Halo

The New Orleans Pelicans are set to hold workouts this week in an effort to potentially bolster their backcourt depth as they look to make a playoff push.

Marc Stein of ESPN reported Tuesday the Pelicans, who acquired center DeMarcus Cousins in a blockbuster trade with the Sacramento Kings on Monday, will test out guards Mario Chalmers, Quinn Cook, Reggie Williams and Hollis Thompson this week.

The combination of Cousins and Anthony Davis gives New Orleans one of the league's best frontcourts. They both rank inside the top 10 in Player Efficiency Rating for the current season.

Getting more production from the backcourt would go a long way in helping the Pelicans become a bigger threat for a Western Conference postseason berth, though. They find themselves 2.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets for the eighth spot with 25 games to play.

Jrue Holiday is the team's only guard averaging double figures in scoring. The front office also had to sacrifice a significant portion of its depth in that area to bring in Cousins, making Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway part of the deal.



Chalmers is the most well-know name from the group of upcoming workouts. The 30-year-old Kansas product has a wealth of big-game experience having won two NBA championships during his time with the Miami Heat and a national title in college with the Jayhawks.

He's remained a free agent since getting waived by the Memphis Grizzlies after suffering an Achilles injury last March. In November, he told Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press he was close to full strength and just waiting for an opportunity to arise.

"Right now, I can pretty much do everything," Chalmers said. "I've been on the court the last two, three months just working on getting back. I'm back to sprinting, running and jumping."

Ultimately, if nobody from the workout group isn't overly impressive, it wouldn't be a surprise to see New Orleans dip back into the trade market before Thursday's deadline.

The Pelicans now own some extra pieces at power forward and center, led by Terrence Jones, Alexis Ajinca and Omer Asik. Moving one or two of those players might bring a better guard than what's available in free agency.

Read more New Orleans Pelicans news on BleacherReport.com



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