Houston Rockets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Extension Notes: Giddey, Green, Gobert, Gordon

October 23rd, 2024 at 11:55am CST by Luke Adams

Noting that Bulls guard Josh Giddey was among the top rookie scale extension candidates who didn’t sign a new contract before Monday’s deadline, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said in the latest episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link) that the two sides didn’t seem to gain any real traction in their negotiations ahead of the regular season.

“From what I understand, there were never really any meaningful negotiations there, which was a surprise to me,” Windhorst said. “I thought the Bulls were going to be under some amount of pressure to get him done because they had traded Alex Caruso for him.”

Giddey will now be on track for restricted free agency in 2025, with the Bulls getting the opportunity to evaluate him for a year before deciding how significant an investment they want to make in their new point guard.

Meanwhile, Windhorst and his podcast guest Bobby Marks singled out the unusual extension that Jalen Green signed with the Rockets – which gave him a third-year player option and a 10% trade kicker – and suggested that the unique terms of the deal signal that Green could become a trade candidate before his contract expires.

“This is a contract that a lot of people in the league think was signed for the option to be traded,” Windhorst said, adding that the 10% trade kicker was the biggest one handed out in any of this week’s extensions. “I’m not saying the Rockets are definitely going to trade him. I’m just saying this contract was designed to allow him to be traded.”

Here are a few more notes on the contract extensions that were completed this week:

Discussing his new three-year, $110MM agreement with the Timberwolves, Rudy Gobert said he didn’t want to be too “greedy” in negotiations and that he wanted the team to maintain some spending flexibility after locking him up, according to Chris Hine of The Minneapolis Star Tribune. As part of the deal, Gobert declined a $46.7MM player option for 2025/26 and will replace it with a cap hit that comes in $10MM+ below that. “It’s about finding balance,” Gobert said. “Every year, every time I sign a contract I always try to leave a little bit for the team, be able to realize that I’m grateful being able to earn what I’m earning coming from where I come from.”
Aaron Gordon made a similar concession in his extension with the Nuggets, picking up a $22.84MM player option for 2025/26 as part of the deal and allowing the team to put off his 40% raise until ’26/27. Gordon, who said he was “ecstatic” to finalize a long-term deal with Denver, referred to the extension as a “win-win” for him and the team, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “Playing alongside Joker (Nikola Jokic), Jamal (Murray), MPJ (Michael Porter Jr.), and being coached under Mike Malone, what more can you ask for?” Gordon said. “From the moment that I got here, Mike Malone has put me in a position to succeed and flourish. He’s put me in the right place, and he’s encouraged me to just be myself, and he’s coached me and allowed me to be myself. So to be coached under him is a great thing. And then just playing alongside these great players and continuing to build a friendship, a bond, a brotherhood, and a team, I’m really excited for it.”
John Hollinger of The Athletic takes a deep dive into the extensions signed this week and considers which teams made out the best and which clubs were smart to hold the line. Hollinger called the Rockets‘ five-year, $185MM deal with Alperen Sengun a “home run” for Houston and lauded the Pelicans for locking up Trey Murphy on a four-year, $112MM extension.

Contract Details: Gordon, Moody, Suggs, Green, Sengun, Murphy, More

October 23rd, 2024 at 7:07am CST by Luke Adams

The three-year veteran extension that Aaron Gordon signed with the Nuggets is worth $103,608,840 in total base salary, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. As expected, Gordon is getting the maximum 40% raise on his 2025/26 salary ($22,841,455), with 8% annual raises after that.

Gordon’s is also getting the maximum 40% bump (and 8% subsequent increases) on his $1.2MM in incentives for the ’25/26 season, so they’ll increase to $1.68MM in the first year of the extension and will be worth $5,443,200 in total across the three years of the deal. That means that if the Nuggets forward earns all his bonuses, he could make up to $109,052,040 over those three seasons.

The trade kicker on Gordon’s extension is for just 3%, which represents the lowest percentage of any active trade kicker around the NBA.

Here are more details on some of the contracts recently signed by players across the league:

Moses Moody‘s three-year extension with the Warriors actually has a total base value of $37.5MM, rather than the $39MM initially reported. The deal includes $1.5MM in incentives that could push the total value up to $39MM.
Jalen Suggs‘ five-year, $150MM extension with the Magic starts at $35MM in 2025/26 and has a descending structure. By the fifth year, in 2029/30, Suggs’ cap hit will be just $26.7MM.
The exact value of Jalen Green‘s three-year extension with the Rockets is $105,333,333. It starts at $33,333,333, with matching $36MM cap hits in years two and three (the third year is a player option).
Alperen Sengun‘s five-year, $185MM extension with the Rockets has an ascending structure, though it doesn’t increase by the maximum allowable 8% per year. It begins at $33,944,954 in 2025/26 and eventually gets as high as $39,036,697 in years four and five. The fifth year is a player option.
Trey Murphy‘s four-year, $112MM extension with the Pelicans begins at $25MM and increases by $2MM annually, getting up to $31MM by year four.
The new standard contract Alex Reese signed with the Thunder is a straightforward one-year, minimum-salary deal that is fully non-guaranteed. I’d be a little surprised if Reese lasts the whole season on that contract, but if he does, he’d be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2025.
Alondes Williams‘ two-way contract with the Pistons is for two years. While it’s pretty rare for a player to play out a full two-year, two-way contract, Detroit could technically keep Williams on his current deal all the way through the end of the 2025/26 season.

Rockets, Alperen Sengun Finalize Five-Year Extension

October 21st, 2024 at 5:35pm CST by Luke Adams

5:35pm: Sengun has officially signed his new contract with the Rockets, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

4:49pm: The Rockets and big man Alperen Sengun have reached an agreement on a five-year rookie scale extension, agents Sean Kennedy and Jeff Schwartz tell Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal is worth $185MM, with a fifth-year player option, according to Marks.

Sengun, 22, is coming off a breakout season that saw him finish third in Most Improved Player voting. He set new career highs in points (21.1), rebounds (9.3), assists (5.0), and steals (1.2) per game while making 53.7% of his field goal attempts in 63 starts (32.5 MPG) before ankle and knee injuries prematurely ended his season.

Despite Sengun’s star turn, there was uncertainty entering the fall about whether or not he and the Rockets would work out a rookie scale extension, since Houston wasn’t expected to offer him a maximum-salary deal at this time and was in position to maximize its 2025 cap room by postponing a new deal for Sengun. If he had entered next offseason as a restricted free agent, Sengun would have had a cap hold of just $16.3MM.

However, Sengun said on media day that he was interested in signing an extension before the 2024/25 season tipped off and Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle reported at the time that there was a “legitimate chance” the two sides would reach a deal.

Having agreed to terms with both Sengun and Jalen Green, who signed a three-year, $105.3MM extension, the Rockets now appear poised to operate over the cap next summer rather than under it.

They also have two of their cornerstone players locked up for multiple seasons beyond 2024/25. In addition to Sengun and Green, Rockets youngsters Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, and Reed Sheppard are also under contract through at least 2027.

Sengun is one of seven players to complete a rookie scale extension in the past 24 hours, joining Jalen Johnson, Jalen Suggs, Trey Murphy, Corey Kispert, Moses Moody, and his teammate Green.

Rockets Sign Jalen Green To Three-Year Extension

October 21st, 2024 at 4:05pm CST by Luke Adams

4:05pm: The Rockets have officially signed Green to his extension, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

According to NBA reporter Jake Fischer (Twitter link), Green’s new deal features a 10% trade kicker. Meanwhile, the year-by-year breakdown provided by Marks (Twitter link) suggests the exact value of the contract is right around $105.3MM.

2:48pm: The Rockets and guard Jalen Green have agreed to terms on a three-year rookie scale extension worth $106MM, agents Aaron Mintz, Andrew Morrison, and Shakira Wardally tell Shams Charania and Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal will include a third-year player option.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Green has averaged 19.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game in his 225 NBA outings (all starts).

Green’s shooting percentages during his first three seasons have been modest (.421/.337/.794) and his defense has been inconsistent, but he has shown tantalizing flashes of putting it all together, including during a 15-game stretch near the end of the 2023/24 season when he averaged 29.2 PPG on .488/.422/.782 shooting and led the Rockets to 13 wins in 15 games to keep them in the play-in hunt.

The terms of Green’s new deal are quite unusual for a few reasons. For one, most rookie scale extensions cover at least four seasons and those that don’t are typically far less lucrative contracts signed by role players.

Based on our research, the largest three-year rookie scale extension signed prior to this year was the $52.5MM contract Caris LeVert received in 2019. Green’s contract will more than double the annual average value of LeVert’s.

Green also received a player option, which has become a rarity for rookie scale extensions. Of the 31 rookie scale extensions completed since 2022 prior to this deal, just one featured a player option, and that contract (for Nuggets big man Zeke Nnaji) was for four years. Green’s option will be for the 2027/28 season, allowing him to potentially reach unrestricted free agency at age 25.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (via Twitter), because Green’s new contract is for just three years instead of four or five seasons, he’ll also become eligible for his next extension earlier than most rookie scale extension recipients. He’ll be able to sign an extension worth up to a projected $227MM+ over four years as of October 26, per Marks.

While it remains to be seen whether or not the Rockets will try to become a cap-space team during the 2025 offseason, Green’s new contract won’t necessarily affect their ability to do so, since he would’ve had a significant cap hold (exceeding $37MM) as a restricted free agent. His first-year salary on his new deal will be $33.5MM, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link), which is a little more than $5MM below his projected max.

Southwest Notes: VanVleet, Murray, Pelicans, Gortman

October 21st, 2024 at 9:07am CST by Luke Adams

After signing a maximum-salary contract with the Rockets last summer, Fred VanVleet averaged 17.4 points per game – his lowest scoring mark since 2018/19 – while handing out a career-high 8.1 assists per contest. In his second season in Houston, the team wouldn’t mind seeing VanVleet turn some of those assists into points, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

As Feigen observes, the Rockets should have more ball-handling options this season, with rookie Reed Sheppard capable of handling those duties and second-year guard Amen Thompson growing into that role. That will allow the club to have VanVleet operate off the ball a little more often, opening up catch-and-shoot opportunities. He made 38.7% of his three-point tries last season.

“As we’ve seen with Fred in the past, he can play off ball. That’s one of his strengths,” head coach Ime Udoka said. “To play with (DeMar) DeRozan, Kawhi Leonard, (Pascal) Siakam, all these guys that really handle it quite a bit, he’s been the recipient. I think he’s been more so in practices and preseason games of getting some off-ball shots. That speaks to the comfort of other guys to handle it, make plays. … He can take plays off, be off the ball some, and be the recipient of some assists instead of making them.”

Udoka expressed confidence in Sheppard and Thompson as options to initiate the offense and also pointed to Jalen Green as someone who can bring the ball up the court. Besides letting VanVleet play off the ball more, those other ball-handlers should also put the Rockets in position to reduce the veteran point guard’s minutes after he averaged 36.8 MPG last season.

“Not a specific number, but way less than that, obviously,” Udoka said when asked about a target for VanVleet’s minutes. “That was the second-highest of his career. But he’s a guy that played heavy minutes in Toronto in the past. He took that on himself last year to really help us grow in those areas. It was another coach on the floor. But we’d like to drop that, for sure.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Pelicans point guard Dejounte Murray is looking forward to reclaiming what he considers his “real position” this season in New Orleans after spending two seasons playing alongside Trae Young with the Hawks, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “In Atlanta, I was in the corner and on the wings, and I made the best of it,” Murray said. “Here, they are allowing me to play my real position. Playing point guard. Keeping everything organized. And making dudes better. And doing what I do best.”
The Pelicans intend to operate without a traditional center on the court for significant chunks of games this season. Head coach Willie Green believes the strategy can work, since those units should provide more versatility on both ends of the court despite giving up some rim protection and rebounding, but he stressed it will require a commitment from the players in those small-ball lineups. “When those units are on the floor, they have to have an understanding that they have to be tougher,” Green said (story via Clark at NOLA.com). “They have to play harder. We have to compete at a higher level. We have to rebound at a higher level in order for those types of groups to work.” Daniel Theis, who has spent most of his career as a backup, and rookie Yves Missi are New Orleans’ top two traditional centers, but forward Herbert Jones may open the season as the team’s de facto five.
Camp invitee Jazian Gortman impressed the Mavericks this fall not just with his play on the court but with his work ethic off it, according to Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Substack link), who notes that the guard spent plenty of time watching film before games and getting extra reps after practices. Gortman, who believes his decision-making and his three-point shot have both improved since Summer League, was promoted to a two-way contract on Friday. “He impressed not just me but the organization as a whole,” head coach Jason Kidd said. “Everyone who watched camp felt he was impressive, and we knew he was someone we needed to take a closer look at.”

Rockets Waive Jermaine Samuels Jr., Nate Hinton, Matt Bradley

October 19th, 2024 at 2:57pm CST by Tristan Tucker

The Rockets finalized their regular season roster by waiving Jermaine Samuels Jr., Nate Hinton and Matt Bradley, Jonathan Feigen of Houston Chronicle reports (Twitter link). According to Feigen, the team will keep its 15th roster spot open for flexibility to start the season.

Samuels went undrafted in 2022, playing his rookie season for the Pacers’ G League affiliate. The five-year Villanova standout impressed in the G League, shooting 46.4% from three in his first professional season. That led to a two-way contract from Houston, which he played on for all of last season.

Samuels only got into 14 games with the Rockets last year, but again played well in the G League, averaging 19.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists. However, he wasn’t kept on his two-way deal and instead re-signed to a camp deal this offseason as Houston filled its two-way slots with other players.

Like Samuels, Hinton spent all of last season on a two-way deal with the Rockets. A three-year veteran, Hinton has made stops with Dallas and Indiana after going undrafted in 2020. He played two college seasons at Houston. A skilled rebounder, Hinton got into 37 games with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League where he averaged 13.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 2.3 steals per contest as a 6’5″ guard.

He too was signed to an Exhibit 10 deal after not being retained on a two-way with the Rockets.

The Rockets signed Bradley to an Exhibit 10 deal on Friday. This was the expected move for him, with the signing designed to have him play for Rio Grande Valley this season. He averaged 14.9 points in five collegiate seasons with Cal and San Diego State.

All three players are expected to play for the Vipers this season, with all being eligible for bonuses worth up to $77.5K apiece if they spend at least 60 days with the G League team.

Kuminga, Suggs, Giddey Among Extension Candidates Seeking $30MM+ Annually

October 19th, 2024 at 10:43am CST by Tristan Tucker

The deadline for teams to sign players to rookie scale contract extensions falls on Monday and will force several clubs to make tough decisions.

The Warriors have two players under consideration for rookie scale extensions: Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. As we relayed Friday evening, Moody appears more likely than Kuminga to receive an extension by Monday. Moody is in line to receive minutes at the wing spot in the wake up Klay Thompson‘s departure, and NBA insider Jake Fischer reports he could earn more than $10MM per season on his extension (Threads link).

However, Kuminga is seeking a near-max contract that would pay him north of $30MM annually. According to Fischer, the Warriors have “never seemed intent” on paying the forward that kind of money ahead of the season. That tracks with earlier reporting, which suggested that both sides are content to wait to see if Kuminga takes another step forward in 2024/25 and helps propel the team back into contention as its second- or third-best player. In that scenario, he would presumably be rewarded in restricted free agency next offseason.

Moody averaged 8.1 points and 3.0 rebounds per game last season while Kuminga broke out, averaging 16.1 PPG on 52.9% shooting from the field.

We have more on this year’s rookie scale extension candidates:

According to Fischer, Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson is facing a similar situation to Kuminga. However, there’s “far more optimism” that the Hawks and Johnson will finalize a deal worth north of $30MM each year, which is said to be the starting point for negotiations with the former Duke standout. Johnson broke out in a big way last season, jumping from 5.6 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 2022/23 to 16.0 PPG and 8.7 RPG. He’s primed to be a long-term fixture in Atlanta as one of the Hawks’ franchise cornerstones.
Magic guard Jalen Suggs is seeking an extension worth more than $30MM annually in talks with Orlando, NBA insider Marc Stein reports (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether or not Orlando is prepared to make that sort of offer, but Suggs emerged as one of the best defensive guards in the league last season, earning a spot on the All-Defensive Second Team, averaging 12.6 PPG and 1.4 SPG, improving his outside shooting to 39.7%, and helping the young Magic to a 47-win season.
Immanuel Quickley‘s five-year, $162.5MM contract with the Raptors is said to have set a benchmark for young guards across the league, Fischer says, confirming previous reporting. Bulls guard/forward Josh Giddey is also seeking at least $30MM per year on his next extension. However, the Bulls are more interested in seeing how Giddey fits with the team before committing that kind of money to him. Chicago traded Alex Caruso for Giddey in June.
The Rockets haven’t been willing to this point to approach a maximum-salary deal for either Jalen Green or Alperen Sengun, according to Fischer. We relayed Friday that the Rockets have held productive conversations with both players, submitting offers to each, but that those offers were below the max. Fischer indicates that Houston is completely fine with not agreeing to terms with either before the year begins.
Clippers guard Bones Hyland and Nets young players Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe are not expected to agree to terms on a rookie scale extension, according to Fischer. However, there remains some optimism that Hornets guard Tre Mann, Pacers forward Isaiah Jackson and Wizards wing Corey Kispert will be able to sign extensions by Monday’s deadline.
Quentin Grimes has emerged as a real candidate to receive an extension by Monday, according to Stein (Twitter link). Grimes was acquired by the Mavericks in exchange for Tim Hardaway Jr. this offseason and he’s averaged 8.5 PPG across three NBA seasons. His deal would presumably be in the ballpark of Moody’s, perhaps a bit more than $10MM per year.

Rockets Sign Matt Bradley

October 18th, 2024 at 9:44pm CST by Rory Maher

The Rockets have signed free agent guard Matt Bradley, the team announced (Twitter link via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle).

At 6’4″ and 220 pounds, Bradley has a strong, stocky build for a backcourt player. He averaged 14.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists on .427/.391/.814 shooting over five college seasons at California and San Diego State prior to going undrafted in 2023. He helped the Aztecs reach the NCAA championship game last year, ultimately falling to UConn.

Bradley spent his first professional overseas, having played for the Rostock Seawolves of Germany’s top basketball league, the BBL. In 25 games with Rostock during the 2023/24 campaign, he averaged 7.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 17.2 minutes per contest.

While the terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Bradley almost certainly signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Rockets and will be waived in the coming hours. That would ensure he receives a bonus worth up to $77.5K if he spends at least 60 days with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s NBAGL affiliate.

Bradley is the 20th player under contract with the Rockets. They’ll need to get down to 18 players to set their regular season roster.

Extension Rumors: Durant, Kuminga, Moody, Sengun, Green, Gordon

October 18th, 2024 at 6:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Suns forward Kevin Durant won’t sign a contract extension before the regular season begins, Shams Charania said during an appearance on Friday’s episode of NBA Today on ESPN (YouTube link).

As we outlined on Thursday, Durant – who has two years left on his current maximum-salary deal – is eligible until October 21 to sign a one-year extension worth up to $59.5MM. If he doesn’t sign that extension by Monday, his next opportunity to extend his contract will come during the 2025 offseason.

Durant downplayed the likelihood of completing a deal this fall, but has expressed “publicly and privately how much he loves Phoenix,” according to Charania, who suggests that both the former MVP and the team are focused on getting something done next offseason, when Durant could add two new years to his current contract for a total of $123.8MM.

The Over-38 rule prohibits Durant from signing any deal that would keep him under contract for four or more total years going forward.

Here are a few more of the latest updates on players who are eligible for contract extensions:

The Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga remain “far apart” in their extension negotiations, according to Charania, who said during that same NBA Today segment that there’s a sense Kuminga may enter the season without a new deal in place, putting him on track for restricted free agency in 2025. Charania adds that the Warriors forward is comfortable with the idea of betting on himself in 2024/25 and trying to earn a maximum-salary contract – or something close to it – next summer. Moses Moody appears “much more likely” than Kuminga to sign an extension with Golden State before Monday’s deadline, per Charania.
The Rockets have had “productive” conversations with both Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green and have made extension offers that would provide them with long-term financial security, according to Charania. However, Charania notes that those offers are below the max, so Sengun and Green will have to decide whether they’re willing to accept those deals or if they want to push for bigger paydays by opting for restricted free agency.
The Nuggets and forward Aaron Gordon are in “active conversations” about an extension, per Charania. Gordon is eligible to sign for up to $143.3MM on a four-year deal that would begin in 2025/26, though ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on the Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link) that Denver is hoping to get him to accept a little less than that. “They haven’t handed out that (max) offer,” Windhorst said (hat tip to RealGM). “Otherwise he would have signed it. From what I understand, they are negotiating and they’re hopeful of getting him at less than what would be his quote, unquote max.”
In an Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks examines some of this year’s top extension candidates and shares the offers he’d put on the table for several of them, including $148MM for Jalen Johnson, $128MM for Josh Giddey, and a whopping $165MM for Jalen Suggs (all five-year deals).

Southwest Notes: Doncic, Spurs, Kennard, Rockets, Ingram, Zion

October 16th, 2024 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks star Luka Doncic likely won’t play in the team’s preseason finale vs. Milwaukee on Thursday, head coach Jason Kidd told reporters today. However, Doncic went through a full practice on Wednesday and did “really, really well,” Kidd said, per Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Twitter link).

Doncic was diagnosed with a left calf contusion during the early days of training camp. At the time, it was deemed a minor injury that wasn’t expected to affect his availability for the team’s regular season opener on October 24.

Despite the fact that Doncic may not end up playing a single minute this preseason, it still doesn’t sound as if his ability to return for next Thursday’s game vs. San Antonio is in any doubt, given that he’s fully participating in practice more than a week out from opening night.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Based on the way Gregg Popovich has managed his rotation this preseason, it appears likely the Spurs will open the season with a starting five of Chris Paul, Julian Champagnie, Jeremy Sochan, Harrison Barnes, and Victor Wembanyama, with Keldon Johnson, Stephon Castle, Zach Collins, and Blake Wesley also getting regular minutes, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). However, Popovich said his rotation isn’t set in stone yet, and obviously it’s subject to change once Devin Vassell is ready to return from his foot injury, Orsborn notes.
The Spurs received $2MM in cash from the Kings in the Jalen McDaniels trade, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Marks also fills in the cash details from a couple of the Spurs’ offseason trades, confirming that San Antonio received $1MM from the Pacers for moving from No. 35 to No. 36 in the draft and $110K from the Hornets in the Devonte’ Graham salary dump.
Grizzlies sharpshooter Luke Kennard was feeling some soreness in his foot after Monday’s game in Indiana, according to head coach Taylor Jenkins, who said that Kennard may have to miss some time as a result of the ailment (Twitter link via Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal).
The Rockets‘ preseason win over New Orleans on Tuesday showed how they can benefit this fall from offseason continuity after making significant roster changes in 2023, says Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “We’ve been playing with each other since last year,” veteran forward Jeff Green said. “We know what we want to do. We know what the goal is out there.” As Christian Clark of NOLA.com observes, Tuesday’s game was the first of the preseason for Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, while Zion Williamson sat out for what head coach Willie Green called a “rest day.”