Penn State’s Tony Carr will join Zion Williamson on Pelicans summer roster

Former Penn State guard Tony Carr was named to the Pelicans Summer League Roster on Tuesday.

Tony Carr was drafted 51st overall to the New Orleans Pelicans in last year’s NBA Draft. Unfortunately, he failed to sign a contract with them after a shaky NBA Summer League performance.

During his time in Las Vegas last summer, Carr averaged only six points-per-game, 3.4 assists-per-game, and 1.8 rebounds-per-game. As a result, he spent all of this past season playing in Italy, where he won Under-22 MVP.

Carr played 26 games combined in the Italian League for two different teams, Fiat Torino and Red October Cantu. Throughout those games, he averaged 11.7 points-per-game, 4.0 assists-per-game and shot 38.8-percent from three-point range.

Carr’s strong performance in Italy this past season earned him another shot at the NBA Summer League, as he was named to the Pelicans’ roster on Tuesday.

There’s no doubt that Tony Carr will benefit from a better team around him this year at the Summer League. Last year, Carr was the Pelicans only draft pick, and as a result, the team was rather weak.

The two best players on the team were Frank Jackson and Trevon Bluiett, who played well, but there really wasn’t that many other talents on the team.

This year, Carr joins a squad of number one pick Zion Williamson, number eight pick Jaxson Hayes, and number 17 pick Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Hayes and Alexander-Walker won’t join the roster until at least July 6th, as they are part of a trade that needs to still be completed. That’s why they aren’t yet listed.

Williamson’s size, athleticism, and dominance inside make him a point guard’s dream. Add in an athletic center like Hayes and a sharpshooter like Alexander-Walker, and it’ll be a lot easier for Carr to succeed running the point. In addition, the better players from last summer’s team, Jackson and Bluiett, are returning as well.

Expect Carr to get his fair share of assists, as well as open spot-up threes with so much talent on the floor.

Tony Carr and the Pelicans will play their first Summer League game on July 5th at 9:30 p.m ET vs. the New York Knicks. The game will be televised on ESPN.