- December 8th has been set as the trial date for a suit filed by Tom Benson involving ownership of the Pelicans and Saints, according to Katherine Sayre of the Times-Picayune. The 89-year-old Benson sued last year to take ownership of the teams out of trust funds for his daughter and two grandchildren. In January of 2015, after a falling out with his heirs, Benson said he wanted to grant full ownership of the Pelicans and Saints to his wife, Gayle Benson. The move was blocked by attorneys who served as trustees for the trust funds. The trusts include 95% ownership of the Pelicans and 60% ownership of the Saints. The judge in the case has urged both sides to try to reach a settlement before the trial date.
- New Pelicans power forward Terrence Jones can’t wait to reunite with former Kentucky teammate Anthony Davis, tweets Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. “It’s amazing. The chemistry is just a winning vibe, and I’m very excited,” said the former Rocket, who signed with the Pelicans last month. “We’ve worked out this summer together and really are focused on setting goals and completing them. We really want to make it to the playoffs, and whatever we do in there, we think, is destiny. It’s going to be a great experience.” (Twitter link.)
With the free agent signing period winding down and teams looking ahead to the preseason, we at Hoops Rumors will be tracking the Salary Cap figures for each team around the league. These posts will be maintained throughout the season once financial data is reported. They will be located on the sidebar throughout the year, once all the teams’ cap figures have been relayed. You can always check RosterResource.com for up-to-date rosters for each franchise, with the Pelicans’ team page accessible here.
Here’s a breakdown of where the Pelicans currently stand financially:
Guaranteed Salary
- Anthony Davis —$22,116,750
- DeMarcus Cousins —$16,957,900
- Solomon Hill —$11,709,603 [Year-end cap hit adjusted due to bonus]
- Jrue Holiday —$11,286,518
- Omer Asik —$9,904,494
- E’Twaun Moore —$8,081,363
- Alexis Ajinca —$4,638,203
- Quincy Pondexter —$3,617,978
- Dante Cunningham —$2,978,250
- Omri Casspi —$2,963,814 [Waived by team]
- Tim Frazier —$2,090,000
- Alonzo Gee —$1,400,000 [Waived by team]
- Terrence Jones —$980,431 [Waived by team; Actual Salary — $1,050,961]
- Lance Stephenson —$584,766 [Waived by team; Pelicans paid non-guaranteed salary until he recovered from groin surgery]
- Donatas Motiejunas —$576,724 [Actual Salary — $618,212]
- Cheick Diallo —$543,471
- Reggie Williams —$180,483 [Waived by team]
- Jordan Crawford — $173,099
- Anthony Brown —$108,043 [Waived by team]
- Archie Goodwin —$95,595 [Waived by team]
- Hollis Thompson — $57,672 [10-day contract (Feb 23); actual salary — $59,747]
- Jarrett Jack — $57,672 [10-day contract (Feb 24); actual salary — $91,274]
- Reggie Williams — $57,672 [10-day contract (Feb 25); actual salary — $72,193]
- Hollis Thompson — $57,672 [10-day contract (Mar 6); actual salary — $59,747]
- Jordan Crawford — $57,672 [10-day contract (Mar 6); actual salary — $61,821]
- Wayne Selden — $31,969 [10-day contract (Mar 8)]
- Quinn Cook — $31,969 [10-day contract (Mar 19)]
- Quinn Cook — $31,969 [10-day contract (Mar 29)]
- Axel Toupane —$25,725
- Quinn Cook — $15,984
Total Guaranteed Salary= $101,413,461
Cash Sent Out Via Trade: $0 [Amount Remaining $3.5MM]
Cash Received Via Trade: $400K received from Heat in Luke Babbitt trade [Amount Remaining $3.1MM]
Payroll Exceptions Available
- Trade Exception — $3,517,200 (Buddy Hield trade) — Expires on 2/20/18
- Room Exception — $808,000 remaining [Used $2,090,000 to sign Tim Frazier]
Total Projected Payroll: $101,413,461
Salary Cap: $94,143,000
Estimated Available Cap Space: –$7,270,461
Luxury Tax Threshold: $113,287,000
Amount Below Luxury Tax: $11,873,539
Last Updated: 4/15/17
The Basketball Insiders salary pages and The Vertical’s salary database were used in the creation of this post.
- Stephen Jackson, another longtime NBA veteran attempting to make an NBA comeback, also appeared on SiriusXM NBA Radio this week (SoundCloud link). Jackson suggested he has “a good two years left” and named the Knicks, Bulls, and Pelicans as a few teams that would interest him. “I’m not one of those guys chasing the ring,” Jackson said. “I have one, so I’m really not one of those guys that’s looking to be a part of a championship team and try to steal a ring and not really earn it. … I just want to play basketball and do what I love to do.”
E’Twaun Moore, who was one of the first players to commit when free agency began July 1st, chose the Pelicans because he wanted a team where he could make a difference, relays Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. After being with three teams in his first five seasons, the combo guard now has the security of a four-year, $34MM contract with New Orleans. “I definitely wanted to play more minutes and make an impact, helping my team win,” Moore said. “And they’re a team that is, of course, going in a positive direction. They’re a team that’s trying to win. They have a good group of guys; they made the playoffs two years ago and I think they would have made it last year if it weren’t for all the injuries. I think we can get back into playoff contention and that’s another reason I signed.” Moore has a chance to compete for a starting job in the Pelicans’ backcourt with Eric Gordon gone to Houston.
- Shawn Dawson understands the odds as he competes for a roster spot with the Pelicans, tweets Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. The Israeli swingman accepted a camp invitation from New Orleans earlier this month. “They explained the whole situation,” he said. “I know that it’s a tough situation to get a contract when there’s 15 guaranteed already, but things happen. I believe in myself and I feel they like me. I know that they like me.”
Mike Krzyzewski desperately wants to win his final game as coach of Team USA, writes Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Krzyzewski demonstrated he is putting victory over player egos by pulling DeMarcus Cousins from the starting lineup in Friday’s semifinal against Spain and inserting defensive specialist DeAndre Jordan. Voisin also suggests that the closeness of many of this year’s game displays the need for a different philosophy in picking players. Krzyzewski, whose team will face Serbia in Sunday’s gold medal game, has an 82-1 record and two gold medals since taking over as Team USA coach in 2005. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will assume control of the team after the Olympics are done.
There’s more tonight from around the world of basketball:
- Former D-League All-Star Eric Griffin, who will reportedly play in Israel next season, has a buyout clause that allows him to sign with an NBA team, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Griffin was recently cleared of an attempted murder charge in Florida, and his agent contends the case cost him a chance to play in the summer league.
- Ben Simmons is the rookie most likely to make an impact in the NBA from the beginning, writes Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders. Blancarte picks the No. 1 draft choice because of his combination of court vision, size, athleticism and opportunity. Simmons is expected to take control of the Sixers’ offense right away. Others on Blancarte’s list, in order, are the Timberwolves‘ Kris Dunn, the Sixers‘ Joel Embiid and Dario Saric and the Pelicans‘ Buddy Hield.
- After being claimed off waivers by the Kings, one of Lamar Patterson’s concerns was whether he could bring his pet alligator, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. His mother had been watching the creature while he played for the Hawks because he couldn’t keep it as a pet in Georgia. Jones found that California only allows pet gators if a special permit is obtained.
Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday might wear protective goggles next season after undergoing eye surgery four months ago, according to John Reid of the New Orleans Times Picayune. Holiday fractured the orbital wall around his right eye in late March after colliding with Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis. Holiday is participating in voluntary workouts with teammates in Los Angeles without any medical restrictions, Reid continues. “I’m able to do anything I want,” Holiday told Reid. “It’s been great that I can do things with no restrictions but at the same time I’m being smart with the stuff that I’m doing.”
- Pelicans owner Tom Benson has requested a 45-day extension to finalize a legal settlement agreement involving his estranged heirs’ interest in the team, Katherine Sayre of the New Orleans Times Picayune reports. Benson sued last year to remove shares in the NFL Saints and Pelicans out of trust funds for his daughter and two grandchildren after deciding to instead to give control over the teams to his wife, Gayle Benson, Sayre continues. A confidential settlement was reached in June, Sayre adds.
- In keeping with the non-guaranteed summer contract trend we have going here, the Pelicans agreements with Robert Sacre and Chris Copeland will count as $980,431 against the cap each, with both players actual salaries set at $1,050,961, Pincus relays (on Twitter). Shawn Dawson‘s non-guaranteed deal will pay him $543,471, should he make the team, the scribe adds. All three deals would become fully guaranteed if they remain on the roster past January 10th, 2017. The Pelicans’ fully guaranteed commitments currently stand at $97,799,631 for the coming season.
FRIDAY, 2:12pm: The signing is official, the team announced today.
THURSDAY, 8:47am: Israeli wing Shawn Dawson will be heading stateside this fall, according to Maccabi Rishon, his team overseas. The Israeli club announced (via Twitter) that Dawson has accepted a camp invite from the Pelicans. Roey Gladstone of Channel 5 TV confirms (via Twitter) that Dawson is joining New Orleans on a non-guaranteed contract.
Dawson, 22, averaged 15.2 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.8 APG, and 1.1 BPG in 39 Israeli League contests last season, shooting 58.7% from the floor and helping lead Maccabi Rishon to a title. Dawson is the second player from the club to reach an agreement with an NBA team this month — we heard yesterday that former Dayton forward Chris Wright, who played in Israel last season, has a deal with the Thunder.
According to one recent report, Dawson turned down a camp invite from the Wizards after playing for Washington in Summer League action last month. If the Pelicans’ offer doesn’t include any guaranteed money, then that decision seems a little curious. It’s possible that Dawson felt he’d have a better chance at earning a regular-season roster spot in New Orleans than he would have in Washington, but the Pelicans are currently carrying 15 players on fully guaranteed contracts, while the Wizards have just 12.
The Pelicans have reached an agreement with unrestricted free agent center Robert Sacre, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). The scribe classifies it as a training camp deal, meaning the arrangement is likely a minimum salary one that includes little or no guaranteed money.
Sacre, who played the last four seasons with the Lakers, had also drawn interest from the Timberwolves and Rockets, according to a report by Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN.
The 27-year-old appeared in 25 games for Los Angeles during the 2015/16 campaign, averaging 3.5 points and 2.9 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per outing. Sacre’s shooting line on the season was .413/.000/.658.
- The Nuggets are still open to trading power forward Kenneth Faried, with the Thunder and Pelicans among the teams that have expressed interest, Sam Amico of Amico Hoops relays.