New Orleans Pelicans Waive Caleb Houstan, Clearing Picture For Bottom Of Roster

Reports started to leak out on Monday night, but the New Orleans Pelicans have now confirmed that they have waived Caleb Houstan. Unlike when they did the same to Christian Koloko, there was no corresponding move announced.

Houstan made a ton of sense as a camp body for the Pelicans; he was a former second-round pick by Jamahl Mosley and this staff, but his path to becoming more than that was always going to be tough. 

Through four years in the NBA, the 23-year-old has put up 3.9 points and 1.4 rebounds in 13.4 minutes per game on 39.7/37.8/84.4 shooting splits. He never really broke through as a major contributor.

What Houstan does well is shoot the ball. Over his last 76 games, he has shot 41.4 from three. He had continued that hot streak into camp, but did shoot just 20% over his two preseason games. Those two games aren't the reason he got cut, though. They are looking for someone more versatile.

Given that he has already played for four seasons, he can no longer be stashed on a two-way deal. So even though he is someone who can still develop, he'll have to be on an NBA roster full-time. It had become clear that one of those final spots is not going to him.

It felt like there would be more competition down towards the bottom of the roster heading into the season than there actually would be. There were essentially five possible players to fill two roster spots, but the two favorites have looked very secure.

Watford always made sense as someone to make the final roster, but there was a chance that the team could move on if it wasn't a fit, as only $250k of his deal was guaranteed until the start of camp. Ever since he got here, though, he has looked like a perfect fit for this team both on and off the court. There is no chance they are cutting him before the season begins (or at least there shouldn't be).

That last spot is penciled in for AJ Johnson, who is another development piece that has never churned out consistent NBA production. Still, his contract is fully guaranteed. It would take a lot for someone to step up and force the team to take on that dead money at the bottom of the rotation.

Johnson didn't play in the second preseason game, though, so it could be something to watch moving forward. They're going to be looking for defensive effort and three-point production at the guard spot from him.