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Pelicans forward Zion Williamson cleared to resume full basketball activities

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that recent imaging of forward Zion Williamson’s right fifth metatarsal showed continued improvement.

Williamson has been cleared in his return to play progression without any restrictions.

And via the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

The 21-year-old star, who missed the entirety of his third season with a broken right foot, has progressed to the point where he no longer needs guardrails in his recovery process. A recent round of medical imaging showed that Williamson can run, cut and jump without any hindrances.

Williamson broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot sometime before NBA Summer League in August. The injury did not become public until late September. Neither the team nor Williamson said exactly when it occurred…

Williamson has one year remaining on his rookie deal. He is eligible for a contract extension worth as much as $181 million over five years.

Pelicans forward Jaxson Hayes ejected from Game 3 vs. Suns

Jaxson Hayes of the New Orleans Pelicans was ejected from Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs on Friday night in the second quarter after receiving a flagrant foul 2 for shoving Phoenix Suns player Jae Crowder.

Hayes was pounding the boards from the left corner after a made CJ McCollum jumper with 5:15 remaining in the first half when he crashed past Crowder, slamming him to the ground.

Initially, no foul was called, but play was paused and the play was reviewed as Crowder rushed across the floor to confront Hayes and Suns guard Chris Paul quickly sprinted to another official.

– Via ESPN.com. See full article.

Suns guard Devin Booker hurts hamstring in Game 2 loss to Pelicans

The Suns lost a playoff game last night, and have a Devin Booker injury to worry about. Via ESPN.com:

On Tuesday night, Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker suffered a hamstring injury, and the New Orleans Pelicans stepped up all night and put had a tremendous finish to win 125-114 Game 2 and even the series at 1-1.

Booker scored 31 points in the first half, including seven 3-pointers. But he did not score in the third quarter, and he injured his right hamstring when contesting a Jaxson Hayes dunk in transition with 4:45 left in the period. He exited the game and headed straight to the locker room.

Clippers will be without Paul George in tonight’s Play-in Tournament game against Pelicans

Already playing without Kawhi Leonard, who has been out all season, the Clippers will be without Paul George for their biggest game of the year tonight, per ESPN.com:

LA Clippers star Paul George has entered health and safety protocols after testing positive for COVID-19 and will miss Friday night’s play-in game against the New Orleans Pelicans, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim Bontemps.

Pelicans sign guard Jared Harper to two-way contract

The New Orleans Pelicans have signed guard Jared Harper to a two-way contract.

Listed at 6-foot-0, 175 pounds, he had been playing for the team’s G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron. In 29 games for the Squadron this season, Harper averaged 21.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 7.0 assists in 34.5 minutes per game.

Harper appeared in two games with the Pelicans earlier this season, averaging 3.5 points and 1.5 assists in 5.0 minutes per contest.

During his NBA career, Harper has appeared in 13 career games across three NBA seasons with Phoenix, New York, and New Orleans.

New Orleans’ roster now stands at 17 players, including two two-way players.

Pelicans sign Jose Alvarado, release Tyrone Wallace

The New Orleans Pelicans have signed guard Jose Alvarado to a multi-year contract.

And in a related move, the Pelicans have released Tyrone Wallace, who signed a second 10-day contract with the team on March 21, 2022.

Alvarado, 6-0, 179, has appeared in 47 games (one start) for the Pelicans this season, averaging 6.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 15.3 minutes per contest.

Undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native leads all rookies in assist/turnover ratio (3.88), steal/turnover ratio (1.79), and plus/minus (+163) while ranking second among all rookies with 1.3 steals per game.

Over his four-year career at Georgia Tech, Alvarado appeared in 106 career games (104 starts), averaging 13.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.1 steals in 34.9 minutes played. In his 2020-21 senior campaign, Alvarado was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-ACC Second Team honors after averaging 15.2 points, 4.1 assists, and 2.8 steals.

Wallace, 6-5, 198, appeared in six games with the Pelicans, averaging 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per contest.

New Orleans’s roster now stands at 16 players, including one two-way player.

Pelicans sign guard Tyrone Wallace to second 10-day contract

The New Orleans Pelicans have signed guard Tyrone Wallace to a second 10-day contract.

Wallace has played in four games off the bench for New Orleans this season, averaging 4.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per contest.

Wallace, 6-5, 198, has appeared in 110 career games (19 starts) across four seasons with the LA Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, and New Orleans Pelicans, recording averages of 5.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 15.5 minutes per contest.

New Orleans’s roster stands at 17 players, including two two-way players.

Pelicans sign forward Alize Johnson to 10-day contract

The New Orleans Pelicans have signed forward Alize Johnson to a 10-day contract via the COVID hardship exception.

Johnson, 6’7”, 212, has appeared in 71 career games (one start) across four seasons with Indiana, Brooklyn, Chicago, Washington, and New Orleans, recording averages of 2.6 points and 3.1 rebounds in 7.5 minutes per contest while shooting .487 from the field. Johnson has appeared in 22 games this season with the Bulls, Wizards, and Pelicans, averaging 1.9 points and 2.7 rebounds in 7.4 minutes per game.

A native of Williamsport, Pa., Johnson was selected 50th overall in the 2018 NBA Draft out of Missouri State where he averaged 14.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists across two seasons.

New Orleans’s roster now stands at 18 players, including two two-way players.

Pelicans sign Tyrone Wallace to 10-day contract, and release Alize Johnson

The New Orleans Pelicans have signed guard Tyrone Wallace to a 10-day contract.

And in a related move, the Pelicans released Alize Johnson.

Wallace, 6-5, 198, has appeared in 106 career games (19 starts) across three seasons with the LA Clippers and Atlanta Hawks, recording averages of 5.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 15.5 minutes per contest.

Wallace most recently appeared in 20 games (11 starts) this season with the G League’s Long Island Nets, averaging 18.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 33.4 minutes per game.

New Orleans’s roster now stands at 17 players, including two two-way players.

A power outage almost threatened tonight’s Magic at Pelicans game

A power outage issue had threatened tonight’s Magic at Pelicans game. But all wound up being okay. Here’s the New Orleans Times Picayune:

Wednesday’s game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Orlando Magic appears to no longer be in danger of postponement.

Less than three hours before tipoff, power was restored at Smoothie King Center after an hours-long outage.

The power outage, which appeared to be caused by a bird flying into a substation, City Council President Helena Moreno said, affected more than 10,000 Entergy customers. Parts of downtown, the Central Business District, Treme, Mid-City and Central City were all left without power…

Full power was restored to the arena at around 4:24 p.m. on Wednesday.

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