The Pelicans' second preseason opponent was the Nets.

The Nets signed Jeremy Lin in the summer and also reached a training camp contract with Guo Ailun not long ago.

They unknowingly became the team with the second-most Chinese elements.

This game also attracted a lot of attention in China.

However, there wasn't much suspense in the game itself.

Even though the Pelicans were mainly using the preseason to integrate their lineup, and even though the Nets made the Eastern Conference playoffs last season and strengthened their team in the summer.

The strength of the two teams was still quite different.

After the first half, the Pelicans were already leading the Nets by 20 points, 60-40.

In the third quarter, the Pelicans put on their full bench lineup, which maintained the point difference, and the last quarter became garbage time.

The Pelicans eventually easily defeated the Nets 110-95, ushering in a two-game winning streak in the preseason.

Brogdon scored another 15 points and 5 assists, Joe Harris had 9 points, and Harrell had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

Guo Ailun was substituted on with five minutes left in the game, making both of his two shots, scoring 4 points, 1 assist and 1 steal, a good performance.

However, that was the focus of domestic fans. To other fans, the impression the Pelicans gave them after these two preseason games was an unfathomable bench depth!

Generally speaking, an NBA team with 8-10 playable players is already a strong team configuration.

But the Pelicans give the feeling that given the chance, all 16 players can play!

This is a very scary thing, which means that the team is not afraid of injuries during the season at all!

It's just that for coach Stevens, he will encounter happy troubles in the new season.

Just like NBA2K, if the problem of player playing time is not handled well, it is easy to cause locker room problems.

The only good news is that most of the bench players are rookies, and their demands in this area are not that strong.

The Pelicans' third preseason opponent was the Rockets.

The Rockets formed a Big Three, but were almost swept by the Pelicans last season. After strengthening the team in the summer, they were eager to win against the Pelicans, including in the preseason.

In this game, the Pelicans continued to integrate their lineup and train new players, but the Rockets played normally.

In the end, the Rockets won the game, but the Pelicans continued to show their bench depth.

Harrell performed well, getting a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Brogdon showed a rare stability for a rookie, continuing to contribute 13 points and 4 assists.

Zhou Qi did not get a chance to play in this game.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye it was the end of October, and the NBA preseason was coming to an end soon.

The Pelicans achieved a record of 5 wins and 1 loss in 6 games.

Because they were integrating their lineup and training new players, this record was completely acceptable.

Moreover, the Pelicans gained a lot from these few games.

The biggest gain was naturally Brogdon.

This senior showed extraordinary stability, averaging 13.6 points and 4.3 assists in 6 games, with a three-point shooting percentage as high as 44%.

Although it was just the preseason, such a performance had already left a deep impression on Stevens.

Another person who performed well was not Siakam.

Siakam's shooting weakness was infinitely magnified in the preseason, and he still needs time to grow.

The other one was Joe Harris.

This third-year student averaged only 8.2 points, which is not a lot, but his three-point shooting percentage reached an amazing 51%!

The Pelicans made a huge profit by gaining two stable three-point shooters in one preseason!

As the preseason came to an end, the start of the new season was infinitely approaching.

The management of each team was busy again at this time.

According to NBA's season rules, there is no limit to the number of players on a team before the regular season, but the roster must be reduced to 15 players before the regular season begins.

Every team has personnel changes in the summer, and most teams don't have all guaranteed contracts.

Most teams sign more than 15 players before the season and use competition to determine the last few players on the roster.

The Pelicans are now facing the same problem.

With the continuous signings in the summer, as well as the addition of Siakam and Brogdon, even after cutting a few non-guaranteed contracts before, the team's roster still has 16 players.

Now they must consider completing the final layoffs or trades before the start of the season.

The team's rotation lineup, as well as the rookies who signed guaranteed contracts, will basically not be sent away.

After screening, what the Pelicans need to do is to choose one to cut between Joe Harris and Gary Forbes, who have non-guaranteed contracts.

This is not a simple multiple-choice question.

Although Harris performed well in the preseason, Forbes also had a good performance last season.

The latter had a single-game performance of 23 points in the season's closing game against the Spurs, and a quasi-kill helped the Pelicans win their 74th game.

After Demps communicated with Stevens and Tang Tian, he finally made a choice.

Keep both of them.

The Pelicans' backcourt is still relatively weak. Deron's preseason state was average, Brogdon is still a rookie, and Stephenson often short-circuits on the court.

Keeping an extra guard in this situation is a good choice.

In comparison, trading an inside player is a more sensible choice.

With Jokic and Davis, two star inside players, they only need one substitute inside player for a three-man rotation most of the time.

David West is that person. He is in good shape in the preseason, and his ability to stretch the floor is enough to do the job.

And Boban is that nuclear weapon. If they encounter a team that focuses on positional warfare, he can stand up as a substitute inside player to protect the rim.

Even if they encounter a fast-paced team, Harrell, who had outstanding performances last season and in the preseason, can fill in for a few minutes.

In this case, Biyombo doesn't seem that important.

He is not fast, and his defense is relatively limited due to his height. When he was in good shape last season, he shared limited playing time with McGee.

He has been in average condition in training camp and preseason since he came back this season, and it is a good choice to trade him away.

Time was tight. After deciding on the candidate, Demps contacted the general managers of each team as soon as possible, and soon there was a result.

The Raptors were willing to trade Biyombo for a second-round pick.

The Raptors lacked a substitute inside player who could protect the rim, and they were in the top ranks in the East, so the second-round pick was not valuable.

The trade was quickly reached. The Raptors traded for Biyombo with a non-guaranteed contract and a second-round pick.

After the trade was reached, the Pelicans cut the non-guaranteed contract and successfully reduced the roster to 15 players.

The Pelicans players said goodbye to Biyombo in the locker room. The latter had also played for the Pelicans for more than a year, and gave the team a lot of help when he first came.

And he is also a good person.

The NBA is a commercial league and is very cruel, but the atmosphere of the Pelicans minimizes this commercial nature.

In the three years since Tang Tian joined the Pelicans, many people have left the team one after another, but apart from Whiteside, the others are more grateful to the Pelicans.