Corey Webster

Pelicans Waive Corey Webster

The Pelicans have waived Corey Webster, the team announced. The shooting guard from New Zealand was in camp on a non-guaranteed deal. The team is reportedly close to a deal with former University of New Orleans point guard Bo McCalebb, and the release of Webster drops the Pelicans roster to 19 players, giving them an open spot beneath the 20-man preseason roster maximum.

Webster, who turns 27 next month, scored four points in close to 22 total minutes of action across three preseason games for the Pelicans. He dished out six assists and committed just two turnovers, but it appears the Pelicans are focused on other options to handle their ball-distribution duties. Starting point guard Jrue Holiday remains on a minutes limit until January and backup Norris Cole is out six weeks with a high ankle sprain, as Andrew Lopez of The Times Picayune noted in his report about the team’s interest in McCalebb.

New Orleans has had a tough go of it with injuries so far, and already the team has made a series of moves to offset the loss of its top two centers, Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca. The Pelicans have 13 full guarantees and a partial guarantee for rookie Bryce Dejean-Jones, as our roster count shows.

Southwest Notes: Williams, Parsons, McGee, Butler

Deron Williams admits he bought into the idea of himself as a reduced player the past few seasons with the Nets, but both he and Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle are optimistic about what the 31-year-old point guard can do in Dallas, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com details.

“I want to prove myself wrong,” Williams said Monday. “I started to doubt myself in the past. Mentally, it took a toll on me. I just got to get out of that rut that I was in the last couple years mentally, and I look forward to this situation. I think I’m past that. This fresh start has definitely helped that a lot. I’m looking forward to this year. It’s a better situation.”

The Mavs invested a two-year, $11MM deal in the hopes that Williams can indeed perform better. See more on the Mavs and their Southwest Division rivals:

  • Chandler Parsons spoke about his close relationship with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in an interview with GQ’s Alex Wong that further addressed the Mavs’ failed effort to recruit DeAndre Jordan this summer. “He didn’t do anything illegal. I’m not mad at him,” Parsons said of Jordan. “At the end of the day, he’s a grown man and he’s entitled to do whatever he wants,” Parsons says. “He’s one of the best young centers in the NBA, and I wanted to play with him. He could have made us great. But he screwed us over.”
  • JaVale McGee is unlikely to be healthy enough to play at the start of the regular season, MacMahon tweets. McGee, who continues to recover from a recurring stress fracture in his left tibia, has a partially guaranteed contract, and his continued place on the Mavs roster depends on how other players perform in camp, MacMahon says. McGee’s partial guarantee of $250K jumps to $500K if he remains under contract through the end of business today.
  • Rasual Butler‘s deal with the Spurs is non-guaranteed for the minimum salary and only covers this season, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
  • Jeff Adrien‘s one-year, minimum salary contract with the Pelicans is non-guaranteed, reports Pincus also reports (Twitter link). The team’s non-guaranteed pact with Corey Webster is for two years, not three, as initially reported, Pincus reveals.

Pelicans Officially Sign Three For Camp

The Pelicans have formally signed Jeff Adrien, Chris Douglas-Roberts and New Zealand prospect Corey Webster, the team announced. The moves, which had been expected, give New Orleans 18 players with training camp set to begin this coming Tuesday.

Adrien is receiving a one-year deal for the minimum after splitting last season between the Timberwolves and China. The 29-year-old power forward again drew interest from Minnesota this summer, as well as from the Magic, Mavs, Timberwolves, Knicks, Hornets and Sixers, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reported when he first broke the story of the deal and its details. It remains unclear just how much, if any, of Adrien’s salary will be guaranteed.

Douglas-Roberts, 28, returns to the NBA on a two-year minimum salary deal after sitting out since January, when the Celtics waived him following the trade that sent him to Boston from the Clippers. Marc Stein of ESPN.com first reported the deal between the Pelicans and the 28-year-old, while John Reid of The Times Picayune added that it’s non-guaranteed.

Webster, a 26-year-old who attended college in the U.S. at the former Lambuth University in Tennessee, spent last season playing in Serbia as well as his native New Zealand. Marc Hinton of stuff.co.nz first revealed the shooting guard’s three-year, non-guaranteed deal. It’s not clear if Webster signed for any more than the equivalent of the rookie minimum salary, though the length of the contract dictates that the team used a portion of its mid-level exception.

Only 13 Pelicans are known to have fully guaranteed contracts, ostensibly giving Adrien, Douglas-Roberts and Webster decent chances of sticking for opening night. Bryce Dejean-Jones and Sean Kilpatrick are headed to camp without full guarantees in their deals.

Pelicans Sign Corey Webster For Training Camp

SEPTEMBER 23RD,: 8:03am: Webster has put pen to paper, as he revealed via Twitter and in an interview with stuff.co.nz. The Pelicans have yet to make a formal announcement.

SEPTEMBER 13TH, 8:59am: The Pelicans will sign New Zealand star Corey Webster for training camp, according to Marc Hinton of stuff.co.nz. Several NBA teams had expressed interest in Webster, who recently held a workout for New Orleans. He will receive a a three-year, non-guaranteed contract.

At 6’2″, Webster will be seeking a backcourt spot with the Pelicans, who have just 13 guaranteed contracts. His competition will include guards Bryce Dejean-Jones and Sean Kilpatrick, who both inked partially guaranteed deals this summer. Restricted free agent Norris Cole remains unsigned with barely two weeks remaining until training camp.

Webster, 26, attended college in the United States at the former Lambuth University in Tennessee, but has played his entire professional career overseas. He will continue to work out with the Pelicans staff until camp opens September 29th.

“I am not there yet but this is another positive step towards my dream of playing in the NBA,” Webster said. “The past week has gone well and the coaches have been impressed enough by the workouts to want me to stay for the training camp. It is again up to me now to prove my value to the organisation, to put my head down and give it my best shot at training camp. I came here this week with a three-day window to impress, this has bought me more time and a chance to take the jump into the actual NBA roster.”

Pelicans, Others Interested In Corey Webster

SEPTEMBER 4TH, 8:05am: Webster will work out for the Pelicans, a source indicated to Niall Anderson of The New Zealand Herald.

AUGUST 22ND, 11:03am: There are multiple NBA teams interested in signing New Zealand’s Corey Webster to a training camp deal, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops reports (Twitter link). It is unknown at this time which teams have expressed interest in the 26-year-old shooting guard. Webster went undrafted back in the 2010 NBA Draft.

Webster attended a three-day mini-camp the Pacers held in June. Prior to the event he told Tom Hersz of Downtownball.net, “I am looking forward to the whole opportunity, being in the NBA environment and the chance to show them what I can do on the court. It’s an amazing opportunity that I am ready to take advantage of.

This past NBL season, Webster was a large part of the New Zealand Breakers winning the league championship, which was the squad’s fourth in the past five seasons. Webster finished eighth overall in the NBL in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per contest, and he led the league in three-pointers made (71), and drained 42% of his shots from deep overall.

He inked a new three year contract with the Breakers in June, but the pact did include an NBA out clause, which would allow Webster to come stateside and compete for an NBA roster spot if he desires.