Pelicans invite China's He to Summer League

BEIJING (Reuters) - The New Orleans Pelicans have invited Chinese forward He Tianju to attend the NBA Summer League in July with an eye on drafting him. He's Chinese club Liaoning published the invite letter from Pelicans's director of player personnel David Booth on Tuesday, asking the 24-year-old to train from July 3 and play in games in Las Vegas on July 11 and 21. "I became familiar with Tianju He from a recent scout trip to China at the beginning of January," Booth was quoted as saying by Xinhua in the letter. "I have observed him on several occasions and think that it would be a great experience for him as a player to be involved with our summer league team." The 2.06 meter (6-foot-9-inch) He was voted the starting forward in the China Basketball Association All-Star games this year after helping Liaoning to the runners-up position in the league. There are no Chinese players currently playing in the NBA after Yi Jianlian left the Dallas Mavericks in 2012. (Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; Editing by John O'Brien)