New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans Notes: Cousins, Davis, Crawford

March 9th, 2017 at 8:52pm CST by Milo Taibi

The Pelicans‘ “new-look” roster is struggling, Justin Verrier of ESPN writes. While the blockbuster trade for DeMarcus Cousins brought peak national interest, the Pels currently sit 4.5 games behind Denver for the eighth seed. Anthony Davis had no answers for the team’s recent shortcomings.

“I don’t know the reason. We’re just not making shots,” Davis said. “Guys are in the gym every day practicing those shots and making those shots. But it’s not disrupting everything else we’re doing. Of course, it helps when we make them. Whoever’s shooting, if they’re open, we tell them to keep shooting. That’s the only way it’s going to help our offense.”

The team’s period of adjustment with Boogie and AD has been “jarring,” despite the modest resources the team gave up to acquire Cousins.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/9/17

March 9th, 2017 at 2:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Thursday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

Shortly after he signed a 10-day contract with the Mavericks, Manny Harris was sent right back down to the D-League, the team announced in a press release. Harris figures to get a shot in Dallas at some point during his current 10-day deal, but with the Mavs not in action until tomorrow, Harris will remain with the Texas Legends for the club’s Thursday night game against Northern Arizona.
The Rockets have recalled Kyle Wiltjer from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the team announced today (Twitter link). Houston had needed to get up to 12 active players by today, necessitating the call-up of Wiltjer, as Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
Rookie big man Georgios Papagiannis has been sent back to the D-League by the Kings, per James Ham of CSNBayArea.com (Twitter link). Papagiannis is one of 16 first-round picks from 2016 who have been on D-League assignments this season, as we detailed yesterday.
The Pelicans have assigned rookie Cheick Diallo to the D-League, according to the team (Twitter link). Diallo will head to the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte’ D-League squad, via the flexible assignment rule.

Pelicans Sign Wayne Selden To 10-Day Contract

March 8th, 2017 at 4:53pm CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 8: The Pelicans have officially signed Selden to a 10-day contract, the team announced today (via Twitter).

MARCH 7: The Pelicans continue to rotate through free agent guards, and are lining up a 10-day deal for another new addition. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter), the club is expected to call up Wayne Selden from the D-League to fill the current opening on the roster.

Selden, a former Kansas guard who went undrafted in 2016, caught in with the Grizzlies last summer and was a member of the club for training camp and the preseason. However, he didn’t earn a spot on Memphis’ regular season roster and ultimately landed with the team’s D-League affiliate in Iowa. In 34 games for the Energy, Selden averaged 18.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 2.9 APG, with a shooting line of .451/.357/.660.

After sending Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, and Langston Galloway to the Kings in their deal for DeMarcus Cousins, the Pelicans have experimented with a number of new guards on 10-day contracts. Hollis Thompson, Jarrett Jack, and Reggie Williams were the team’s original signees, and of the three, only Thompson earned a second 10-day deal. Jack suffered a meniscus tear, while Williams, whose 10-day contract expired overnight, apparently won’t be re-signed.

The Pelicans signed Jordan Crawford to a 10-day deal on Monday and he made an immediate impact for New Orleans by scoring 19 points last night. Selden, who worked out for the team last month, should be active for Wednesday’s game, assuming the two sides finalize a deal today or tomorrow.

Once the signing of Selden becomes official, the Pelicans will once again have a full 15-man roster, with 12 guaranteed contracts and three players on 10-day pacts.

Pelicans Sign Jordan Crawford To 10-Day Deal

March 6th, 2017 at 3:05pm CST by Luke Adams

3:03pm CST: The Pelicans have made their deal official, announcing they’ve signed Jordan Crawford to a 10-day contract (Twitter link). According to a team press release, Crawford will wear #4, and is available for tonight’s game against the Jazz.

12:48pm CST: The Pelicans have a newly-opened spot on their roster, and they have a specific player in mind to fill it. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein (via Twitter), New Orleans is eyeing D-League guard Jordan Crawford as a candidate for a 10-day contract.

While Stein’s report suggests that an agreement hasn’t necessarily been finalized yet, the Pelicans are in action tonight, with a game in Utah. If New Orleans wants Crawford to play in that game, the team will have to move quickly to officially get something done. Otherwise, Crawford could perhaps make his Pelicans debut at home on Wednesday. A deal is expected to be made official “early” this week, per Stein (Twitter link).

A former first-round pick, Crawford has appeared in 257 total NBA games for the Wizards, Celtics, Warriors, and Hawks, but hasn’t played in a regular season contest since the 2013/14 season. The 28-year-old guard has been a top scoring threat for the Grand Rapids Drive, Detroit’s D-League affiliate, this season, averaging 23.5 PPG with a .473/.355/.870 shooting line.

In the wake of the DeMarcus Cousins trade, which sent three guards to Sacramento, the Pelicans replenished their backcourt by signing Hollis Thompson, Jarrett Jack, and Reggie Williams to 10-day contracts. Thompson has since been signed to a second 10-day deal, but Jack suffered a meniscus tear and won’t be re-signed, opening up a spot for another guard. Williams’ 10-day deal expires after tonight’s game, so it remains to be seen whether he’ll stick with the franchise.

Pelicans Sign Hollis Thompson To Second 10-Day Contract

March 5th, 2017 at 2:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

2:48pm CST: The Pelicans officially announced the signing via Twitter (link).

12:07pm CST: The Pelicans are expected to give shooting guard Hollis Thompson a second 10-day contract when his first deal expires today, according to John Reid of The Times-Picayune.

Thompson is in the starting lineup for tonight’s game with the Lakers, so it’s reasonable to think that New Orleans plans to keep him around for a while. The Pelicans are short on wing players after shipping Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield and Langston Galloway to the Kings in the DeMarcus Cousins trade.

They signed Thompson on February 23rd to help fill the void. He has appeared in five games since then, starting four, with averages of 4.6 points and 3.0 assists.

”I think he’s solid and we like our rotation with E’Twaun Moore coming off the bench because we have the ability to, if a guy got in quick foul trouble or something like that,” said Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry. ”We stuck Hollis out there to see if he would be OK. I think he’s been a pleasant surprise, really … moreso on the defense end, just being able to get to the right spot and things like that.”

Thompson started the season with the Sixers and played 31 games, but was released in early January before his salary became fully guaranteed. When his second 10-day contract with New Orleans expires, the Pelicans will have to either waive him or sign him for the remainder of the season.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/5/17

March 5th, 2017 at 1:48pm CST by Milo Taibi

Here are the D-League transactions for Sunday:

The Mavericks recalled A.J. Hammons and Nicolas Brussino from the Texas Legends, the team announced in a press release. Brussino recorded a double-double last night for the Legends, whereas Hammons recorded 11 rebounds over 23 minutes.
The Kings recalled Georgios Papagiannis from the Reno Bighorns, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reports (Twitter link). Papagiannis has appeared in six NBA games this season.
The Spurs assigned Davis Bertans and Dejounte Murray to the Austin Spurs, the team announced on its official website. Bertans and Murray will each be available for this afternoon’s match-up with the Salt Lake City Stars.
The Pelicans recalled Cheick Diallo from the Greensboro Swarm, the team announced in a press release.

Pelicans Running Out Of Time For Playoffs

March 5th, 2017 at 12:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

Many thought the Pelicans were a sure thing to grab the final playoff spot after acquiring DeMarcus Cousins, but they’re running out of time to make a postseason push, notes Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. New Orleans was two and a half games behind Denver for the eighth spot in the West when it traded for Cousins on February 25th. Since then, the Pelicans are 1-4, with the only victory coming in a game where Cousins was suspended. They have fallen to 24-38, which puts them in 13th place, four games in back of the Nuggets. “It’s still a work in progress,” Cousins said after Friday’s loss to the Spurs.

Jarrett Jack To Miss 4-To-6 Weeks With Meniscus Tear

March 3rd, 2017 at 7:23pm CST by Milo Taibi

Jarrett Jack is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks with a right lateral meniscus tear, the Pelicans announced in a press release. Jack, who signed a 10-day contract on February 24, appeared in two games with New Orleans, scoring six total points with five assists.

While the team hasn’t yet announced plans for Jack, GM Dell Demps has shown a propensity to waive injured players (Omri Casspi, Lance Stephenson) rather than use a short-handed roster. Jack was initially diagnosed with a torn right ACL on January 3, 2016, and has endured a difficult recovery ever since. From that point, Jack has been waived by the Nets, signed (and subsequently waived) by the Hawks, and signed with New Orleans.

Following the diagnosis, Jack tweeted “Would say frustrated but that word doesn’t even come close to doing my mood justice.” (Twitter link)

Justin Holiday “Dreams” Of Playing With Brother

March 3rd, 2017 at 4:20pm CST by Milo Taibi

Justin Holiday told Marc Berman of the New York Post that he has long wanted to play alongside his brother, Jrue.

“If we can play together, that would be a dream come true and we’d be successful doing it,’’ Justin said. “We both want to win and both know each other’s game in and out. We both know what we’re going to get from each other when we play together. It just makes sense.”

Both Justin and Jrue Holiday are unrestricted free agents-to-be. Justin, who made $1,015,696 in 2016/17 with the Knicks, has averaged 7.5 points in a career-high 61 games. Jrue is slated for a considerably higher payday. According to Bobby Marks of The Vertical, Jrue should command $16MM or $17MM per year on the open market.

Berman notes that the Pelicans “are trying to build something special” following the DeMarcus Cousins trade, and could overpay for Jrue in free agency. Justin didn’t tip his hand about his plans for free agency- “The best thing for me now is not to stress too much about [free agency]”- though Berman noted the two are each clients of Glushon Sports Management.

“I know when we play together, good things happen because we know each other’s game so well,” Justin said. “We do play hard on both ends of the floor. When you have that at both positions, it’s going to help.”

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/3/17

March 3rd, 2017 at 2:06pm CST by Austin Kent

Here are the D-League transactions for Friday:

The Pelicans have assigned forward Cheick Diallo to the D-League, the team reports in a press release on its website. Diallo has averaged 13.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in 18 contests with the Greensboro Swarm.
The Pistons have recalled rookies Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije from their D-League affiliate, Rod Beard of the Detroit News. Ellenson and Gbinije have seen action in 14 and nine games for the Pistons respectively.
The Wizards have assigned center Chris McCullough to the D-League, writes Chase Hughes of CSN Mid-Atlantic. McCullough has averaged 18.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in 31 D-League contests this season. Having previously played for the Long Island Nets, McCullough is expected to join the Northern Arizona Suns on this assignment, says Hughes.