Pelicans' Donatas Motiejunas: Could be available Thursday

Coach Alvin Gentry didn't rule out the possibility of Motiejunas making his season and Pelicans debut Thursday against the Hawks.

Analysis:

After officially signing Motiejunas to a one-year contract Monday, the Pelicans announced Tuesday that the big man has been fully medically cleared by team doctors, which had previously been an obstacle in finalizing a four-year, $35 million contract with the Rockets in December. Though Motiejunas has been limited to individual workouts for much of the offseason before joining the Pelicans on Monday, Gentry's suggestion that Motiejunas could play Thursday suggests he may not be too far behind the curve from a conditioning standpoint. Gentry also indicated that Motiejunas will see most of his time at center, a position that the Pelicans have been deploying Anthony Davis more frequently of late at the expense of Alexis Ajinca and Omer Asik. Unlike those latter two players, the seven-foot Motiejunas offers the ability to stretch the floor, and could end up filling a role similar to what Channing Frye provided for the Suns during Gentry's previous stint as Phoenix's head coach.