Former Hoosier Cody Zeller Agrees To Sign With New Orleans Pelicans

Hoosier native Cody Zeller, who anchored Indiana basketball teams from 2011-2013 as an All-American center is on the move again in the NBA. He agreed to sign a one-year deal with the New Orleans Pelicans over the weekend as the free agency period opened.

Veteran center Cody Zeller, once the face of the 2012-13 Indiana team that won the Big Ten regular season title under Tom Crean, has agreed to sign with the New Orelans Pelicans, the fourth team he will have played for in his NBA career. 

Zeller was selected No. 4 overall in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats (now known as the Hornets).  After eight seasons in Charlotte, Zeller played just 32 games during the 2021-22 regular season with the Portland Trail Blazers when his season was cut short by a patellar fracture. 

He wasn't on an NBA roster for the majority of the 2022-23 season until the Miami Heat signed him near the regular season's end, but he did see minutes in 21 of 23 playoff games during the Heat's surprise run to the NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed.

Free agent center Cody Zeller has agreed to a one-year, $3.1 million deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, his agent Sam Goldfeder of @excelbasketball tells ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2023

Zeller joins a New Orleans team that lost in the Western Conference play-in game against the Oklahoma City Thunder and is at a crossroads with young stars Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, as well as veteran talents C.J. McCollum and Jonas Valanciunas.

Zeller's one-year, $3.1 million deal and recent history of play at the NBA level projects him as a reserve who will not always be guaranteed playing time, but given the recent injury history of the Pelicans' two star players, and the potential the team has to make trades in the near future, do not be surprised if Zeller sees the court more often than you would expect. 

Zeller is a native of Washington, Ind., and was Indiana Mr. Basketball in 2011. His brothers Luke and Tyler also won the award, the only trio of brothers to ever do so. 

At Indiana, Zeller averaged 15.6 points and 6.6 rebounds as a freshman in 2011-12. During his sophomore year, he averaged 16.5 points and 8.1 rebounds while the Hoosiers won a Big Ten title and two NCAA Tournament games before losing to Syracuse in the NCAA regional semifinals.

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