Pelicans sign SEC star in latest roster move

For quite some time during the early days of the offseason, New Orleans Pelicans were the only team that had not made any new roster moves. They re-signed veteran DeAndre Jordan to a contract and re-signed second-year big man Hunter Dickinson to another two-way contract, but were pretty much quiet otherwise. Over the past few weeks though, the Pelicans have made a couple of roster additions, including the recent signing of Malik Dia, as per Shams Charania of ESPN.

The Pelicans’ signing of Malik Dia is for a two-way contract for the upcoming season, and the move brings the team’s current roster to 21 players, 18 on standard contracts and all three two-way contracts filled. NBA teams are permitted to carry up to 21 players through training camp, but must cut down to at least 15 standard deals and three two-ways by the start of the regular season.

Dia joins Dickinson and fellow rookie Jaron Pierre Jr. as the Pelicans’ three designated two-way contract players. Teams are able to essentially shuffle players in those spots during the season, and there’s no guarantee that those three will be the players occupying those spots on opening night.

The former Ole Miss star will be limited to only 50 NBA games active during the season and will not be eligible for playoffs unless his deal is ultimately converted to a standard contract.

During his final season of college basketball, Dia averaged 14.5 points, and 5.7 rebounds with splits of 45.2 percent shooting from the field, 27.5 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 68.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line.