Pelicans second-round pick Tony Carr has agreed to a deal with Italy’s Fiat Torino, William Guillory of the New Orleans Times-Picayune relays. The news was first reported by Sportando.
Carr has been playing for the Pelicans’ summer-league team. He’ll be coached by longtime NBA and college coach Larry Brown, who took the job with the Italian club last month.
Brown is notoriously tough on point guards, so Carr will get plenty of guidance on how to be a floor leader for a professional team. He’s struggled in summer-league play, averaging 7.0 PPG and 3.8 APG.
The 6’5” Penn State product, the 51st overall pick, averaged 19.6 PPG, 5.0 APG and 4.9 RPG as a sophomore last season before declaring for the draft.
New Orleans has three other point guards on the roster, Jrue Holiday, Elfrid Payton and Frank Jackson.
Not to be “that guy,” but I am genuinely curious is that supposed to be 7.0 PPG and 3.8 APG, or is that second stat supposed to be 3.8 RPG..
Considering Carr is a PG, my immediate guess would be it is supposed to be 3.8 APG, but idk, I just want to make sure..We all know what happens when we assume things..lol
I actually thought Tony Carr could be a potential second round gem, for whichever team that ended up drafting him, but yeah, so far all reports from any Pelicans’ fans have been pretty uninspiring.
Carr does have some serious skills, but I thought he could have really benefitted from staying another year at Penn State. He is a solid, athletic, and more than capable defender, and he’s also capable of scoring his team some points, but as a PG especially, he really needs to work on his decision making, his court vision, and his consistency shooting.
Even though, he’s pretty much disappointed in the Summer League, it’s still a VERY small sample size, and Carr is FAR from a finished product. So, with that being said, I think he’s making a smart move going to play overseas, and he definitely chose the correct coach to improve under.
Carr should get plenty of minutes over there, and he should get some first rate coaching from Larry Brown. If he can take advantage of his experience over there, work on his craft, and if he can mature as a player, then he should be able to come back next season primed and ready to take a roster spot on the Pelicans..
I definitely think Carr has the skills and ability to put in some work, improve his PG play, come back, and ultimately he can be an effective back-up PG in the NBA. Now, I’m not sure he’ll ever become a starting PG in the NBA, but I think, especially for a late 2nd round pick, the Pelicans would still have to consider that a major success!!
You’re a Braves fan and Penn State basketball fan? Odd combo… what makes you think, specifically, that he can come back and play PG at the NBA level?
Maybe Alum
Maybe he can learn a lot more in Italy than he could over here.