A few NBA players who will be free agents this offseason, who formerly played for recently hired New Orleans Pelicans head coach Jamahl Mosley.
The New Orleans Pelicans finally hiring their next head coach is major, as it officially gives them someone to help build out the vision of this roster through the NBA draft and free agency.
Not only will Jamahl Mosley look into players that he has no experience with this offseason to see how they could help out the Pelicans, but he's also been coaching in the NBA for a long time. There are going to be some players on the open market that Mosley has coached before, and perhaps they'd be open for a reunion.
LeBron James is one example, as Mosley was an assistant for the Cleveland Cavaliers for four years
Here are Three of the more intriguing names on the market for New Orleans, who have played for Mosley in the past:
San Antonio Spurs F Harrison Barnes
Barnes is not the same scorer that can drop nearly 20 points per night as he used to be, but no one should expect him to be heading into his 15th season in the NBA. Before that, though, he's still worrying about his 14th as he is a veteran leader on this San Antonio Spurs team.
The Pelicans know very well how important veteran leadership is, and Barnes is still shooting 39.5% on threes over the last six seasons. Wouldn't be a terrible pickup. They spent
Orlando Magic C Moritz Wagner
New Orleans needs size to go along with the finesse and athleticism currently in its front court. Wagner is indeed 6-foot-11, 245 pounds, but he's coming off a career-worst year after recovering from an ACL injury.
The Germany native had a lot of good years with pretty much this exact coaching staff, so perhaps there is a good enough relationship there to revisit that. He's still not a fantastic rebounder, though, and doesn't offer much rim protection. It might not be a great fit.
Denver Nuggets G/F Tim Hardaway Jr.
Hardaway is another veteran who is still very much capable of contributing to winning at the NBA level. This past season with the Nuggets, he put up 13.5 points per game off the bench on 44.7/40.7/81.1 shooting splits.
The 34-year-old spent a couple of seasons with Mosley on the Dallas Mavericks. Those years in his career were as good as any other, so there's no reason in particular for him to be wary of a reunion.
