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Western Notes: Stephenson, Kings, Cousins

October 7th, 2016 at 10:16pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Lance Stephenson has an edge over Alonzo Gee for a roster spot on the Pelicans because of his versatility, John Reid of The Times-Picayune opines. Stephenson’s ability to play point guard will be especially useful with Jrue Holiday set to miss significant time. Reid also added that he wouldn’t be surprised if New Orleans ends up trading Gee.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • New Kings head coach Dave Joerger aims to change the culture in Sacramento, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. “I think it’s what we hope to have on a nightly basis,” Joerger said. “A mindset of being physical, being active. Flying around, being a good teammate, each guy up and down the line and helping each other.”
  • The Kings signed Matt Barnes this offseason and DeMarcus Cousins is happy to have the veteran on his team, Jones adds in the same piece. “He’s a true competitor,” Cousins said. “He leaves it all out there on the floor. I think he’s a great role model for the younger guys on how to approach a game on a nightly basis.”
  • Gordon Hayward will likely miss six weeks after injuring his left ring finger and Ryan McDonald of the Deseret News examines his absence from the court will impact the Jazz.
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Gee's Roster Spot Isn't Guaranteed

October 6th, 2016 at 8:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Alonzo Gee‘s guaranteed contract doesn’t mean he has a guaranteed spot on the Pelicans’ roster, according to John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Gee, 29, could be the odd man out if Lance Stephenson secures a spot on the opening day roster, Reid continues. Gee signed for the veteran’s minimum this season, while Stephenson has a partially-guaranteed $1.2MM contract. Gee barely played during the first two preseason games, Reid notes, and Stephenson’s ability to play both guard positions, plus small forward, works in his favor. Gee, 29, appeared in 73 games with New Orleans last season, including 38 starts.
  • Argentinian small forward Nicolas Brussino has improved his prospects of making the Mavs’ 15-man roster, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. Brussino, who signed a partially-guaranteed three-year contract this summer, scored 13 points in 23 minutes against the Pelicans in the preseason opener. The fact that Brussino has enrolled in English-speaking classes is another sign that the team is serious about keeping him, Sneed adds.
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Players Who Can Veto Trades

October 4th, 2016 at 10:14am CST by Luke Adams

No-trade clauses are rare in the NBA, and they became even rarer this offseason, when several players with those clauses in their contracts either called it a career or signed new deals. Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett, who all opted for retirement, had no-trade clauses last season, and so did Dwyane Wade, who doesn’t have the same protection on his new contract with the Bulls.

Nonethless, while the list of players with explicit no-trade clauses may be dwindling, there are still several players each year who have the ability to veto trades. A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year contract with an option clause – is given no-trade protection, and so is a player who signs an offer sheet and has that offer matched by his previous team. Players who accept qualifying offers after their rookie deals expire can also block deals, though no restricted free agents signed their QOs this year.

Taking into account that list of criteria, here are the players who must give their consent if their teams want to trade them during the 2016/17 league year:

No-trade clauses

Players whose offer sheets were matched

Players accepting qualifying offers

  • None

Players re-signing for one year (or two years including an option)

Information from Basketball Insiders and Yahoo! Sports was used in the creation of this post.

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Copeland Was Waived To Free Up Minutes For Others

October 3rd, 2016 at 7:39pm CST by Eddie Scarito
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Pelicans Waive Chris Copeland

October 3rd, 2016 at 3:39pm CST by Luke Adams

3:39pm: The Pelicans have officially announced the move via press release.

3:29pm: Less than two weeks after announcing they signed him, the Pelicans have waived veteran forward Chris Copeland, according to Paul Garcia of Project Spurs (via Twitter). The move opens up a roster spot for New Orleans, as the team had been carrying the maximum 20 allowable players.

Copeland, 32, played for the Bucks last season after having also spent time with the Knicks and Pacers over the course of his NBA career. He played sparingly in Milwaukee, averaging just 2.1 PPG in 6.5 minutes per contest for the team, and shot a career-worst 33.3% from the floor, including 27.8% on three-pointers.

Copeland’s deal with the Pelicans hadn’t included any guaranteed money, so the club won’t be on the hook for any salary after releasing him. The club already has 15 players on guaranteed salaries, along with Lance Stephenson on a partially guaranteed deal, so Copeland would have been a long shot to make the regular-season roster.

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Demps: Difficult Roster Decision Coming For Pelicans

October 3rd, 2016 at 2:54pm CST by Luke Adams
  • Pelicans general manager Dell Demps admitted that his team will “have to make a hard decision in the coming weeks,” with 15 guaranteed salaries on the books already and Lance Stephenson also vying for a roster spot. “The key is not going to be who’s the best player,” Demps said, per Justin Verrier of ESPN.com (Twitter link), “but the key’s going to be who’s the best player for us to be a good team.”
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Contract Details: Brand, Rockets, Thunder, Pacers

September 30th, 2016 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

With training camps underway, teams have now officially finalized the contract agreements with various camp invitees that had been reported over the past several weeks, meaning we have plenty of contract details to round up. As usual, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has been busy reporting those details, updating his salary pages for teams around the NBA.

Because we have so many updates to pass along from Pincus, we’ll divide them up by players who received some guaranteed money from their teams, and those who didn’t. All of the links below point to the Basketball Insiders team salary pages, so be sure to click through for additional information.

Here are the latest salary updates from across the league, via Pincus:

Players receiving guaranteed money:

These players aren’t necessarily assured of regular-season roster spots. In fact, many of them likely received guarantees as an incentive to accept a D-League assignment. Still, for some players, larger guarantees should increase their odds of making 15-man rosters.

  • Thomas Walkup (Bulls): One year, minimum salary. $69.5K guaranteed.
  • Keith Benson (Heat): Two years, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
  • Henry Sims (Jazz): One year, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
  • Alex Poythress (Pacers): One year, minimum salary. $35,381 guaranteed.
  • Kevin Seraphin (Pacers): Two years, $3.681MM. First year ($1.8MM) guaranteed.
  • Julyan Stone (Pacers): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Gary Payton II (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. First year ($543,471) guaranteed.
  • Isaiah Taylor (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Kyle Wiltjer (Rockets): Two years, minimum salary. $275K guaranteed.
  • Cat Barber (Sixers): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Elton Brand (Sixers): One year, minimum salary. $1MM guaranteed.
  • Derrick Jones (Suns): Three years, minimum salary. $42.5K guaranteed.
  • Alex Caruso (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $50K guaranteed.
  • Kaleb Tarczewski (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $75K guaranteed.
  • Chris Wright (Thunder): One year, minimum salary. $100K guaranteed.

Players receiving no guaranteed money:

The following players all signed one-year, minimum salary contracts with no guaranteed money. Many of these deals are “summer contracts,” which won’t count against a team’s cap unless the player earns a spot on the 15-man roster.

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Asik Won't Be Starting

September 28th, 2016 at 6:11pm CST by Arthur Hill
  • Pelicans center Omer Asik started 64 of the 68 games he appeared in last season, but that number will drop this year, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune. Coach Alvin Gentry said today that he plans to use Anthony Davis in the post more often and not worry about having a traditional center. Alexis Ajinca and Terrence Jones may also be used in the starting lineup, depending on the opponent. That means fewer minutes for Asik, who is still guaranteed more than $32MM over the next three seasons on the contract he signed last summer. ”Last season really left a bad taste, so we are really working hard to change that,” Asik said. ”My whole focus this summer was to get better physically and get stronger.”
  • New Rockets power forward Ryan Anderson is happy to leave behind the Pelicans‘ offense, writes Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports. Anderson, one of the league’s best shooting stretch fours, saw his average of 3-point shots dip to 5.6 per game over the last two years after being close to 7.0 the three previous seasons. That number should rise dramatically now that he is playing for coach Mike D’Antoni in Houston. “I’ve had more wide-open looks in our pickup games here than I’ve had in the past four years, probably,” Anderson said.
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Pelicans Notes: Davis, Holiday, Cook, Demps

September 24th, 2016 at 10:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Pelicans star Anthony Davis said he felt “amazing” this morning after taking part in his first practice since being shut down for the season in March, relays Justin Verrier of ESPN.com. Davis, who underwent an ultrasonic debridement on his left knee, participated in all of the practice except for some late conditioning work. He said the problems in his knee and shoulder seem to have been resolved. “Of course, in the beginning when you come back, you’re scared to go up with power or anything like that, to be explosive,” Davis said. “But when I’m out there, I just go. Whatever happens, happens. Today, everything felt great. I’m more explosive than what I was. I’m more powerful. I’m just happy to be back on the court.”

There’s more news tonight out of New Orleans:

  • Jrue Holiday‘s wife delivered a healthy baby girl this week, according to Matthew Glenesk of USA Today. Holiday has taken a leave of absence from the team to care for Lauren Holiday, who has a benign tumor near her orbital socket and needs brain surgery to remove it. However, doctors didn’t want to perform that operation before the baby was born. The procedure is expected to take place in about six weeks, and there is no timetable for Jrue Holiday’s return to the team.
  • The Pelicans aren’t concentrating on position as they seek to replace Holiday during his absence, writes John Reid of The Times-Picayune. Former Duke point guard Quinn Cook is the latest addition as New Orleans tries to bolster its backcourt. ”We’ve got versatile players, combo guards more than anything,” coach Alvin Gentry said. ”We’re just putting guys in position, playing point and off guard and we brought in another guy who can do both of those. We want guys running the team and playing off the ball.”
  • An offseason shakeup left the Pelicans with 10 new players for this year’s training camp, writes William Guillory of The Times-Picayune. GM Dell Demps believed changes were necessary after an injury-filled season that saw New Orleans finish 26th in points allowed. “We really wanted to become a better defensive team,” he said. “That was one of our goals heading into the offseason. … We’ve had good defensive players here in the past, but we’re probably gonna put a little more emphasis on it.”
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Pelicans Sign Quinn Cook

September 24th, 2016 at 1:12pm CST by Eddie Scarito

1:12pm: The signing is official, the team announced.

12:23pm: The Pelicans are signing unrestricted free agent Quinn Cook for training camp, Justin Verrier of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). The length and terms of the arrangement are unknown, though it is likely a minimum salary pact that may include a small partial guarantee.

The point guard went undrafted out of Duke in 2015 and spent the 2015/16 season in the D-League playing for the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s affiliate. In 43 appearances Cook averaged 19.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 33.8 minutes per outing. His slash line was .466/.382/.863.

Cook participated in the Las Vegas Summer League this offseason, making five appearances and averaging 6.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting 27.8% from the field. With Jrue Holiday out indefinitely while he attends to family matters, New Orleans is in need of backcourt depth. The 23-year-old is already practicing with the team, Verrier tweets.

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