Pelicans receive Wes Johnson from Clippers for Alexis Ajinca

The New Orleans Pelicans acquired veteran forward Wesley Johnson from the Los Angeles Clippers for backup center Alexis Ajinca, ESPN.com’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported Monday.

According to Wojnarowski, the Clippers will waive Ajinca in efforts to reduce their roster to the NBA allowed maximum of 15 players.

The 31-year-old Johnson averaged 5.4 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 33.9 percent from beyond the arc last season for the Clippers. He plays the small forward position, the thinnest on the Pelicans’ roster.

Ajinca was a seldom-used reserve big man who would have rarely seen the floor for New Orleans in the frontcourt.

The one-for-one deal works salary-wise although Johnson is owed $6.1 million in 2018-19 while Ajinca was due $5.2 million.

PELICANS RELEASE

NEW ORLEANS – The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has acquired forward Wesley Johnson from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for center Alexis Ajinca.

Johnson, 6-7, 215, appeared in 74 games (40 starts) for the Clippers last season, averaging 5.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 20.1 minutes per contest. Selected fourth overall by Minnesota in the 2010 NBA Draft out of Syracuse University, Johnson has appeared in 571 career regular season games (321 starts) with Minnesota, Phoenix, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, posting averages of 7.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists.

Ajinca, 7-2, 248, originally signed with New Orleans as an unrestricted in December of 2013. In 222 regular season games with New Orleans, Ajinca averaged 6.0 points and 4.7 rebounds.