New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Dante Cunningham Suspended For One Game

November 4th, 2016 at 3:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has suspended Pelicans forward Dante Cunningham for one game without pay, the league announced today in a press release. The ban will keep Cunningham from suiting up for New Orleans’ game tonight against the Suns, as the Pelicans look for their first victory of the season.

As the NBA outlines in its announcement, Cunningham’s suspension comes as a result of the 29-year-old pleading guilty to “operating a motor vehicle in a negligent manner while exhibiting the effects of having consumed alcohol.” The one-game ban will cost Cunningham $27,075, per Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter link).

Cunningham has averaged 21.4 minutes per contest in five games for the Pelicans so far this year, so those minutes figure to be divvied up among at least a couple other players tonight. Solomon Hill and Terrence Jones are among the players who could see increased playing time with Cunningham out.

Check out the Pelicans’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.

Community Shootaround: NBA’s Winless Teams

November 4th, 2016 at 10:11am CST by Luke Adams

On Wednesday, we examined the NBA’s five remaining undefeated teams, asking which clubs will be legit contenders this season and which ones will fall off after a hot start. Since then, four of those teams have lost a game, leaving the 5-0 Cavaliers as the league’s final undefeated club. However, there are still four teams that have yet to record a win.

The 0-5 Pelicans have gone winless despite the Herculean efforts of Anthony Davis, who has averaged 31.6 PPG, 11.8 RPG, and 3.0 BPG, posting games of 45 and 50 points. The 0-4 Mavericks have lost one game in overtime and another by a single point. The 0-4 Sixers have now lost 41 consecutive games in the months of October or November since 2013. And the 0-3 Wizards haven’t seen the floor much yet, but will have a few chances to pick up their first win soon, with three games in the next four nights.

While there was some excitement surrounding the 76ers coming into this season, buoyed by Joel Embiid‘s impressive showing so far, Philadelphia was never viewed as a serious contender this season, particularly after Ben Simmons went down with a broken foot. However, New Orleans, Dallas, and Washington all had playoff aspirations. Have we misjudged those teams, are will it just take them a few games to get going this season?

What do you think? Which of the NBA’s four remaining winless teams will turn things around, and which ones are well on their way to landing in the lottery? Do you expect to see any of these four clubs in the postseason next spring? Weigh in below in our comments section with your thoughts and opinions!

Pelicans Received $400K From Heat In Babbitt Trade

October 28th, 2016 at 10:13am CST by Luke Adams

Filling in the blanks on a summer trade, Pincus tweets that the Heat sent $400K to the Pelicans in the deal that saw Luke Babbitt land in Miami.

Pelicans Opted For Continuity

October 25th, 2016 at 9:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

After opting for continuity a year ago, Pelicans GM Dell Demps brought in plenty of new talent this offseason, including Solomon Hill, E’Twaun Moore, and Langston Galloway. As John Reid of The Times-Picayune details, Demps is optimistic that fans in New Orleans will appreciate the “gritty” and “tough” players on the team’s roster.

Stephenson Out To Change Perceptions

October 25th, 2016 at 8:53am CST by Eddie Scarito

Lance Stephenson hung on to snag the Pelicans‘ final regular season roster spot, beating out Alonzo Gee, despite the fact that Gee had a fully guaranteed pact. Stephenson says his aim this season is to rebuild his reputation around the league, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”My goal is to prove everybody wrong this year – work hard and show a different side of me,” Stephenson said. “Everybody got this expectation of me, I just want to show them a different side of me. I love the game, I just want to play ball. I can show that what I was doing for the Pacers, I can still do it. I just got to have an opportunity to be put in a position where I can do that.”

Stephenson also noted that he’s made a determined effort to get to know his Pelicans teammates and bond with them, something he hasn’t always done in the past, Reid adds. ”Teams that I’ve been on, I really didn’t [talk] to my teammates, I talked to them a little bit but,” Stephenson said. ”But this time, I was really, ‘Hi are you doing to today, what you do yesterday’ and stuff like that. It’s like being a rookie again, everybody got this image of me that’s a straight lie.”

Pelicans Waive Alonzo Gee, Keep Lance Stephenson

October 24th, 2016 at 9:50am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have made their final cut, reducing their roster to 15 players by waiving Alonzo Gee, the team announced today in a press release. The move ensures that there’s room on the roster for Lance Stephenson, who was believed to be vying with Gee for that final opening.

While Gee was long viewed to be on the roster bubble in New Orleans, it’s still a slightly surprising decision, since his salary for 2016/17 was fully guaranteed, while Stephenson had only received a $100K guarantee so far. Unless Gee is claimed on waivers this week, the Pelicans will be on the hook for his full $1.4MM salary.

Interestingly, the Pelicans only would have owed Gee about $980K if they’d signed him to a minimum salary benefit contract, which still would have paid the veteran forward about $1.315MM (the minimum salary benefit rule calls for the NBA to make up the difference). As I wrote back in July, the Pelicans’ curious decision to pay Gee $1.4MM instead of the minimum salary appeared to be a result of his decision to decline a $1.379MM player option in June — by giving him a raise, New Orleans allowed him to save face on that decision.

Of course, it’s possible there was another explanation for the Pelicans, but at the time it cost them nearly $420K to give Gee an extra $85K or so. Now that he hasn’t even made the 15-man roster, the signing looks a little more costly.

In any case, the Pelicans appear poised to head into the season with Stephenson in the mix. The 26-year-old will look to build upon a second-half stint in Memphis that saw him averaged 14.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 26 regular season games. The ex-Pacer figures to get a decent amount of playing time to start the season, with Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans sidelined.

And-Ones: Roster Moves, Bulls, Rudez, Onuaku

October 23rd, 2016 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Monday afternoon is the deadline to reach the roster limit of 15, and nine teams still have cuts to make, tweets salary cap expert Albert Nahmad. The Celtics, Cavaliers, Rockets, Lakers, Pelicans, Thunder, Sixers, Suns and Kings all remain over the limit leading into what should be an eventful day, says Nahmad. By our count, the Grizzlies still have a move to make as well. The Pacers were the latest team to trim their roster, waiving Jeremy Evans and Julyan Stone tonight.

There’s more news from around the NBA:

J.J. Avila, who was waived Friday by the Bulls, has agreed to play for Chicago’s D-League affiliate, tweets Dennis Silva II of Monitor News. The 6’8″ power forward from Colorado State signed a training camp contract with Chicago in September. Guard Thomas Walkup of Stephen F. Austin, another Friday cut, will also be joining the Windy City Bulls (Twitter link).
Damjan Rudez and Arinze Onuaku both traveled a lot of miles to realize their dream of returning to the NBA, writes John Denton of NBA.com. After playing overseas and in the D-League, both veterans were told Saturday that they had earned a place on the Magic’s final roster. “It was a big blessing,” Onuaka said. “When you are out here fighting for a spot every day it’s stressful and to get that news, it was great. You’ve always got to wait to hear if you’re in or you’re out, so it wasn’t easy sleeping at night.’’
Fred VanVleet won the Raptors‘ final roster spot, but coach Dwane Casey said all the training camp invitees were impressive, tweets Ryan Wolstat of The Toronto Sun. Casey said Drew Crawford and Brady Heslip have the talent to be NBA players, adding that he was disappointed he didn’t have room to keep all of them.

Update On Holiday; Demps' Job Seems Safe

October 23rd, 2016 at 8:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday remains on a leave of absence to care for his wife and newborn daughter, and his representatives have provided an update on the family. In a statement posted on the team’s website, Glushon Management says Lauren Holiday had surgery to remove a brain tumor earlier this month at Duke University Hospital. The couple’s daughter, who was born in September, is “healthy and at home with her family.” The Pelicans have given Holiday permission to remain away from the team for as long as necessary to take care of his family.

Pelicans GM Dell Demps will probably get some time to see if his 11 offseason roster additions can be successful, writes Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. Demps kept his job after the 2014/15 season when the organization fired Monty Williams as head coach, and Duncan doesn’t see this as a make-or-break year. The only exceptions could be if the Pelicans get off to a disastrous start like they did in 2015/16 or if Demps’ contract, the details of which haven’t been made public, expires at the end of the season. New Orleans hired former Hawks GM Danny Ferry as a special advisor over the summer.

Final Roster Spot Between Stephenson and Gee

October 22nd, 2016 at 7:56pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Pelicans have 16 players under contract and it appears the final roster spot is between Lance Stephenson, whose contract is non-guaranteed, and Alonzo Gee, John Reid of The Times-Picayune notes on Twitter. New Orleans has until 5:00pm eastern time on Monday to make a decision.

Pelicans Waive Quinn Cook, Quincy Ford

October 22nd, 2016 at 5:46pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Pelicans have waived Quinn Cook and Quincy Ford, according to a team press release. New Orleans’ roster count sits at 16, meaning it has one more cut to make before opening night. Lance Stephenson is the team’s only remaining player with a non-guaranteed deal.

Cook, who signed with the team last month. played in three preseason games for the Pelicans. He averaged 8.3 points and 2.7 assists per game.

Ford joined the team earlier this week. During the offseason, he played for Utah’s summer league team, averaging 5.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.