The New Orleans Pelicans’ 2024-25 season has been derailed due to injuries, with both Herb Jones and Dejounte Murray out for the season. The Pelicans moved closer to perhaps embracing a rebuild by trading Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors at the trade deadline. The Pelicans continued to shape their post-trade deadline roster with the recent signing of Lester Quinones, as per Shams Charania of ESPN.

The Pelicans’ signing of Lester Quinones to their roster is via a two-way contract. For the remainder of the season, Quinones may split time between the Pelicans and their G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron. The Pelicans have 22 games remaining in the regular season, and a postseason appearance is highly unlikely.

Quinones joins Jamal Cain and Keion Brooks Jr. as the Pelicans’ three two-way contract players. Coming into the 2024-25 season, the team had visions of improved play following the offseason trade for Murray. But they’ve suffered injuries to almost every key player on the roster, including franchise cornerstone Zion Williamson.

The Pelicans are currently 16-44 and in second to last place in the Western Conference standings, ahead of only the Utah Jazz.

Lester Quinones signs with Pelicans

While nothing is set in stone, it would appear that these last 2o+ games would be an opportunity for Quinones to possibly earn a regular roster spot for next season.

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He joins the team already having a bit of NBA experience. Quinones was on the Philadelphia 76ers’ roster earlier this season, also on a two-way contract. After the 76ers cut him, he joined the Squadron where he had been playing when the Pelicans came calling.

Quinones’ NBA career began ahead of the 2022-23 season when he signed a two-way contract with the Golden State Warriors after going undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft. He wound up having multiple stints with the Warriors that season in the form of a two-way contract and 1o-day contract.

He would sign another two-way contract with the Warriors for the 2023-24 season, and the team ended up converting his deal to a standard contract by the end of the year.

Quinones has appeared in a total of 45 NBA games across the last three seasons, at a little over nine minutes per game. He holds averages for 4.1 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists with splits of 40.3 percent shooting from the field, 35.8 percent shooting from the three-point line and 69.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

His best game this season came against the Los Angeles Clippers back on Nov. 24 when he came off the bench to score six points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field.