The Pelicans plan to exercise their $1.93MM team option on Naji Marshall, keeping him on the roster for 2023/24, reports Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Marshall went undrafted in 2020 out of Xavier, originally signing a two-way contract with the Pelicans that was later converted into a standard deal. A hard-nosed defensive player, the 25-year-old small forward was rotation regular in his third season in ’22/23, averaging 9.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG and 2.5 APG on .433/.303/.789 shooting in 77 games (21 starts, 23.3 MPG).
Once his option is officially picked up, Marshall will be on track for unrestricted free agency in 2024. We’re still awaiting team option decisions on center Willy Hernangomez and guard/forward Herbert Jones, as our tracker shows.
Min’Naji is a critical piece for the Pels movie forward… To go undrafted too speaks volumes showing Trajan has an eye for talent, even tho he was terrible as an NBA player