Report: Pelicans shopping Ryan Anderson and Austin Rivers
The New Orleans Pelicans are determined to shake up their team.
On the heels of adding former Houston Rockets center Omer Asik on Wednesday, the Pelicans are now looking to trade away their resident stretch-four and a reserve guard.
New Orleans is shopping forward Ryan Anderson and guard Austin Rivers, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 26, 2014
Ryan Anderson, when healthy, is one of the best stretch power forwards in the league. In 22 games played last season, Anderson averaged 19.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game while shooting 40.9 percent from three. However, health has been an issue for Anderson, who missed a significant portion of last season with a herniated cervical disc.
Austin Rivers, on the other hand, is a combo guard with promise on his rookie deal. He averaged 7.7 points and 2.3 assists per game last season.
Anderson has two more seasons at $8.5 million, which is probably too rich for an injury-plagued power forward, hence the interest from the Pelicans in trading him. However, his skillset does compliment forward Anthony Davis' inside game well.