting on the other bench.”