New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Alexey Shved Drew NBA Interest This Summer

August 19th, 2018 at 8:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA guard Alexey Shved received interest from multiple NBA teams this offseason, but decided to remain overseas for the time being, agent Obrad Fimic told Russian outlet Izvestia (translation via HoopsHype).

Shved, who played for the Timberwolves, Sixers, Rockets, and Knicks during his previous stint in the NBA from 2012 to 2015, has been a member of Russian club Khimki since returning to Europe three years ago. While the 29-year-old will remain with Khimki for the upcoming season, Fimic suggests that the Pelicans, Timberwolves, Grizzlies, and Suns all expressed interest in signing his client.

According to Fimic, Shved received a couple minimum-salary offers, and one offer that would’ve been in the $4MM range for 2018/19. However, the agent for the Russian guard believes the summer of 2019 may be a better time to revisit the possibility of a return to the NBA.

“Next year, Alexey will still be under contract with Khimki, but we’ll be carefully considering offers from the NBA,” Fimic said. “Everyone says the NBA teams will have more available money next summer. Therefore, the probability of his departure will increase.”

In 2017/18, Shved was the EuroLeague’s leading scorer, averaging 21.8 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 2.6 RPG in 34 EuroLeague contests. He also put up 23.6 PPG, 5.6 APG, and 2.3 RPG in 24 Russian League games.

NBA Teams With Most, Fewest Guaranteed Salaries

August 19th, 2018 at 5:16pm CST by Luke Adams

At this point in the NBA offseason, most teams are carrying 14 and 15 players on guaranteed salaries. The clubs with 14 guaranteed contracts on their books will likely either enter the season with an open roster spot or allow camp invitees to compete for that 15th-man role. Teams with 15 players already on guaranteed deals have their regular-season rosters all but set already.

Still, several teams around the NBA have more than 15 or fewer than 14 fully guaranteed salaries on their cap for now. Using our roster counts tool, here’s a look at those teams, with details on what they might be thinking as the 2018/19 season nears:

Fewer than 14 guaranteed contracts:

Houston Rockets (11 guaranteed contracts): In addition to their 11 fully guaranteed contracts, the Rockets also figure to hang onto Michael Carter-Williams, who has a significant partial guarantee. Second-round pick De’Anthony Melton is a good bet to sign a guaranteed contract at some point too. That would increase the Rockets’ roster count to 13, with Zhou Qi the most likely candidate for the 14th spot.
Cleveland Cavaliers (12): While they only have 12 guaranteed salaries on their books for now, the Cavaliers figure to increase that count by two once they officially sign David Nwaba and bring back Rodney Hood.
Miami Heat (12): The Heat continue to wait on Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem to make decisions on whether or not they’ll continue their respective careers. They’ll be penciled in to the 13th and 14th spots if they elect to return.
Minnesota Timberwolves (12): Although he only has a partial guarantee, James Nunnally is a safe bet to make the Timberwolves’ roster as the 13th man. It’s not clear what the team intends to do with its last opening or two.
New Orleans Pelicans (12): Only 12 Pelicans have fully guaranteed salaries, but there are several legit NBA players – Emeka Okafor, DeAndre Liggins, Jahlil Okafor, and Troy Williams – vying for roster spots on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts. At least two of them figure to make the team.
Atlanta Hawks (13): The Hawks will increase their roster count to 15 guaranteed salaries once Vince Carter and Daniel Hamilton make their deals with Atlanta official.
Golden State Warriors (13): The Warriors plan to enter the season with 14 players under contract, leaving a spot open for flexibility. Their 14th man will likely be Patrick McCaw, who is still a restricted free agent for now.
Toronto Raptors (13): The Raptors may enter the season with a 14-man roster. Lorenzo Brown is currently the top candidate for that 14th spot, though Chris Boucher and others could provide competition.

More than 15 guaranteed contracts:

Sacramento Kings (16): When the Kings took advantage of their leftover cap room to sign Nemanja Bjelica and Yogi Ferrell, it created a roster crunch. If the club doesn’t trade a player before the season begins, Iman Shumpert, Kosta Koufos, Ben McLemore, and Deyonta Davis are among the release candidates on the roster — all four are on expiring contracts.
Los Angeles Clippers (15 + Patrick Beverley): The Clippers technically only have 15 players on guaranteed salaries, but Beverley, who is on a non-guaranteed deal, will probably make the team. Assuming he does, that will mean trading or releasing another player, perhaps Wesley Johnson or Jawun Evans.
Memphis Grizzlies (15 + Andrew Harrison): Like Beverley in L.A., Harrison is on a non-guaranteed salary, but may not be expendable. If he remains on Memphis’ roster, the Grizzlies may end up releasing Dakari Johnson.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Jahlil Okafor Discusses Freedom From 'Stressors'

August 18th, 2018 at 6:22pm CST by Arthur Hill

In an Instagram post, Pelicans center Jahlil Okafor thanks Kevin Love for bringing mental health issues into the open last season. Okafor, who signed a partially guaranteed two-year deal earlier this month, displays a more toned body in the post, but states that he underwent a greater change on the inside. “I’ve learned how to identify and manage different stressors such as anxiety,” Okafor wrote. “Learning how to identify certain stressors has also allowed me to over come them. Often times because of my size and profession people may view me in a certain way, but in reality I deal with the same struggles as countless others.”

E'Twaun Moore Surprised By Rondo's Departure

August 16th, 2018 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on the HoopsHype podcast with Alex Kennedy, Pelicans guard E’Twaun Moore admitted that he wasn’t shocked by DeMarcus Cousins‘ departure this offseason, though he was caught off guard when Rajon Rondo signed elsewhere. “I thought he was going to stay for sure,” Moore said of Rondo, per Ashish Mathur of AmicoHoops.

Pelicans Still In Need Of A Wing Player?

August 15th, 2018 at 10:03pm CST by clarkcrum

A bigger issue with the Pelicans this upcoming season may be the absence of a reliable player on the wing rather than the loss of Rajon Rondo or DeMarcus Cousins, as newcomers Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton are capable of replicating their production, at least in part, writes Scott Kushner of The Advocate.

Kushner opines that nobody on the Pelicans’ roster is capable of being a solid “3-and-D” player, as Solomon Hill has struggled to recover from a torn hamstring and E’Twaun Moore, limited by his 6’4” frame, has been asked to play against players much taller than him and seemingly taken out of his comfort zone as a result.

“If it was up to me — it doesn’t really matter as long as I stay on the floor and help my team win — but I would like to say that maybe I hopefully could be playing a little bit more guard (this season),” Moore said. “Last year, I was more of a wing, but it worked out well for the team because we played so fast. But it would be kind of cool to be going back to being a guard again.”

So, the Pelicans will now hold a three-man competition between Troy Williams, Garlon Green, and Kenrich Williams in order to find someone who may be able to crack the team’s wing rotation this season.

The Pelicans could also be active around midseason, as they were when they acquired Cousins in 2017 and Nikola Mirotic last season. But for now, they’ll rely on MVP-candidate Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Randle and Mirotic, which should be enough to keep them in the Western Conference playoff race.

Jahlil Okafor's Contract Has Modest Guarantees

August 12th, 2018 at 7:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Only $50K of Jahlil Okafor‘s two-year contract with the Pelicans is guaranteed, Pincus reveals in another tweet. The second year is a team option but just a little over $54K is guaranteed even if it’s exercised, Pincus adds. The signing became official on Thursday.

Okafor Is A Low-Risk Addition

August 10th, 2018 at 7:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The signing of big man Jahlil Okafor is a low-risk, high-reward proposition for the Pelicans, Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate opines. The former No. 3 overall pick was signed this week to a partially guaranteed two-year, $3.27MM contract, which includes a team option for the second year. That means Okafor can easily be cut loose if he doesn’t impress in training camp, Kushner notes. If he sticks, Okafor’s scoring ability could allow him to carve out a niche role off the bench behind starters Anthony Davis and Nikola Mirotic, Kushner adds.

Pelicans Had 'Great' Interest In James Nunnally

August 10th, 2018 at 1:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Before James Nunnally signed with Minnesota, he drew “great” interest from the Pelicans, as well as some interest from the Rockets, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN (Twitter link).

NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2018/19

August 9th, 2018 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $101.869MM threshold once that room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax limit as well, with clubs like the Warriors, Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Raptors, and Wizards going well beyond that tax line this year.

The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows those clubs to build significant payrolls without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped.

When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion ($5.337MM) of the mid-level exception, that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.

When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron is set at a point approximately $6MM above the luxury tax line. For the 2018/19 league year, the tax apron – and hard cap for certain clubs – is set at $129.817MM.

So far this year, nine teams have imposed a hard cap on themselves by using the bi-annual exception, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, or acquiring a player via sign-and-trade. Listed below are those nine teams, along with how they created a hard cap.

Charlotte Hornets

Used approximately $6MM of mid-level exception to sign Tony Parker and Devonte’ Graham.

Detroit Pistons

Used approximately $5.75MM of mid-level exception to sign Glenn Robinson, Khyri Thomas, and Bruce Brown.

Los Angeles Clippers

Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Luc Mbah a Moute and Mike Scott.

Memphis Grizzlies

Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Kyle Anderson.

Milwaukee Bucks

Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Ersan Ilyasova and Pat Connaughton.
Used bi-annual exception to sign Brook Lopez.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Used approximately $6.59MM of mid-level exception to sign Anthony Tolliver and Keita Bates-Diop.

New Orleans Pelicans

Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Julius Randle.
Used bi-annual exception to sign Elfrid Payton.

New York Knicks

Used approximately $8MM of mid-level exception to sign Mario Hezonja and Mitchell Robinson.

San Antonio Spurs

Used approximately $6.99MM of mid-level exception to sign Marco Belinelli and Chimezie Metu.
Used bi-annual exception to sign Dante Cunningham.

Currently, none of the hard-capped teams listed above have team salaries within $5MM of the tax apron, so that hard cap shouldn’t be a real issue for most of these clubs during the 2018/19 league year. However, that could change if any of these teams – particularly the Hornets or Pistons – makes additional free agent signings or takes on extra money in a trade at some point.

Pelicans Sign Jahlil Okafor

August 9th, 2018 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

AUGUST 9: The Pelicans have officially signed Okafor, according to the NBA’s official transactions log.

AUGUST 8: The Pelicans have agreed to sign free agent center Jahlil Okafor, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). A source tells Wojnarowski that Okafor will sign a two-year contract with a partial guarantee in the first year and a team option for year two.

Scott Kushner of The Advocate first reported on Tuesday that the Pelicans and Okafor were engaged in discussions about a possible deal. As we noted at the time, the 22-year-old could be a good fit on a Pelicans roster that is short on traditional centers. Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotic, and Julius Randle are expected to see the majority of the frontcourt minutes for the club, but none of those players is a natural five.

While Emeka Okafor, Alexis Ajinca, and Cheick Diallo are also options at center for the Pelicans, Okafor’s salary is still non-guaranteed, Ajinca missed the entire 2017/18 season with a knee injury, and Diallo has played primarily at the four since arriving in New Orleans.

The Pelicans currently have 12 players on fully guaranteed salaries for 2018/19, with Emeka Okafor, DeAndre Liggins, Troy Williams, and now Jahlil Okafor among the players with non-guaranteed deals or partial guarantees. That should open the door for the former Sixer to potentially earn a spot on New Orleans’ 15-man regular season roster.

Okafor, drafted by the 76ers with the third overall pick in 2015, averaged 17.5 PPG and 7.0 RPG during his rookie year, but has seen his playing time and production decline since then. After being traded to Brooklyn this past season, he posted 6.4 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 26 contests (12.6 MPG) with the Nets.

Because Okafor isn’t a strong rim protector or outside shooter, he has had trouble carving out a consistent role over the course of his NBA career. However, there shouldn’t be much pressure on him to make an impact in New Orleans — the team has already used its mid-level exception on Randle and its bi-annual exception on Elfrid Payton, meaning Okafor’s new partially guaranteed contract will only be worth the minimum.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.