The New Orleans Pelicans dealt with a whirlwind of rumors this offseason that ended up having no merit to them. In the end, the team decided to run it back with the premise that if they can stay healthy, they can be among the top teams in the Western Conference as they were before Zion Williamson went down with an injury. The Pelicans roster is pretty much set once training camp rolls around although they do have one open standard roster spot and two open two-way contracts. The Pelicans should look to their NBA Summer League roster and Landers Nolley II in particular to possibly fill one of those roster spots.
Presently, the Pelicans have one open regular roster spot and two, two-way contracts available. Some NBA teams opt to keep the 15th roster spot open in the event that a trade materializes and they end up taking back more contracts than they shipped out, or if a potential impact player suddenly becomes available via the waiver wire right before the start of the regular season.
Landers Nolley played very well for the Pelicans during NBA Summer League and deserves a shot at coming in to training camp and competing for a roster spot.
Landers Nolley was a standout at Cincinnati where he played his final season of college basketball. In his lone year with the Bearcats, Nolley averaged 16.8 points per game, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists with splits of 44.7 percent from the field, 41.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 75 percent shooting from the free-throw line. Despite his overall production, Nolley went undrafted in the 2023 NBA Draft. The Pelicans scooped him up though for their NBA Summer League roster and he showed out and showed he can be an NBA level contributor.
Nolley played in five games for the Pelicans in Summer League and he averaged 8.0 points per game, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists. He posted splits of 55.6 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent shooting from the three-point line. Nolley improved his three-point shooting each season he was in college. Judging from his Summer League percentages, it looks like he's made the three-point shot a staple of his game.
Looking at the Pelicans roster, Jose Alvarado is the only one of the team's 14 standard contracts who is non-guaranteed. It is 100 percent safe to say, however, that Alvarado is in absolutely no danger of losing his roster spot. It doesn't seem all that likely that the Pelicans would use a standard roster spot on Nolley at this point in his career.
The most likely outcome for Nolley is coming to camp and showing enough in preseason that he earns one of the Pelicans two open two-way contract spots. That would mean he would be limited to only 50 games with the team and he'd spent the rest of his time in the G League with the Birmingham Squadron. Right now the team only has Dereon Seabron signed to a two-way contract. Nolley is a particularly good catch and shoot three-point shooter and that's something that can earn him reps immediately in the NBA. He's got a penchant for creating his own shot and that's something he'll get reps with in the G League.
He has the tools to be an effective defensive player and his projection in the NBA is probably as a 3&D player who can do maybe do a couple more things. He's shown enough in Summer League to warrant an invite to camp.
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