The Pelicans have waived power forward Jeff Adrien, as well as guards Bryce Dejean-Jones and Bo McCalebb, the team announced via a press release. Adrien and McCalebb were both in camp on non-guaranteed deals, so New Orleans won’t be on the hook for any salary for them, but Dejean-Jones’ deal includes a partial guarantee of $50K, which the team will be responsible for unless he is claimed off waivers. The Pelicans’ roster count is now at 14 players, one below the regular season maximum.
Adrien appeared in 17 games with the Timberwolves last season, averaging 3.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 12.6 minutes. The 6’7” forward, who played in China after Minnesota waived him in January, has played for five teams in his five-year career. He appeared in three preseason games this year, averaging 6.3 points and 6.0 rebounds.
Dejean-Jones averaged 12.8 points in 21.6 minutes per game for the Pelicans’ summer league entry, nailing 61.9% of his shots from the floor and nine of his 18 three-point attempts. Those were better numbers than he posted in his lone season with the Cyclones after having previously played at USC and UNLV. The 6’5″ Dejean-Jones put up 10.6 PPG in 23.0 MPG with 32.9% three-point shooting as a senior at Iowa State.
McCalebb, 30, has played overseas since going undrafted in 2008, save for a summer league stint with the Kings in July of that year. He was the top scorer in the Euroleague in 2011/12, notching 16.9 points per game for Siena of Italy. His assists were up last season with FC Bayern Muenchen of Germany, when he averaged 4.8 per game to go along with 12.4 PPG in 25.7 MPG.