Jameer Nelson will enter his 14th season as he has agreed to a one-year deal with the new orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans will be Nelson’s fifth team as he spent his first 10 seasons with the Orlando Magic and also played for the Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, and Denver Nuggets.
For his career, Nelson has appeared in 828 games (639 starts). He has posted career per game averages of 11.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists. The 35-year-old was named an All-Star in the 2008-09 season and helped lead the Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009-10 where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.
2016-17 season
Nelson appeared in 75 games last season and started 39 as he took the place of the struggling Emmanuel Mudiay in Denver’s starting lineup. He played 27.3 Minutes Per Game averaging 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. He shot 268-604 (44.4%) from the field, 106-273 (38.8%) on three-point attempts, and 45-63 (71.4%) from the free throw line. Those were Nelson’s best field goal and three-point percentages since the 2010-11 season.
Much needed depth behind Holiday
Pelicans starting point guard Jrue Holiday has averaged 33 minutes per game in New Orleans’ first two games, but the team has been forced to go without a traditional point guard on the court whenever he is on the bench.
The Pelicans have used a rotation of four off the bench with the backup guard minutes going to Ian Clark and Jordan Crawford (will be waived to make room for Nelson). Both of those players are better suited for the shooting guard position.
Rajon Rondo was supposed to join Holiday in their starting backcourt, but Rondo is dealing with a sports hernia and may miss the first month of the season.
Rookie Frank Jackson may have been able to help in playing minutes leading the offense, but he is out with a broken foot.
Holiday has never shown a consistency towards remaining healthy either. He missed 15 games last season, but only three due to injury (the first 12 games of 2016-17, he stayed with his wife who had brain tumor removal surgery).
His time in New Orleans has been marred with missing game action before that though. He appeared in just 139 of a possible 246 games during his first three seasons with the Pelicans from 2013-14 to 2015-16. Having Nelson will give them a dependable veteran point guard if Holiday is forced to miss time.
Pelicans off to 0-2 start
In what is a very deep Western Conference, the Pelicans cannot fall into too deep of a hole after starting the season 0-2. They play next Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers and hope to have Nelson in uniform to provide them with added depth.
