After a strong rookie season with the Sydney Kings, 2019 Pelicans second round draft pick Marcos “Didi” Louzada Silva will return to the NBL for a second season. Louzada announced the move himself on his Twitter account late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning.
In 26 games with the Kings last year, Louzada averaged 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Louzada started in 16 games and played 22.2 minutes per contest.
The 6’5″ guard shot 41.8% from the field and 37.1% from beyond the arc while attempting 5.0 three-pointers per game. When looking at some advanced metrics from SpatialJam, only one player had a higher on/off net rating on the Kings last season than Louzada.
Last summer, Louzada was apart of the Pelicans’ Summer League roster. He played in four games, averaging 11.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and played 27 minutes per game.
New Orleans’ host of young guard on the current roster likely played a big role in Louzada staying abroad. In earlier stages of a rebuild, Louzada could potentially have a bigger role with hte Pelicans. However, no role with the Pelicans would match the over 20 minutes per game he is receiving in Australia.
