Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2017 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2017/18 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the New Orleans Pelicans.
Signings:
- Jrue Holiday: Five years, $131.1MM. Fifth-year player option. Includes unlikely incentives.
- Darius Miller: Two years, $4.305MM. Second year non-guaranteed.
- Rajon Rondo: One year, $3.3MM.
- Dante Cunningham: One year, $2.3MM (reported).
- Tony Allen: One year, minimum salary.
- Ian Clark: One year, minimum salary.
- Jalen Jones: Two-way contract. Two years.
- Charles Cooke: Two-way contract. One year.
Camp invitees:
- Cliff Alexander: One year, minimum salary. Exact terms not known.
- Perry Jones: One year, minimum salary. Summer contract with exhibit nine.
- Martell Webster: One year, minimum salary. Exact terms not known.
Trades:
- Acquired the No. 52 overall pick from the Wizards in exchange for Tim Frazier.
- Acquired the draft rights to Frank Jackson (No. 31 pick) from the Hornets in exchange for the draft rights to Dwayne Bacon (No. 40 pick) and cash ($1.8MM).
- Acquired cash ($1MM) from the Pacers in exchange for the draft rights to Edmond Sumner (No. 52 pick).
- Acquired the draft rights to Ater Majok from the Bulls in exchange for Quincy Pondexter, the Pelicans’ 2018 second-round pick, and cash ($2.5MM).
Draft picks:
- 2-31: Frank Jackson — Signed to three-year, minimum salary contract. Third year partially guaranteed ($506K).
Departing players:
- Quinn Cook (waived)
- Tim Frazier
- Donatas Motiejunas
- Quincy Pondexter
- Axel Toupane (waived)
Other offseason news:
- Retained head coach Alvin Gentry and general manager Dell Demps.
- Hired Chris Finch as assistant coach.
- Solomon Hill underwent surgery to repair torn hamstring, expected to miss most of season.
- Frank Jackson underwent surgery to repair broken foot, expected to be out until at least December.
- Reportedly narrowed search for G League home to two cities.
Salary cap situation:
- Operating over the cap and slightly under the tax. Currently carrying approximately $115MM in guaranteed salary. Portion of mid-level exception ($2.19MM) and full bi-annual exception ($3.29MM) still available.
Check out the New Orleans Pelicans’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
Entering the 2017 offseason, there was no guarantee that general manager Dell Demps and head coach Alvin Gentry would be back with the Pelicans. The club has posted a 64-100 record during Gentry’s two seasons with the team, despite having arguably the NBA’s best big man in Anthony Davis. As for Demps, New Orleans won 46 games during his first year as GM back in 2010/11, but has topped 34 wins just once since then.
After pulling off a widely lauded trade for DeMarcus Cousins last winter though, Demps bought himself a little more time to see if the club can make the Davis/Cousins tandem work, and Gentry is sticking around too. Still, while the Pelicans didn’t make any leadership changes this offseason, the clock may be ticking on Demps and Gentry.
That ticking clock meant that the Pelicans entered the summer intent on building a win-now roster, but didn’t have the salary cap flexibility necessary to be as aggressive as the front office might have liked. The outcome? A potential overpay for Jrue Holiday, whose Bird rights were held by the team, and then a few smaller moves intended to fill in the gaps of the rotation.
The resulting roster looks stacked in certain areas and lacking in others, and will be under a lot of pressure to perform this season. If things go south in New Orleans, major changes could be in store for the Pelicans at the trade deadline or during the 2018 offseason.
