New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans Sign Jordan Hamilton To 10-Day Deal

March 25th, 2016 at 11:14am CST by Eddie Scarito

FRIDAY, 11:14am: The signing is official, the team announced, acknowledging that the deal came via the hardship provision. Frazier’s 10-day contract runs through the rest of today, so the Pelicans have 17 players for now, two above the usual limit. Hamilton’s pact covers five games, against the Raptors, Knicks, Spurs, Nuggets and Nets.

THURSDAY, 7:22pm: The Pelicans plan to sign swingman Jordan Hamilton to a 10-day contract, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). The 25-year-old is currently playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston’s D-League affiliate. New Orleans currently has 16 players on its roster, including Tim Frazier, whose first 10-day pact with the team expires on Friday. It’s unclear if the Pelicans will decline to ink the point guard to a second 10-day arrangement or if the team will be adding Hamilton via a second hardship allowance.

New Orleans should have little difficulty being approved for a 17th roster spot, having been besieged by injuries this season. The team is currently missing Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, Bryce Dejean-Jones, Tyreke Evans and Quincy Pondexter, all of whom are out for the remainder of the campaign. Adding to the team’s woes, Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson are both expected to be out of action through the weekend. In order for a team to be granted an extra roster spot, it must have three players who have missed at least three straight games because of injury or illness, plus a fourth player who is also unable to perform.

Hamilton, 25, had signed with the Russian club Krasny Oktyabr, aka Volgograd, back in August but parted ways with the team in November. He joined the Rockets’ D-League affiliate in February and has appeared in 14 games, averaging 14.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 29.2 minutes per contest.

The 6’7” Hamilton appeared in 14 games for the Clippers during the 2014/15 season, averaging 2.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 8.7 minutes per game. His career numbers through parts of four NBA campaigns are 5.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.7 assists to accompany a slash line of .405/.366/.671.

All-NBA Voters Say They're Likely To Give Nod To Davis

March 25th, 2016 at 8:40am CST by Chuck Myron

A straw poll of 28 of 129 All-NBA Team voters shows the majority are at least somewhat likely to vote Anthony Davis to one of the teams, which would allow him to trigger the Derrick Rose Rule and make more on the extension he signed with the Pelicans last summer, reveals Justin Verrier of ESPN.com.

Pelicans Have No Intention Of Tanking

March 24th, 2016 at 8:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Despite the Pelicans‘ free fall in the standings this season, the team has no intention to jockey for a better lottery position via tanking, coach Alvin Gentry told John Reid of The Times Picayune. ”What we try to do is that when we walk out on the court, we try to play at the highest level that we can,” Gentry said. ”Wherever that gets us in the draft, that gets us in the draft. I’ve never been a guy that thought, ‘Hey lets get some extra pingpong balls or whatever.’ I don’t know how you sell that to your players. So for us every night we step out, we’re going to try to be as competitive as we possibly can.’‘ New Orleans currently has a 6.3% shot at landing the No. 1 overall pick this June, as is shown by our Reverse Standings tracker.

Anthony Davis Out For The Season

March 24th, 2016 at 7:37pm CST by Arthur Hill

THURSDAY, 7:37pm: Davis underwent successful surgery today on his left knee, the team announced via press release. The power forward won’t require surgery to repair a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder, the team also relayed. The timetable given for Davis’ return to action is three to four months, per the release.

5:37pm: Davis has been diagnosed with a torn labrum in his left shoulder and a left knee injury, tweets Justin Verrier of ESPN.com. He will have surgeries on both.

SUNDAY, 3:35pm: The Pelicans will shut down Anthony Davis for the remainder of the season, tweets John Reid of The New Orleans Times Picayune. Coach Alvin Gentry made the announcement this afternoon after reviewing medical information on the injured big man.

New Orleans has been considering the move since Davis banged his left knee while setting a pick in Friday’s game. Add that to a shoulder problem that has been bothering Davis for weeks, and the Pelicans decided it was best to shut him down now, rather than take any chances with his long-term health. New Orleans’ disappointing season may also have factored into the move. At 25-43, the Pelicans are eight and a half games out of the final playoff spot in the West.

Gentry said Davis will undergo surgery that could affect his participation in this summer’s Olympics, tweets Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. “That I don’t know,” Gentry said, “but if I was a betting man, probably so.” The coach refused to be specific about which procedures Davis might have done on his knee or shoulder (Twitter link).

After earning first-team All-NBA honors last season, Davis signed a maximum extension over the summer worth about $145MM. He has put up virtually identical numbers to a year ago, averaging 24.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per night, but injuries ended his season after just 61 games.

Pelicans, Jazz Held Holiday Talks?; Players Like Gentry

March 22nd, 2016 at 10:32am CST by Chuck Myron

Zach Lowe of ESPN.com suggests the Pelicans and Jazz held at least cursory trade talks involving Jrue Holiday, though the conversation went nowhere, Lowe writes, with New Orleans setting too high a price for the discussion to advance. Lowe suggests the same about Jeff Teague talks between the Jazz and Hawks, though previous reports indicated that Atlanta and Utah didn’t have contact on the Teague front. The ESPN scribe speculated about Holiday and the Jazz before last month’s trade deadline.
It’s been a rough season for Alvin Gentry, but players around the league like him, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, who counts it as a plus for the Pelicans‘ recruitment of free agents. The key will be matching free agents with Gentry’s system and vice-versa, contends Deveney, who wonders about the job security of GM Dell Demps.

Orlando Johnson Back In D-League

March 21st, 2016 at 10:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Orlando Johnson, whose 10-day contract with the Pelicans expired over the weekend, is back with the Austin Spurs in the D-League, tweets Chris Reichert of Upside and Motor.

Anthony Davis Out 4-5 Months, Will Miss Olympics

March 21st, 2016 at 1:13pm CST by Arthur Hill

Pelicans star Anthony Davis expects to be out of action four to five months, tweets Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate. Davis’ recovery time will prevent him from being part of Team USA in the Summer Olympics (Twitter link).

In a press conference this afternoon, Davis said he has been dealing with a torn labrum in his left shoulder since his rookie year, and the knee injury he suffered Friday night convinced him to shut down this season and get the shoulder taken care of. He said the shoulder pain would come and go, being intense on some days, but not hurting every day. Davis didn’t disclose specifics of the knee injury, saying he will find out more when he meets with the doctor who will perform the surgery. He added that there’s a greater emphasis on getting the knee surgically repaired, rather than the shoulder. He said the knee was giving him problems even before the collision Friday.

Davis’ contract includes a bonus for making the All-NBA first, second or third team. However, he said it would have been selfish to keep playing just to pursue that.

The surgery timetable should have Davis fully healthy in time for the Pelicans’ training camp, but he regrets not being able to take part in the Olympics. “I loved playing for Team USA,” Davis said. “It was one of the toughest decisions.”

Injuries Could Cost Davis Big Money

March 21st, 2016 at 11:32am CST by Arthur Hill

The season-ending injuries that limited Anthony Davis to just 61 games this year could cost the Pelicans‘ star a lot of money, according to Micah Adams and Michael Schwartz of ESPN.com. When Davis agreed to his five-year extension last summer worth an estimated $145MM, he became subject to the “Rose Rule.” That allows players with six years’ experience or fewer, who are normally eligible for a maximum salary worth 25% of the cap, to earn as much as players with seven to nine years’ experience, who can receive up to 30% of the cap. But to reach that standard, they have to either be named league MVP, be voted as an All-Star starter twice or be elected twice to the All-NBA first, second or third team before the best extension kicks in. Davis has virtually no chance of being MVP this season and he didn’t start in the All-Star game, but he does have a shot at making one of the all-league teams. If Davis fails to meet the criteria, his total deal will fall to an estimated $121MM.

Pelicans teammates are impressed that Davis battled through the pain of the torn labrum in his left shoulder for so long before the combination of it and a knee injury shut down his season, writes John Reid of The New Orleans Times-Picayune. ”He was still banging and defending with an injured shoulder,” said Alonzo Gee. ”It says a lot about him.”

Pelicans Not Expected To Keep Orlando Johnson

March 19th, 2016 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pelicans won’t sign Orlando Johnson to another 10-day contract, tweets Brett Dawson of The New Orleans Advocate. New Orleans signed Johnson on March 9th using a hardship exception.

Health Updates On Davis, Pondexter

March 19th, 2016 at 6:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Pelicans may decide to shut down Anthony Davis for the rest of the season, according to Jim Eichenhofer of NBA.com. The center/power forward hurt his left knee Friday when he collided with teammate Jrue Holiday and Portland’s C.J. McCollum. Davis is also dealing with a lingering shoulder problem. Coach Alvin Gentry said the Pelicans are waiting for more medical information before making a decision. “They’re going to talk to doctors this afternoon and we’ll know a lot more then … I just know that [his shoulder has been] bothering him,” Gentry said Saturday after practice. “We’re going to be on a conference call with doctors today. I think it’s something that’s kind of been there.”

New Orleans may decide not to take any chances with Davis’ health after he signed a maximum extension over the summer worth an estimated $145MM. The Pelicans expected to move up in the standings after reaching the playoffs last season, but they’re stuck in 12th place in the West at 25-43. They’re eight and a half games behind Dallas for the final playoff spot with 14 games remaining.

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Pelicans small forward Quincy Pondexter, who has missed the entire season while recovering from knee surgery, vows to be ready by fall, Eichenhofer relays in the same story. “I guarantee I will be 100% by training camp,” Pondexter said, describing his status as “the beginning of a long rehab process, but it’s going really, really well so far.”