National Basketball Association

New Orleans Pelicans Season Outlook: Langston Galloway Must Fight For Minutes

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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New Orleans Pelicans Guard Langston Galloway will have to fight hard to earn minutes this year, for a team very deep in backcourt players.

Langston Galloway came to New Orleans with high hopes of being a key role player for the team. After averaging 24 minutes a game last year in New York, his expectations should have been around that range on the Pelicans.

That may be a taller task than originally thought.

New Orleans made it their offseason goal to get deeper as a roster. And they did. Much deeper.

Galloway, along with E’Twaun Moore, Tim Frazier and Buddy Hield, were brought onto the roster to shore up depth issues. With Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans both injured, the Pelicans need four healthy guards to continue to be competitive.

Galloway will get minutes early into the season, with the injuries that currently plague this team. However, if he wants minutes on the Pels down the road, he’ll have to earn them.

Galloway will likely be in a battle with E’Twaun Moore for most of the season. Frazier and Hield are best bets for the starting roles and pure at their positions. On the other hand, Galloway and Moore are both players that can play multiple positions. They are “flex options” that make it tougher on defenses, with long-range capabilities and floor vision.

Each plays the same role. However, Moore has gotten the upper hand in preseason play. In the first three preseason games, Moore averaged seven more minutes on the floor than Galloway. That’s not to say Galloway’s played poor so far this preseason.

In their latest game against the Rockets, Galloway took advantage of Head Coach Alvin Gentry‘s decision to give the bench more minutes. Galloway put up 16 points, two assists and two rebounds in 23 minutes. Those aren’t major numbers, but he did have a decent defensive game.

This will likely be the story of the regular season as well. With a tough schedule to begin the campaign and injuries a plenty, Gentry will call to his depth. When Moore and others are not 100%, they’ll have Galloway play. He’s a capable guard who can steady the tide, in case the waves go awry. However, consistent play will be hard to find once Holiday and Evans both return.

Langston Galloway will need to show something special during the season, in order for him to move up the depth chart. He’ll likely trade minutes with Moore game-to-game, until one of them plays well enough to surpass the other. It’s up to Galloway to show his stuff each game to prove his worth. If Moore tops him, however, he could see more of the bench than anything else.

The New Orleans Pelicans will need Langston Galloway to play minutes early into the season. Their injury list is dire. Galloway is a healthy body who will fill a needed role on the team. However, if Langston wants to stay a key role player, he’ll have to play well and show the Pelicans a reason to keep him there. With a new environment and expectations, it will be quite the transition for Galloway. Still, if he wants to stay an NBA rotation player, he’ll have to up his game on a very deep New Orleans Pelicans team.