Former Los Angeles Lakers forward and NBA sharpshooter Matt Ryan has found a new team for the upcoming season. A week after the New Orleans Pelicans fired Ryan, the same team, the Pelicans, re-signed the forward.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported the news via Twitter/X.
The Pelicans are re-signing winger Matt Ryan to a restructured one-year contract, sources said. https://t.co/7Gn4sUTk44
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 26, 2024
Ryan played in 12 games for the Purple and Gold during the 2022-23 season. He averaged 3.9 points per game, 1.2 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 10.8 minutes, while shooting 30.6 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three-point range. The highlight of his season came early in the season when he hit a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game at the regulation buzzer against the Pelicans, giving the Lakers the overtime victory, 120-117.
Charania said the Pelicans would bring him back on a restructured deal after he was released. When New Orleans released the sharpshooter, the Pelicans had a 15th roster spot available; however, they decided to use it again for Ryan, who was solid for them last season.
Ryan spent the 2023-24 season with the Pelicans, where he averaged 5.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists while shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 45.1 percent from three-point range. The 26-year-old played in 28 games for the Pelicans after being claimed off waivers and subsequently signing a two-way contract.
After the season, the Pelicans signed Ryan to a standard contract in April 2024.
The 27-year-old New York native has had his ups and downs in the NBA. He began his college career at Notre Dame before transferring to Vanderbilt, where he averaged 8.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. After his sophomore season at Vanderbilt, he transferred to Chattanooga, where he averaged 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 30.6 minutes per game over 33 games.
Ryan went undrafted in the 2020 NBA draft, and after the COVID-19 pandemic limited his prospects, he did not earn a spot in the G League bubble in 2020-21.
Ryan eventually had to work for DoorDash and UberEats while coaching a local basketball team. Ryan also worked at a cemetery in Yonkers, New York, before getting his first chance with the Cavaliers during the 2021 NBA Summer League. In February 2022, he signed a two-way contract with the Boston Celtics and averaged 20.4 points in 14 games for the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ G League affiliate during the 2021-22 G League season.
Ryan and the Pelicans will look to take the next step and become one of the top teams in the tough Western Conference.
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