The New Orleans Pelicans work out Jarrett Jack
The New Orleans Pelicans are looking to strengthen their backcourt to make a playoff run with duo Demarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis. On Thursday, the organization auditioned Jarrett Jack.
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, reports have surfaced that the New Orleans Pelicans will work out former Atlanta Hawks point guard Jarrett Jack.
The Atlanta Hawks served as the last stop on the 33-year-old’s journeyman tour before being waived due to a knee injury he couldn’t overcome.
The Pelicans, league sources say, will audition Jarrett Jack as they continue to pursue backcourt upgrades after acquiring DeMarcus Cousins
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 23, 2017
If you remembered correctly, Jarrett Jack also played for New Orleans once in his career before, playing for the Hornets (2010-12) as they were named then. Jack averaged 12.1 points, 4.5 assists and 2.8 with only 1.8 turnovers per game in that time.
In his last serviceable tenure playing for a franchise, Jack played just 32 games for the Brooklyn Nets. Controlling the offensive flow and pace, the veteran point guard put up better numbers compared to those of previous years. With the Nets in 2015, he averaged 12.8 points, 7.4 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game. While Jack is certainly on the decline with health, if he’s available in the lineup, he’s always been solid.
Looking at this firsthand, you’d think that the Pelicans seem pretty desperate to make it into the playoffs in order to make the hard push for Boogie in the offseason. Bringing a vet on at Jack’s age may raise some concerns, but the need at the position right now is enough to take the risk.
Jrue Holiday has been a decent role player emerging as the second go-to-guy, and a reliable scorer on the offensive end. But problems with securing the basketball continue to haunt Holiday, who is averaging (3.1) turnovers per game.
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If the Pelicans were to sign Jack, Holliday could effectively play the No. 2 in a small-ball lineup focusing on scoring, something he’s pretty good at. Jack could control the pace, improve ball security at the helm, and get more touches to Davis and Cousins in the meantime.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.