New Orleans Pelicans Waive Former Pacers And Celtics Forward Kelan Martin

The New Orleans Pelicans have decided to waive former Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics forward Kelan Martin, who they recently signed.

Making roster cuts ahead of the start of the 2022-23 NBA season, the New Orleans Pelicans have decided to waive forward Kelan Martin, first reported by ESPN’s Andrew Lopez.

Pelicans say Zylan Cheatham, Javonte Smart, Daeqwon Plowden and Kelan Martin have been waived.

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 15, 2022

In addition to waiving Martin, the Pelicans also elected to waive Zylan Cheatham, Javonte Smart and Daeqwon Plowden, three played who had signed training camp deals with New Orleans.

Martin, 27, was recently signed by the Pelicans on October 10 after playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers and most recently, the Boston Celtics.

Undrafted out of Butler in 2018, Martin signed with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg of the Basketball Bundesliga in Germany before joining the Timberwolves ahead of the 2019-20 season.

Following a year in which he signed a two-way contract with Minnesota, Kelan Martin signed a two-year contract with the Indiana Pacers, where he has played 62 of his 96 career games in the NBA. In his two seasons with the Pacers, Martin averaged 5.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 43.1 percent from the floor.

Waived by the Pacers on January 6 this past season, Kelan Martin signed two 10-day contracts with the Boston Celtics and he only appeared in a total of three games with Boston. 

With the return of All-Star Zion Williamson, the New Orleans Pelicans are hopeful that they will be able to turn themselves into a real contending threat in the Western Conference. They will have their chance to open up the 2022-23 NBA season with on a win on October 19 in Brooklyn against the Brooklyn Nets.