6:37pm: The acquisition of Ryan is now official, per a Pelicans tweet.
4:21pm: Swingman Matt Ryan has been claimed off waivers by the Pelicans, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Ryan, who went undrafted out of Chattanooga in 2020, split his 2022/23 season between the Lakers and Timberwolves. The 26-year-old managed to secure a standard roster spot to start the year with the Lakers, but was cut after appearing in just 12 contests with the club.
Ryan quickly agreed to a two-way deal with Minnesota, but played sparingly for the Timberwolves as well. At the NBA level last year, he averaged 3.6 PPG on . 370/.381/.833 shooting splits, 0.8 RPG and 0.5 APG in 34 total games.
Minnesota issued a two-way qualifying offer to Ryan in June, making him a restricted free agent, and he eventually signed that QO. However, he didn’t claim a regular season roster spot and was waived by the Wolves on Friday.
The Pelicans will take on Ryan’s one-year, two-way contract, and won’t have to make a corresponding roster move, since they had an open two-way slot. Ryan joins Dereon Seabron and Kaiser Gates as New Orleans’ two-way players.