NBA Rumors: Chris Copeland To New Orleans Pelicans?

Chris Copeland didn’t have a lot of expectations heading into last season being a 28-year-old rookie. Still, Copeland managed to impress and played very well, eventually earning a spot in Mike Woodson’s rotation, finishing the regular season by scoring 32 and 33 points in the last two games.

However, in the playoffs Copeland was glued to the bench until late in the Indiana Pacers – New York Knicks series.

It now seems that the New Orleans Pelicans were impressed and are looking to send some money Copeland’s way, according to New York Post:

"According to an NBA source, the newly named New Orleans Pelicans are planning to make a strong bid for the 6-foot-9 sniper as they are well under the salary cap and can make an offer that will blow Knicks owner James Dolan out of the water.The Knicks can match any Copeland offer since he is a restricted free agent, but only up to $3.1 million — their mini mid-level exception. Since the Pelicans are under the cap, they can easily top that number."

Copeland is a pretty versatile forward. He is 6 ft 8 and has 3-point range — he shot 42.1% from beyond the arc last season. Adding another offensively versatile forward next to Ryan Anderson could be a good idea, especially with Al-Farouq Aminu’s contract coming off the books for the Pelicans.