John Salmons earns his first start in the preseason at small forward

For the first time in four games, New Orleans Pelicans coach Monty Williams made a change at small forward.

Instead of Darius Miller, 34-year-old veteran John Salmons earned his first start in the preseason on Tuesday night against the Houston Rockets. After the first three games, Salmons had shot a lackluster 28.6 percent from the field and had averaged 2.0 points.

But Williams said he wants to see how Salmons performs with the starters. Neither Miller, Salmons or Luke Babbitt had been able to emerge at the spot. It appears now that swingman Tyreke Evans will earn the starting small forward spot when he returns from a strained right hamstring.

Although he sat out Tuesday's game, Evans is expected to get his first game action in the preseason on Thursday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Smoothie King Center.

''He’s (Salmons) had some minutes and they've all had a great shot,'' Williams said before Tuesday's game. "But John hasn’t had a chance to play with the starters. I want to see how that goes before Tyreke gets himself ready to play.''

Salmons said he has been slow to make progress but it has taken him time to get acclimated to Williams' system and adjust to new teammates. Last week against the Washington Wizards, Salmons scored three points on 1-of-3 shooting.

In 20 minutes during Tuesday's 117-98 victory, Salmons was held scoreless. He grabbed five rebounds, had a block and steal.

''It's a process because we're all still trying to adjust to each other,'' Salmons said. ''I just have to continue to develop and try to find where I can fit in and find my niche. I'm trying to get in game shape.''

The Pelicans signed Salmons to a one year, $2 million contract this summer after the team decided not to pursue re-signing Al-Farouq Aminu, who had started the past two seasons at small forward. 

Williams said Babbitt would likely draw more minutes off the bench against the Rockets than he did in the previous two games. He kept his promise by playing Babbitt almost nine minutes in the first half.  Babbitt had struggled since scoring 15 points in the preseason opener against the Miami Heat. In the previous two games before Tuesday, Babbitt had combined to make 1-of-10 shots from the field for five points. But he enjoyed a good start against the Rockets, making his first three shots, including all two 3-point attempts, in the first half.

''As a player, you always want more minutes,'' Babbitt said. "But I’m used to playing sporadic minutes. It’s something I’ve done a lot in my career. So I’ll be ready whatever minutes are available. I’m not really concerned. It’s a long preseason and it’s a long season.'' 


(nola.com)