New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lance Stephenson Gets $100K Guarantee From Pelicans

September 15th, 2016 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After earning a $9MM salary in each of his last two NBA seasons, Lance Stephenson will be taking a significant pay cut for the 2016/17 season. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, confirming that Stephenson received a minimum-salary contract from the Pelicans, reports (via Twitter) that only $100K of that total is guaranteed.

[RELATED: Pelicans Sign Lance Stephenson]

The Pelicans had gone over the salary cap earlier in the offseason, and had used most of their $2.898MM room exception on Tim Frazier, leaving only the minimum salary exception for Stephenson. A player with Stephenson’s NBA experience (six years) is entitled to a minimum salary of $1,227,286 this season, but the deal will only count for $980,431 against New Orleans’ cap, and the team will only be on the hook for $100,000 if Stephenson doesn’t make the regular-season roster.

With Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday not expected to be available to start the regular season, there’s a decent chance Stephenson will land a spot on the team to help provide depth in the Pelicans’ backcourt. Still, the team already has 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts, and Stephenson’s modest guarantee suggests he’ll have a bit of an uphill battle to overtake one of those players — especially since there’s no obvious candidate to be waived.

As I noted last week, Terrence Jones and Alonzo Gee are the only players on New Orleans’ roster who are owed modest salaries for 2016/17 and have no guaranteed money on their deals beyond this season, so perhaps one of those players will be cut to make room for Stephenson. Both Jones and Gee signed new contracts with the Pelicans in July, meaning they can’t be traded until after December 15.

Pelicans Sign Lance Stephenson

September 14th, 2016 at 10:02am CST by Eddie Scarito

SEPTEMBER 14th: The signing is official, the team announced.

SEPTEMBER 9th: The Pelicans have agreed to a deal with unrestricted free agent Lance Stephenson, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). The length and terms of the arrangement were not relayed, but with New Orleans over the salary cap, it is likely for the league minimum.

New Orleans already has 15 fully guaranteed deals on the books, so Stephenson will need to impress the coaching staff if he hopes to remain on the roster through opening night. While he is certainly a talented player, his immaturity has derailed what was once a promising career. He’ll need to prove that he can gel with the other players in the locker room, and not just on the hardwood. The Pelicans’ roster situation is made more complicated because of Jrue Holiday, who is slated to miss an “indefinite” period of time during the regular season to take care of his wife and newborn child.

Stephenson, 26, appeared in a combined 69 games in 2015/16 split between the Clippers and Grizzlies. He averaged 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 19.9 minutes per outing. His slash line was .481/.385/.784.

Pelicans Intend To Rely On Davis More This Season

September 12th, 2016 at 6:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pelicans intend to rely on forward Anthony Davis more in clutch situations this season, the crew over at Basketball Insiders note in their season preview for the team. “At the end of the game, I think we need to get the ball to Anthony more,” coach Alvin Gentry said regarding Davis. “We need to start training him to be the guy down the stretch. If you’ve got a great player, that’s what you do. He is gonna be our closer. And that doesn’t necessarily mean making the shot. But I think he’s gonna be the guy more times than not that we’re gonna depend on to make the play at the end of the game. That means maybe finding the open guy, or when a double team comes being able to swing the basketball and put guys in the position where they can make the shot. I think we’re gonna have to start trying to go through him — and it may be a screen-and-roll situation, where he screens and rolls to the basket. But we’ve got to have him involved in a lot of the plays at the end of the game.”

Pelicans Notes: Asik, Stephenson, Frazier

September 11th, 2016 at 3:24pm CST by Will Joseph

The first year of Omer Asik‘s five-year, $53 million deal with the Pelicans didn’t go so well, with Asik often clogging the floor because of his limited mobility. With the center having turned 30 over the summer, things aren’t expected to be improve much, if at all, Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com writes (Insider subscription). That’s because Asik is clearly in decline and doesn’t fit in Alvin Gentry‘s offense, according to Pelton.

Here’s more out of New Orleans:

Lance Stephenson‘s deal with the Pelicans makes sense because New Orleans is otherwise thin in the backcourt, with a dependence on Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway and rookie Buddy Hield for scoring, Moke Hamilton of Basketball Insiders opines. The Pelicans have 15 guaranteed contracts, but Stepehenson would add an element of creativity and production on offense, Hamilton writes.
Tim Frazier is the “safe bet” and logical choice to step in as the Pelicans’ starting point guard in place of Jrue Holiday, who will miss the start of the season, Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate suggests on his podcast Locked on Pelicans. Hield’s role in the rotation may also be impacted by Holiday’s situation, Dawson adds.

Categories:
New Orleans Pelicans

Norris Cole Changes Agents

September 9th, 2016 at 1:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

Former Pelicans point guard Norris Cole has signed with NBA agent Joel Bell, tweets Liz Mullen of Sports Business Daily. Cole was previously represented by Klutch Sports.

With less than three weeks until training camps begin, Cole is still searching for a team. New Orleans renounced his rights in July to open up cap room to sign Terrence Jones and Tim Frazier. Cole played in 45 games with the Pelicans last season, averaging 10.6 points and 3.7 assists per night.

There was a report two weeks ago that Cole’s new agent had contacted the Timberwolves about joining them in training camp, but Minnesota already has Ricky Rubio, Tyus Jones and Kris Dunn with guaranteed salaries at point guard.

Davis Medically Cleared, Participates in Scrimmage

September 8th, 2016 at 9:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis has been medically cleared to play, according to the team’s official website in news that was passed along by ESPN.com’s Justin Verrier. Davis participated in his first scrimmage on Wednesday and GM Dell Demps said at a season-ticket holder event that Davis is expected to start the season without any restrictions, Verrier adds. Davis’ 2015/16 season ended prematurely because of a left knee injury. He underwent an ultrasonic debridement and received an injection of his own bone marrow March 25.

NBA Teams With Full Rosters

September 8th, 2016 at 1:14pm CST by Luke Adams

While NBA teams are limited to carrying 15 players on their regular-season rosters (with a few exceptions), roster limits expand to 20 players during the offseason. The five extra roster slots allow clubs to bring in veterans hopeful of earning a place on the regular-season roster, or young players who may eventually be ticketed for D-League assignments.

Most teams will fill up their 20-man rosters for training camp, but at this point in the NBA offseason, it can be difficult to determine which clubs still have room on their rosters. Many potential camp invitees have reportedly reached agreements with teams, but those signings haven’t yet been officially announced.

By our count, there are currently just two team at the 20-man offseason roster limit. One is the 76ers, who were at the 20-man limit for much of the offseason before waiving Carl Landry and Tibor Pleiss. Since then, they’ve added Elton Brand and Cat Barber, though it appears only 11 of the club’s 20 players have fully guaranteed salaries for 2016/17.

Meanwhile, on their official website, the Nuggets list 14 players who have guaranteed contracts, plus Axel Toupane, JaKarr Sampson, and D.J. Kennedy, who are on non-guaranteed or partially-guaranteed deals. In addition to those 17 players, the team has also reportedly reached agreements with Nate Wolters, Robbie Hummel, and Jarnell Stokes, bringing Denver’s total roster count to 20.

Still, not all of Denver’s signings are official, and even once they are, the Nuggets could easily make room for another player by cutting a non-guaranteed salary from their books. The same can be said for Philadelphia. While their rosters may technically be “full,” it’s not as if the Nuggets and the Sixers don’t have the flexibility to replace a camp invitee with a veteran free agent, if they so choose.

A more productive way of determining which teams’ rosters are “full” at this point in the offseason might be to examine the number of guaranteed salaries on their books. The deadline for teams to stretch the 2016/17 salary of a waived player is now behind us, so any team that cuts a player with a guaranteed salary won’t be able to reduce that cap hit unless the player agrees to a buyout. Most teams are reluctant to add much dead money to their cap with such a move, so if a club has 15 guaranteed contracts on its cap, we can assume its regular-season roster is fairly set, barring a trade or a surprise cut.

Here are the NBA teams that currently have 15 (or more) guaranteed salaries on their roster:

No Restrictions On Anthony Davis

September 7th, 2016 at 10:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Pelicans GM Dell Demps told a group of fans tonight that Anthony Davis should start the upcoming season with no physical restrictions, the team tweeted. The three-time All-Star was limited to just 61 games last season and was shut down in March because of a sore left knee and a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder. Davis had surgery on the knee, but doctors determined no operation was needed on the shoulder. Davis, who was a first-team all-NBA selection in 2014/15, remained productive when he played last season, averaging 24.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per night.

Demps addressed several other players at tonight’s event, including Quincy Pondexter, who was sidelined all of last season and underwent cartilage replacement surgery on his left knee in January. Pondexter had his first full workout today and Demps said, “We are glad to get him back in the fold.” (Twitter link). Demps also said the Pelicans are keeping regular contact with Jrue Holiday as he cares for his ailing wife, and he has the full support of the organization (Twitter link). The GM added that first-round pick Buddy Hield is at the practice court every night (Twitter link) and predicted that second-rounder Cheick Diallo “will become a fan favorite” (Twitter link).

Jrue Holiday To Miss Start Of Season

September 4th, 2016 at 9:59am CST by ChrisCrouse

Jrue Holiday will miss an “indefinite” period of time during the regular season to take care of his wife and newborn child, Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune reports. “My family comes before basketball,” said Holiday. “I’m obviously blessed to play this game and be in the position I am in, but my wife is the most important thing in the world to me. She comes before anything else.”

Doctors discovered a tumor on the right side of Lauren Holiday’s brain roughly two months ago and she will need to undergo surgery to remove it. Duncan adds that the tumor will not cause complications to the birth of the couple’s unborn daughter, but she must have the baby before undergoing the procedure. Doctors are confident she will make a full recovery after successful surgery, which will likely take place later this year.

The Pelicans have been supportive throughout the entire process. “There wasn’t any pressure to be with the team or to choose between my team and my wife. They told me to be a husband first. I don’t think they know how much their support means to me and my family,” the point guard said.

Lauren Holiday is a two-time Olympic gold medalist for the U.S. women’s soccer team and she retired from the sport last year to have a child. The Holiday family remains in our thoughts and prayers.

Pelicans Guard Jrue Holiday Changes Agents

September 1st, 2016 at 5:07pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday has signed with agent Jason Glushon of Glushon Sports Management, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Daily reports.

Holiday, who will make approximately $11.3MM for the upcoming season, will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. He was previously represented by the Wasserman Agency, as well as Tony Dutt of Stealth Sports.

Glushon formerly worked for Wasserman and opened his own Los Angeles firm in July, Mullen continues. Holiday had to be impressed with the four-year, $113MM contract that Glushon negotiated for one of the top free agents this summer, Celtics big man Al Horford. Glushon also represents Holiday’s brother, Knicks guard Justin Holiday, as well as free agent guard Xavier Henry, Mullen adds.

Holiday could earn himself a big payday if he can stay relatively healthy in his walk year. The 26-year-old’s career has been marred by injuries. A stress fracture on his right leg limited him to 34 games in 2013/14 and 40 the following season. He missed 17 games last season and suffered an orbital wall fracture on his right eye, which required surgery in April.

He was productive when he played, averaging 16.8 points and 6.0 assists while posting a 19.74 PER.