The New Orleans Pelicans will turn to two players who fell out of the rotation with Trey Murphy out against the Milwaukee Bucks.
When the New Orleans Pelicans reworked their rotation after Herbert Jones came back, Jordan Poole and Jordan Hawkins fell out of it. It looks as though they'll get another chance, though, as the team is without Trey Murphy.
Murphy suffered a shoulder injury against the Miami Heat right before the All-Star break began and will miss at least Friday night's game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The star forward is not only important because of his 22.1 points per night, but also because of how he gets those points. He averages 8.6 threes per game on a team that ranks No. 26 in that category.
James Borrego stated before the game that he would look to those two benched players for some shooting help.
"We have a couple of shooters on the bench, you know. This is a great opportunity for [Jordan Hawkins] and Jordan Poole to come out and let their presence be felt on the court," said Borrego before the game.
This could be a crucial opportunity for one of those two players to prove that they need to see the court more over the final stretch of the year. With the Pelicans undoubtedly looking to trade both of them, every second of positive film they can put forth will be valuable.
Poole was brought in to take this offense up a notch. He was coming off a career year with the Washington Wizards and looked ready for the role. That addition has been nothing short of a disaster.
The 26-year-old has played in just 28 games this year and has averaged 14.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per night on 37.0/33.6/87.6 shooting splits.
He still had flashes and great stretches when he was on the court, but he just doesn't seem to be a fit with what New Orleans wants to do.
Hawkins is the player that they would probably prefer to come out and earn some more minutes. He's in year three of his career and has averaged 4.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists on 32.6/31.3/77.8 splits this season. They've already picked up his $7 million player option for next year and could have trouble trading him if that's where he finishes the campaign.