The Pelicans have waived Chris Douglas-Roberts and Sean Kilpatrick, the team announced via press release. The moves give New Orleans 17 players, 13 of whom have full guarantees. Neither Douglas-Roberts nor Kilpatrick has any guaranteed salary.
Most of the original camp invitees for the Pelicans were wing players like Douglas-Roberts and Kilpatrick, but injuries at point guard and center threw the preseason into flux for New Orleans. Centers Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca, point guard Norris Cole, and swingman and occasional point guard Tyreke Evans are all missing time, plus starting point guard Jrue Holiday is on a minutes restriction. Point guards Nate Robinson and Bo McCalebb and power forward Jeff Adrien are the remaining non-guaranteed players for the team, while rookie shooting guard Bryce Dejean-Jones has a $50K partial guarantee.
The 28-year-old Douglas-Roberts was attempting to revive his NBA career after he saw action in only 12 games last season. He averaged 7.0 points in 19.7 minutes per game across seven preseason contests for New Orleans, including one start, but it wasn’t enough to save his spot on the roster. Kilpatrick, 25, looked strong, too, averaging 10.4 PPG in 14.2 MPG. He was the beneficiary of an injury problem last year with the Timberwolves, when he earned a roster spot in large measure because of his proximity to New York, where the Wolves were set to play the Knicks but didn’t have enough healthy players.
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