The New Orleans Pelicans continue to be a disappointment this season as they are 11-25 and have lost five of their last six games. It has been well documented that the Pelicans have plenty of issues but the biggest one has been the small forward position. The Pelicans were expecting to get Quincy Pondexter back at some point but he is now out for the season so they are looking at 10-day contracts to try and fill the void. One of the players the Pelicans have interest in is Elijah Millsap, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.
Pondexter had knee surgery prior to the season and was expected to miss some regular season time because of that. The Pelicans were hoping to plug in other guys at small forward until Pondexter came back but the plug-ins have not played well at all and now Pondexter is undergoing another knee procedure that will keep him out for the remainder of the season.
Millsap is one of a few players the Pelicans are looking at right now but is the only one not currently playing in the D-League. Millsap is a free agent now after the Jazz waived him about a week ago so that his contract for this season would not become guaranteed. The 28-year-old wing had appeared in 20 games with the Jazz this season but played horribly in his 8.7 minutes per game as he was shooting just 28 percent from the field.
Despite the poor play this year Millsap is still worth a look because he did play a pretty big role for the Jazz a season ago (19.7 minutes per game) and he is a talented player. In his two years in the league Millsap has not shot the ball well at all (career 33 percent shooter from the field) but he also hasn't had a full chance at consistent minutes and he does bring other things to the table. Millsap is a very good defender, has good length (6-foot-6) and is a very good rebounder for a wing (6.1 rebounds per 36 minutes).
Losing Pondexter is a big blow for New Orleans but they need to find a way to recover somewhat fast as the combination of Luke Babbitt, Dante Cunningham and Alonzo Gee are not cutting it this year. Millsap won't solve all of their problems but he at least provides very good defense, which has been a problem for the Pelicans, and may provide a spark. Whether it's Millsap or somebody else, expect the Pelicans to give out a 10-day deal sometime soon. Of note is the fact that the Pelicans will not have to make another move if they give out a 10-day deal because they have an open roster spot after the Ish Smith trade.
