Kevin Jairaj – USA Today Sports Images
The New Orleans Pelicans have done a serious re-vamping of their roster in the 2013 NBA off-season. On the night of the draft they completed a trade for All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday and also were able to sign restricted free-agent Tyreke Evans. Moreover, Robin Lopez and Greivis Vasquez were both sent out of New Orleans as part of the sign-and-trade to land Evans.
With their roster now stronger than ever, though, the Pelicans have high expectations headed into this season. However, the Pelicans only have the rights to two rookies coming into this season. Now one of those rookies is headed to play in France for a year.
Former Baylor point guard Pierre Jackson posted to his Twitter and Instagram account on Friday night that he had agreed to a deal with Asvel in France. Asvel, coincidentally, is the same team in France that Tony Parker is partial owner of. Jackson did add in a later tweet that he only plans to stay one year in France.
In his senior season at Baylor, Jackson was the star of the Bears. He was impressive as he averaged 19.8 points, 7.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 34.8 minutes per game. He also shot only 42.7 percent from the floor and 35.9 percent from three, but that was largely a product of not having a lot of help on the team.
In three games at the Las Vegas Summer League, though, Jackson really didn’t do much to improve his value. Jackson averaged 3.7 points, two assists and one board in 13.3 minutes per game while shooting only 28.6 percent from the field and turning the ball over 3.3 times per game.
Jackson will likely find his way into the league at one point or another, likely next season. Hopefully his time spent in France will allow him to develop and become more effective as a pro player.
Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google and like his Facebook page.
