Jarrett Jack

Jim Eichenhofer

The foundation for a very good New Orleans team is already in place, in the form of league MVP nominee Anthony Davis, All-Defensive first-team guard Jrue Holiday and sharpshooting returnees such as Nikola Mirotic (46 percent three-point shooting in playoff sweep vs. Portland) and E’Twaun Moore (team-best 42.5 percent on treys in 2017-18 regular season). Pelicans training camp will focus on integrating a handful of new roster members to the mix, including a few who will fill prominent roles in Alvin Gentry’s rotation.

“We’ll use this training camp to try different lineup combinations and see how they work,” Pelicans GM Dell Demps said in a Friday press conference. “We have five preseason games to get a good understanding of what we can and can’t do. We also have good competition, with 19 (total) guys. We have some roster spots for guys to make our team.”

Six days before New Orleans begins its preseason slate Sunday at Chicago (6 p.m., NBA TV), a look at some of the team’s newcomers and what to watch for over the next few weeks, leading up to the Oct. 17 regular season opener in Houston:

One of the bigger questions surrounding the free-agent signee from the Lakers is how much he’ll be on the floor in pairings with Davis and/or Mirotic. Davis averaged 36 minutes per game last season, while Mirotic logged 29 after joining the Pelicans in a trade (but 36 in the playoffs). Randle averaged 27 with the Lakers, starting 49 times. How will New Orleans divvy up the frontcourt minutes? Will the Pelicans at times go with big lineups that feature the 6-11 Davis, 6-10 Mirotic and 6-9 Randle?

“I think it will figure itself out,” Demps said. “The good thing is we’re going to play a fast pace, so guys are going to need a breather. One of the things that can help us is we don’t have to play guys extended minutes, because we’ll have depth. These guys are team-first and talented. We have a common goal to win.”

On how much the Pelicans may go with big lineups, Demps noted, “(The coaching staff is) having conversations about that. It’s something they’re going to try in camp.”

Payton has started 84 percent of his games (253 of 300 appearances) over a four-year NBA career, but has not yet been on a playoff team. As is the case with all point guards, his leadership on and off the floor could be vital for the Pelicans. A pass-first floor general like predecessor Rajon Rondo, getting teammates the ball in the right spots will be at the top of Payton’s job description.

“He doesn’t speak a lot, but when he does, it’s from the heart,” Demps described of the New Orleans native. “You can see he’s competitive. Just watching him interact with the guys, he has a quiet leadership that is underrated. I think he’s going to really fit in well.”

The three-year NBA center looks noticeably slimmer than when he entered the NBA as the No. 3 overall pick in the ’15 draft for Philadelphia. Okafor remarked recently that he expects the improved conditioning will help him in Gentry’s fast-paced attack.

“He came into our offseason workouts in phenomenal shape, really focused,” Demps said. “We want to let camp decide (his potential role). He’s been playing at a really high level. It will be fun to watch how he plays in our style during preseason games. He’s definitely coming in to prove something. He wants to prove to the world that he’s a good NBA player.”

A self-described “big Jarrett Jack fan,” Demps appreciates the point guard so much that he has now acquired him three separate times (a trade in ’10, an in-season signing in ’17). Quietly, Jack enjoyed a very good season with New York in ’17-18, highlighted partly by two excellent games vs. New Orleans.

“He’s been a leader his entire life,” Demps said. “He has a great presence among his teammates, but he also can play basketball. He made a big shot for the Knicks against us last year, to beat us late in a game.”

Jack averaged 18.5 points and 7.5 assists in two games against New Orleans, featuring a Knicks road win and a Pelicans overtime triumph at MSG that required a double-digit fourth-quarter comeback.

He’s technically not a new Pelican, but the 2017 second-round pick was sidelined for all of what would’ve been his rookie season due to foot surgery. In what’s been a bad-luck beginning to his pro career, he sprained an ankle just 13 minutes into his summer debut in Las Vegas, but excelled during that brief stint on the court (13 points).

“We’ve been bringing Frank along slowly,” Demps said of the Duke product. “He’s looked good in his workouts. We’ll have some minor restrictions on him in training camp, just because we want to be safe. He hasn’t played basketball competitively in over a year. Right now he’s cleared to go, and we’ll see how it goes in camp.”

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Pelicans will use training camp, preseason games to acclimate new players to system

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Meet the Team: Jarrett Jack

Pelicans.com

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has signed free agent guard Jarrett Jack. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Jack, 6-3, 200, most recently played for the New York Knicks, appearing in 62 games last season (56 starts) while averaging 7.5 points, 5.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 25.0 minutes per contest.

This will be Jack’s third stint with New Orleans, as he appeared in two games with the Pelicans in 2016-17 and 115 games between 2010-12. In 117 regular season games for New Orleans, Jack has averaged 11.1 points, 4.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 25.1 minutes per game.

Selected 22nd overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2005 NBA Draft out of Georgia Tech, Jack has appeared in 867 career regular season games with Portland, Toronto, New Orleans, Golden State, Cleveland, Brooklyn and New York, holding averages of 10.8 points, 4.6 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per contest.

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Pelicans sign Jarrett Jack

1)      As a member of the New York Knicks in 2017-18, his 13th season in the NBA, the point guard filled a prominent role, starting 56 games and averaging 7.5 points and 5.6 assists. The latter statistic tied him for 22nd in the league (new Pelicans teammate Elfrid Payton ranked 15th, at 6.2 apg). Jack registered a season-high 14 assists in a Nov. 24 game at Atlanta, while reaching double-digit dimes in five other contests. Jack’s minute allotment decreased late in the campaign, with the out-of-contention Knicks opting to get some of their young players onto the floor for longer stretches.

2)      This is Jack’s third separate stint in New Orleans. A two-year member of the then-Hornets in 2010-11 and 2011-12, Jack also played two games for the Pelicans during the ’16-17 regular season. The Washington, D.C., area native’s most memorable moment in the Crescent City probably occurred during Game 4 of a first-round playoff series vs. the Lakers in ’11, when he dropped in a floater in the lane to help seal a NOLA win. That victory evened the Western Conference series at two games apiece and stood as the franchise’s most recent postseason triumph prior to the Pelicans taking Game 1 at Portland this spring.

3)      New Orleans twice got an up-close look at Jack’s continued effectiveness last season, with the Georgia Tech product depositing a season-best 22 points (along with eight assists) vs. the Pelicans on Jan. 14 in Madison Square Garden. Two weeks earlier, Jack foiled New Orleans in the Smoothie King Center on Dec. 30 with a 15-point, seven-assist outing, sparking the Knicks to an upset road win. Jack helped hand the Pelicans one of their most disappointing defeats – particularly at home – of the entire ’17-18 regular season.

4)      Jack is an elite foul shooter with a career rate of 85.5 percent, and provides some perimeter help, at 34.3 percent from the three-point arc in the NBA. He shot a career-high 41.2 percent on treys for Toronto in ’09-10 and finished at 40.4 three years later with Golden State. Those ’12-13 Warriors launched Golden State’s climb toward its current status as the NBA’s premier team, going 47-35 and upsetting Denver in a first-round matchup. Jack was Golden State’s second-leading scorer in the '13 playoffs, averaging 17.2 points, just ahead of Harrison Barnes (16.1) and Klay Thompson (15.2). Then-rookie Draymond Green averaged 5.8, while Stephen Curry was the No. 1 threat at 23.4.

5)      By far the most experienced player overall on New Orleans’ current roster, Jack has played in 867 regular season NBA games, along with 24 postseason contests. The next-oldest Pelican is 30-year-old Alexis Ajinca, while the player with the next-most years of NBA experience on the squad is Jrue Holiday, who’s entering a 10th season. Jack, Anthony Davis and Darius Miller are the only current players who were part of the franchise prior to it changing its nickname to Pelicans in ’13-14.

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Five things to know about Pelicans guard Jarrett Jack

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that guard Jarrett Jack is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after suffering a right lateral meniscus tear.

Jack, 6-3, 200, was signed to a 10-day contract by New Orleans on February 24, and has appeared in two games, averaging 3.0 points and 2.5 assists in 16.5 minutes per game.

An 11-year NBA veteran, Jack has appeared in 805 career regular season games with Portland, Indiana, Toronto, New Orleans, Golden State, Cleveland and Brooklyn, averaging 11.0 points, 4.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per game.

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Jarrett Jack Injury Update

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NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Pelicans announced the team has signed free agent guard Jarrett Jack to a 10-day contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Jack, 6-3, 200, most recently played for the Brooklyn Nets, appearing in 32 games in 2015-16, averaging 12.8 points, 7.4 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 32.1 minutes per game. This will be Jack’s second tour in New Orleans, as he appeared in 115 regular season games from 2010-12, averaging 11.3 points, 4.1 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game while helping the franchise reach the playoffs in 2011.

Drafted 22nd overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2005 NBA Draft out of Georgia Tech, Jack has appeared in 803 career regular season games with Portland, Indiana, Toronto, New Orleans, Golden State, Cleveland and Brooklyn, while holding averages of 11.1 points, 4.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per game.

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Pelicans Sign Jarrett Jack

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