# New Orleans Pelicans to bring NBA basketball to Australia with two games in Melbourne

NBA franchise the New Orleans Pelicans are the latest American sports team to agree to play in Australia, after officials locked in a two-match exhibition series against NBL sides Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix in October.

Organisers are hoping to sell out the matches at 14,000-capacity Rod Laver Arena, held on the weekend following the AFL grand final, as well as draw a large crowd to two open training sessions to be held at Melbourne Park.

The Pelicans have pledged to bring a full-strength side, including former No 1 draft pick Zion Williamson, to Australia for what will be a pre-season trip ahead of the 2025-26 season starting in late October.

NBL owner Larry Kestelman said he wanted it to be the first of many similar visits and it was going to be a “celebration” of Australian basketball. “I do believe this is the first, but not the last.”

Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said negotiations with Kestelman had gone back more than a decade, and – after he traded Boomers guard Dyson Daniels last year from New Orleans to the Atlanta Hawks – he hoped to sign another Australian in time for the October visit.

“The way athletes in general are raised here, not just basketball players, I think there’s a commitment to excellence here that I would like us to become synonymous with,” he said.

Griffin explained the Daniels trade was “the right thing to do at the right time”. The Australian is now a contender for the defensive player of the year award and has recorded 178 steals this season, 66 more than second place. “At that moment, it had absolutely nothing to do with our belief in Dyson,” Griffin said.

Griffin also revealed the decision to draft Daniels in 2022 was prompted partly from the intelligence collected by a full-time Australian scout they had deployed at the time. The team has reorganised staff since then and no longer have anyone committed to Australia, but Griffin hoped this trip could serve as a catalyst for better connections and he harbours a “deep appetite” for more signings.

The former Cleveland executive has close connections to Australia, and he was reunited with Melbourne United guard Matthew Dellavedova at training on Monday as the NBL side prepares for the second match of the grand final against Illawarra. Dellavedova helped Griffin win the NBA title in 2016 in a team that featured LeBron James.

Despite his views on Australian players, the Pelicans boss said there is no guarantee the Pelicans will come back. “I hope it works out well enough that the organisation sees that .” The Victorian government is providing funding for the matches, but declined to reveal the size of the commitment.



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