Washington Wizards forward Julian Reese (15) goes to the basket against the Brooklyn Nets during the first quarter at Barclays Center.
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The New Orleans Pelicans are less than a month away from kicking off their 2026-27 NBA season. The Pelicans bizarrely opted to run it back with essentially the same roster this offseason despite their immense struggles to win games this past season.
On Thursday, the team did shake things up somewhat by adding a player with high-profile ties to the mix.
“The New Orleans Pelicans have signed forward Julian Reese to a two-way contract,” reported Keith Smith of Spotrac on X, formerly Twitter.
Reese is the brother of Atlanta Dream forward and WNBA All-Star Angel Reese, but has been carving out a name of his own at the NBA level over the last couple of seasons.
After playing his college basketball at Maryland, Reese has bounced around various organizations in the NBA, most recently having been traded to and then released by the Denver Nuggets.
Article Continues Below
It's certainly not off the table that he could see some run with the Pelicans this year, especially if their injury troubles from previous seasons continue to rear their ugly heads.
Not many outside of New Orleans are optimistic about what the upcoming season has in store for the Pelicans. The team does have some talented individual pieces on its roster, including Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, Dejounte Murray, and last year's rookie Derik Queen.
However, health and basketball fit are both major challenges for the team to address as training camp gets underway.
In any case, the Pelicans are slated to kick off their new season on October 21 at home against the Indiana Pacers.