Pelicans' Nikola Mirotic: Probable starter for opener

Coach Alvin Gentry indicated Tuesday that he's leaning toward starting Mirotic at power forward in the Pelicans' season opener Wednesday against the Rockets, Will Guillory of The Athletic reports.

The Pelicans tried out both Mirotic and Julius Randle alongside Anthony Davis during the preseason, but it looks as though Gentry will likely go with Mirotic, who provides more floor-spacing next to the MVP candidate. Randle and Mirotic figure to split minutes at the four relatively evenly, however, and the Pelicans will experiment with playing the pair together in certain situations.