According to Eric Pincus of BasketballInsiders.com, the New Orleans Pelicans have agreed to a two-year minimum deal with former University of Cincinnati standout shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick.

Sean Kilpatrick has signed a two-year min. deal with the New Orleans Pelicans with $50k guaranteed in 1st season @BBallInsiders — Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) September 9, 2015

The 25-year old shooting guard played four games with the Minnesota Timberwolves last year after spending most of the season in the NBA D-League with the Santa Cruz Warriors and the Delaware 87ers. He struggled shooting the ball in the four games he played in Minnesota last year, but had decent success on the D-League level. So the question comes up….why did the Pelicans sign Kilpatrick?

It comes down to the fact that the Pelicans are seemingly targeting younger players at the wing positions as a way of building depth. Between Kilpatrick, Bryce Dejean-Jones and Corey Webster, New Orleans has keyed in on players that either signed minimal deals or are getting training camp invites. With increased depth at point guard, power forward and center since the start of last season, it seems their main goal this year is to try and find some young players who can fill in the gaps on the perimeter.

For Kilpatrick, the chances is that he could be an eventual answer at backup shooting guard with the increasing likelihood that Eric Gordon could be leaving New Orleans after this season.

Behind Gordon, the Pelicans depth at shooting guard is a little frightening as New Orleans are currently running Norris Cole in the spot with Tyreke Evans as the backup pint guard, which is not very ideal with how short Cole is and how dangerous that can be against certain backup shooting guards who have a height advantage.

Kilpatrick is going to be a work in progress. He could very well see limited games on the floor because of New Orleans thought process to keep what succeeded last year in tact. However, he’s a good long-term future gamble that could end up paying off. An electric two-guard who still has work to do, but could end up developing into a decent backup option after this season for a cheap price is always a gamble to take.