#ProTops: Coleby Opens Summer League Against Raptors
Dwight Coleby’s professional career tips off this afternoon as the New Orleans Pelicans face the Toronto Raptors in the Pelicans’ first…
Dwight Coleby’s professional career tips off this afternoon as the New Orleans Pelicans face the Toronto Raptors in the Pelicans’ first game of the Las Vegas Summer League.
Game Info
Time: 2:30 p.m. CT
Location: MGM Resorts
TV: ESPNU
Honestly, I’m really not quite sure what to expect from Coleby, mostly based on how the Pelicans use him. As we noted last week, there are five guys Coleby will be fighting for minutes against, but he’s tied for the biggest man on the roster (along with Cliff Alexander, both of who come in at 6'9" — nice — and 245 pounds).
In his media availability after practice yesterday, NOLA head coach Kevin Hanson talked about the progress he’s seen from Texas A&M’s DJ Hogg and Derek Willis, noting both are good shooters and noting both are good stretch four’s on the floor. That doesn’t sound great for Coleby’s prospects in seeing a lot of playing time, but we’ll see how the minutes are dictated — something tells me they’ll all even out throughout the event, even if Coleby gets minutes front- or back-loaded.
While the Pelicans don’t have a ton of fresh-out-of-college names, the Raptors do. 12 players on the roster are coming straight out of NCAA seasons, including MTSU’s Giddy Potts (for those who’ll miss seeing him tear up C-USA competition, it should be fun to see what he does against the Summer Pelicans).
As we go throughout the LVSL, keep in mind that the best case outcome for Coleby is he lands a G-League contract somewhere. He won’t be a Pelican in 2018/19 and, of course, NOLA is one of like five teams without a one-for-one affiliation, but he could still land on a G-League roster with a good summer.
We’ll know what to expect for the rest of the event after today, but hopefully Coleby has the opportunity to make a name for himself sooner rather than later.