Naji Marshall

Despite playing a limited role, Marshall will return to New Orleans, likely playing as a somewhat key piece in their rotation. During the 2022-23 season, he averaged a career-high 9.1 points per game, adding 3.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.7 steals in 23.3 minutes. As a result of injuries to other players, Marshall even started a handful of games and didn't look out of place when doing so. In 21 starts, he compiled 14.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.4 three-pointers in 33.3 minutes per game. He has been able to establish himself as a regular, although he would likely need others to go down for him to have any chance at playing more than about 20 minutes per night. While he isn't worth drafting in standard leagues, he is worth keeping an eye on as a potential streaming consideration.

Despite a few noteworthy performances over the final two months of the 2021-22 season, Marshall is yet to realize his potential, and moving forward, he could be used sparingly off the bench. The Pelicans are building toward being a contender, which will certainly not work in Marshall's favor. Given what we have seen from him in the past, he would need at least 25 minutes per night to even move into the standard league discussion. At this point, that seems like a pipedream, making him a name to gloss over outside of very deep leagues.

After going undrafted in 2020, Marshall latched on with the Pelicans on a two-way deal in December, and his contract was eventually converted to a standard deal in May. The forward appeared in 32 games (10 starts) and averaged 7.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 21.9 minutes. He struggled with his efficiency, with shooting splits of 39/35/71, but Marshall was able to show off his diverse skill set. Ultimately, that allowed him to rank 263rd in per-game fantasy production. While Marshall was able to show interesting potential, he might struggle to find 20-plus minutes regularly again this season, especially if the Pelicans are healthier. It's possible he'll end up the primary backup power forward behind Zion Williamson, but New Orleans could often opt to go small and give minutes to Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple and Josh Hart. At this time, Marshall is more of an intriguing dynasty-league option rather than a player worth targeting in redraft formats.