The New Orleans Pelicans are down a few players, with CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram expected to miss the next few games.
Those absences have opened the door for one of the G League’s top scorers to get an opportunity in the NBA.
On Thursday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Pelicans had signed Tyrone Wallace to a 10-day contract with the team.
Wallace has been applying his trade in the G League with the Long Island Nets, where over 16 games, he’s averaged 21.1 points, 5.2 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game. As Wojnarowski notes, over his last 11 games, he’s averaged 27 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game.
This won’t be Wallace’s first shot in the League, as he has played three seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers since being drafted out of Cal in 2016. Wallace has played in 106 career games over three seasons, two with the Clippers and one with the Atlanta Hawks, and has averaged 5.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.
Wallace hasn’t played in the NBA since 2019, though, last suiting up for the Hawks on Dec. 4, 2019. Since then, Wallace has been applying his trade exclusively in the G League for the Nets, Agua Caliente Clippers, and the College Park Skyhawks.
The Pelicans (27-39) are a team on the fringes of the playoffs at the moment, holding on to the 10th seed and the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, just 1.5 games ahead of the 11th place Portland Trail Blazers.
Wallace will get his first chance to help his new team on Friday night when the Pelicans take on the Charlotte Hornets (32-35) at home.
