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.
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:
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 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 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.
- According to Kyler, the Pelicans are seeking backcourt depth, having eyed Ty Lawson and Lance Stephenson recently, and the backcourt may not just be a short-term concern. With Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans entering contract years, it seems unlikely that they’ll both still be on New Orleans’ roster a year from now, particularly since both players have had health issues.
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AUGUST 31: The Kings have officially signed Lawson, the team announced today in a press release. According to a report from CSNCalifornia.com, the point guard’s one-year deal isn’t guaranteed, so the team won’t be on the hook for his full salary if he’s cut before January 10.
AUGUST 28: The Kings have reached an agreement with free agent point guard Ty Lawson, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Sacramento is signing Lawson to a one-year contract for the coming season.
Lawson visited the Kings on Saturday and ultimately decided to sign with the team despite having also received “serious interest” from the Pelicans, tweets Wojnarowski. The 28-year-old has seen his career trajectory change significantly within the last couple years, after he was arrested multiple times on DUI charges and spent time in rehab.
A 2009 first-round pick, Lawson became the Nuggets’ full-time starting point guard during the 2011/12 season, and averaged 16.4 PPG to go along with 8.0 APG over the next four years. However, Denver sent him to the Rockets last July, and Houston subsequently waived him. Over the course of the 2015/16 season, Lawson appeared in 66 total regular-season games, averaging 5.7 PPG and 3.6 APG in part-time roles for the Rockets and the Pacers, who signed him late in the season.
[RELATED: Sacramento Kings’ depth chart at RosterResource.com]
The Kings had been on the lookout for point guard help this offseason, having lost Rajon Rondo in free agency. Rondo’s departure left Darren Collison as the team’s de facto starter at the point, but Collison is facing domestic violence charges, which could eventually lead to a suspension depending on how the case plays out.
While Sacramento added Garrett Temple in free agency and Isaiah Cousins in the draft, Temple is more of a combo guard than a pure point guard, and Cousins was a late second-rounder who has yet to sign a contract.
The terms of Lawson’s contract aren’t yet known. Sacramento doesn’t have any cap room left, but the team has yet to use its $2.898MM room exception. So the veteran point guard could either get a minimum-salary deal or something slightly larger, if the Kings dip into that room exception.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
- The Pelicans have been aggressively trying to add one of the higher profile free agent guards remaining on the market, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders tweets. Swingman Lance Stephenson is reportedly going to work out for New Orleans in the near future, and the team had been in contact with Lawson prior to his signing with Sacramento.
Free agent wing Lance Stephenson will work out for the Pelicans, reports Brett Dawson of The Advocate (via Twitter). It’s not yet clear when that workout will take place, or how serious New Orleans’ interest in Stephenson is.
The Pelicans still appear to monitoring the free agent market closely, despite having 15 players with guaranteed salaries on their roster. An earlier report indicated that the team was preparing to meet with Ty Lawson this week before the veteran point guard received – and accepted – a contract offer from the Kings.
Stephenson, who turns 26 next Monday, spent the first four years of his NBA career in Indiana, and enjoyed a breakout year for the Pacers in 2013/14, averaging 13.8 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 4.6 APG, while shooting .391/.352/.711. However, he has regressed over the last two years, failing to find an ideal role during stints with the Hornets, Clippers, and Grizzlies.
Stephenson’s end-of-season run in Memphis this past year was the best he had looked since his Indiana days, as he earned consistent minutes on an injury-plagued Grizzlies squad and averaged 14.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 2.8 APG. Still, he doesn’t appear to have received much NBA interest this summer, with one report this month suggesting he may end up playing overseas. Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe, the author of that report, wrote that Stephenson has the talent to play in the NBA, but his personality may be scaring teams away.
[RELATED: New Orleans Pelicans’ depth chart at RosterResource.com]
The Pelicans currently have Langston Galloway, Buddy Hield, E’Twaun Moore, and Tyreke Evans on tap to earn minutes at the two, while Solomon Hill, Alonzo Gee, and Quincy Pondexter are expected to be in the mix at the three. Of course, many of those players are capable of playing other positions or may not see a ton of playing time, so there still could be room on the wing for Stephenson.
After visiting the Kings on the weekend, free agent point guard Ty Lawson had planned to meet with Pelicans officials early this week, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. However, Lawson ultimately cancelled that meeting when Sacramento made a contract offer, which he accepted.
Within his initial report on Lawson’s deal with the Kings, Wojnarowski noted that the Pelicans had “serious interest” in the 28-year-old. Lawson has significant upside, but is coming off the worst season of his career and has dealt with off-field problems in recent years, as he was arrested multiple times on DUI charges and spent time in rehab.
The Pelicans are currently poised to enter the season with Jrue Holiday as their starting point guard and Tim Frazier backing him up. Other backcourt players, such as Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway, could occasionally handle the ball, but aren’t really point guards. As such, Lawson probably would have had to battle Frazier for the No. 2 spot on the point guard depth chart if he had landed in New Orleans.
[RELATED: New Orleans Pelicans’ depth chart at RosterResource.com]
The path to playing time might be a little simpler for Lawson in Sacramento, where Rajon Rondo is no longer manning the point. Darren Collison looks like the Kings’ starter, with Garrett Temple backing him up. However, Collison is facing domestic violence charges and Temple – while capable of playing the point – isn’t really a pure point guard.
Terms of Lawson’s new deal with the Kings aren’t yet known, but it will be interesting to see if Sacramento offered him more money than New Orleans would have been able to, in order to convince him to cancel that meeting. The Pelicans used most of their $2.9MM room exception on Frazier, and would have had to offer Lawson a minimum-salary deal, while the Kings still have their full room exception available.