New Orleans Pelicans Make A Flurry of Roster Moves Heading Into Weekend

The New Orleans Pelicans made some additions (and some subtractions) to their roster heading into this weekend.

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The New Orleans Pelicans did not play their originally scheduled second preseason game on Friday due to the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

Though the team was not busy on the court, the front office was busy on the transaction front, with four moves to the roster, seeing the team add two players and waiving two others.

The Pelicans signed forward Josh Oduro and guard Elfrid Payton on Friday while waiving guard Adonis Arms and forward Matt Ryan.

Oduro is a 6'9" forward out of Providence College where he averaged 15.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game during the 2023-24 season.

The forward played for New Orleans' Summer League team and averaged four points, six rebounds, and three assists in two appearances.

Payton, a 6'4" guard, is an eight-year veteran of the NBA.

He was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 10th pick of the 2014 NBA Draft and finished fourth in the ensuing season in Rookie of the Year voting.

Payton spent the 2018-19 campaign with the Pelicans, playing and starting 42 games for the team, averaging 10.6 points, 7.6 assists (a career-high), and 5.2 rebounds across 29.8 minutes per game.

Arms, a 6'5" guard, has yet to participate in an NBA game in his career, though he graduated from the collegiate level after the 2021-22 season.

Arms signed an Exhibit 10 contract with New Orleans on October 1st, with the team having the option to convert his one-year deal to a two-way contract, but the team exercised their right to waive him instead.

Ryan, a 6'6" forward signed a contract with the Pelicans on August 27th, after playing in 28 games for the team last year and averaging 5.4 points, 0.6 assists, and 1.4 rebounds per game off the bench.

Ryan has now been waived, and it will be interesting to see where he lands after showing an ability to shoot threes successfully with a 45.1 three-point percentage last year.