Perhaps J-Smoove will cure what ails the New Orleans Pelicans.
Josh Smith plans to sign with the Pelicans under the NBA's injury hardship exception, league sources told The Vertical's Shams Charania.
Smith's agent finalized the deal Wednesday, with the 31-year-old wing expected to be available for Thursday's game against the Sacramento Kings, Charania reports.
The exception allows a team to add a 16th player to the roster once four injured players have missed at least three games.
New Orleans was granted the exception since Smith's contract is non-guaranteed, while Jameer Nelson's new one-year deal is.
Smith worked out for the franchise over the summer in an attempt to fill the void created by Solomon Hill, who underwent surgery to repair a proximal hamstring tear in his left leg.
His last NBA action came in garbage time during the 2016 playoffs as a member of the Houston Rockets. Since then, Smith has played overseas for the Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association, as well as Israeli squad Maccabi Haifa during their preseason tour in America.
Selected 17th overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2004 draft, Smith went on to average 14.6 points on 45.3 percent shooting, 7.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.9 rejections across 891 outings for four different teams (Atlanta, Houston, the Detroit Pistons, and Los Angeles Clippers).
The Pelicans have opened the 2017-18 campaign with a 1-3 record, recently losing Anthony Davis (listed as day to day) to a left knee injury. He joins Hill, Alexis Ajinca (knee), Rajon Rondo (hernia), Omer Asik (illness), and rookie Frank Jackson (foot) on the treatment table.
