New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Kings, Morris, Knight

December 19th, 2015 at 11:08pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Coach George Karl believes the Kings’ lack of professionalism and effort are major reasons why the team isn’t winning this season, Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee writes. “If we get a more serious, play-hard mentality, a more serious defensive mentality, I’ll take all the blame in the world,” Karl said. “You can blame me all night long. But when I’m managing attitude, when I’m managing approach, when I’m managing professionalism then yeah, my X’s and O’s aren’t good, either.”

The Kings attempted to add professionalism during the offseason, Jones adds, when they brought in 10 new players, many of whom are veterans who have been part of winning situations. Yet, changing habits takes time and the team understands that.

“That’s part of the process of trying to change the culture with winning ways, winning habits, and we’ve got some guys who can help do that,” Rajon Rondo said. “Marco [Belinelli] is a winner; [Caron Butler] is one. We’ve got enough strong personalities to help change the culture. It’s just a matter of time if the team stays consistent with it.”

Here’s more out of the Western Conference:

Eric Saar of Basketball Insiders looks at potential Markieff Morris trades, and he believes a swap with the Pelicans for Ryan Anderson is the best-case scenario for the Suns. Anderson will be a free agent at the end of the season and Saar speculates that he will command near-maximum salary on the open market, which is something the Pelicans may not be inclined to give him.
Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic examines Brandon Knight‘s play since he signed his five year, $70MM contract during the offseason. The Suns were 4-7 last year with Knight in the lineup and they are 10-18 to start this season.
The Mavericks assigned Jeremy Evans to their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, according to a team press release. Evans is averaging only 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 7.8 minutes per game for Dallas this season.

Southwest Notes: Howard, Anderson, Wright

December 16th, 2015 at 10:29am CST by Chuck Myron

Dwight Howard denies that he’s “extremely unhappy” in Houston and said to reporters Tuesday that he hasn’t expressed any discontent with playing a secondary role to James Harden, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays. Howard, taking his fewest shots per game since he was a rookie, said last week he’s not worried about his part in the Rockets offense and that he believes his role will increase, Feigen points out.

“I want us to win,” Howard said Tuesday. “We had two upsetting losses. We’re all frustrated because we know we can play better. I haven’t said anything to any reporter or to anybody about being unhappy. That’s only noise. All the other stuff is lies.”

See more from the Southwest Division:

The Pelicans have listened to teams that have called with interest in trading for Ryan Anderson, and while they’re actively exploring trade possibilities and engaging teams on other matters, they’re not shopping the power forward, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter links). The Rockets have reportedly “kicked the tires” on potential deals involving Anderson, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, while the team would consider giving up Anderson for Markieff Morris, as Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reported. The Suns and Pelicans have had preliminary talks about Morris, Wojnarowski and Charania wrote, and Anderson’s name is involved in that discussion, too, writes John Reid of The Times Picayune.
An initial timetable has Grizzlies big man Brandan Wright back in six to eight weeks after a knee surgery he’s scheduled to undergo Thursday, reports Chris Vernon of 92.9 FM in Memphis (Twitter links). Wright, a key offseason free agent signee for Memphis, hasn’t played since November 7th as he and the team held out hope that his sore right knee would heal without the procedure, Vernon adds.
Jonathon Simmons made the D-League affiliate of the Spurs through an open tryout in 2013, but he averaged fewer than 10 points a game in 2013/14 and thought about quitting pro basketball in the summer of 2014, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News details. Now, the 26-year-old is in the Spurs rotation after signing an NBA deal this past summer that includes a fully guaranteed salary for this season.

Jerome Jordan To Play In China

December 15th, 2015 at 4:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Free agent center Jerome Jordan has signed with Jiangsu Tongxi of the Chinese Basketball Association, international journalist David Pick reports (Twitter link). The length and terms of the deal are not known, nor if it includes an NBA out clause. If his pact does not include such a clause, Jordan would be eligible to join an NBA team in the spring after the Chinese season ended.

The 29-year-old Jordan appeared in 44 contests for the Nets last season, averaging 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per game. His slash line was .532/.000/.864. Jordan wasn’t extended a qualifying offer by Brooklyn and became an unrestricted free agent as a result. The center had signed a one-year non-guaranteed deal with the team that included a partial guarantee of $100K only if he remained under contract through October 25th, 2014, but he stuck on the Nets all season, earning a full $816,482 salary.

Jordan was in training camp with the Pelicans this year, but New Orleans parted ways with him and his non-guaranteed minimum salary arrangement.

Pelicans Make Omer Asik Available

December 15th, 2015 at 3:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans have made Omer Asik available to potential trade suitors, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, who writes within a larger piece. New Orleans just re-signed the 29-year-old center over the summer to a five-year deal worth nearly $52.978MM in base salary, but he’s averaging a career-worst 2.2 points in 13.9 minutes per game so far this season after suffering a right hamstring strain in early October. He’s missed seven games so far this season, and new coach Alvin Gentry has moved him in and out of the starting lineup of late.

Asik’s struggles have symbolized the trouble the Pelicans have experienced as they dealt with a slew of injuries that led to chaotic roster movement throughout the preseason and left the team shorthanded at times during a disappointing 6-18 start. The Pelicans have struggled to pick up Gentry’s offense, no surprise given the lack of practice time for many players.

New Orleans originally acquired Asik in a trade with the Rockets in the summer of 2014. The Celtics were reportedly expected to make a run at the B.J. Armstrong client during free agency this past offseason, but it’s unclear whether they did, as Asik and the Pelicans were already finalizing a deal on the first day of free agent negotiations in July, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com.

The Pelicans are over the cap and less than $4MM shy of tax territory, so they don’t have a wealth of flexibility to take on additional salary. They have a trade exception worth about $507K, but that’s likely too small to help facilitate any deal. Trade rumors have also surrounded soon-to-be free agent Ryan Anderson in recent weeks.

What should the Pelicans look for in a trade involving Asik? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Southwest Notes: Anderson, McDaniels, Leonard

December 15th, 2015 at 1:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets have “kicked the tires” on trade scenarios involving Markieff Morris and Ryan Anderson, though it doesn’t seem likely they’ll deal for either, writes Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders. It’s clear the team has shopped Terrence Jones and K.J. McDaniels, though Rockets sources label such talk as routine and due diligence, Kyler adds. Sources told Marc Stein of ESPN.com earlier this month that the Rockets were interested in Morris and would likely give up Jones to get him. The Pelicans would consider giving up Anderson for Morris, according to Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, but New Orleans is not anxious to trade him, Kyler wrote earlier this month. McDaniels has appeared for a total of only 39 minutes this season after signing a three-year, $10MM deal in the offseason. See more from around the Southwest Division:

Rookie scale contracts will look “like gold” as the salary cap escalates and their dollar values remain the same, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said to Zach Lowe of ESPN.com in the offseason, a signal that the team knows it must replenish its youth, Lowe writes. Dallas is turning away any teams interested in trading for Justin Anderson, this year’s 21st overall pick, sources tell Lowe.
Kawhi Leonard won the Defensive Player of the Year award last season, and after signing a five-year max deal to stay with the Spurs in the summer, his defense has improved even further, Spurs coach/executive Gregg Popovich acknowledged, as Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News relays (Twitter links).
The Pelicans have been slow to pick up the ball movement principles in new coach Alvin Gentry‘s offense, observes John Reid of The Times Picayune. New Orleans struggled with injuries throughout the preseason, keeping players from the opportunity to learn the new system. The Pelicans have the NBA’s third-worst record, though that puts them in prime lottery position, as our Reverse Standings show.

Western Notes: Lakers, Pelicans, Blazers

December 14th, 2015 at 9:05pm CST by Will Joseph

Despite a slow start for Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell, GM Mitch Kupchak has a lot of confidence in the shooting guard, Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times relays. Russell has scored in double-figures in eight of the Lakers’ nine games this month. Kupchak attributed Russell’s success lately to figuring out the pace of the game and believes the young player will develop into a triple-double threat, Pincus adds.

“There’s never a doubt, when we scouted him last year and when we drafted him and worked him out, that he was going to be a very, very, very, very good player in this league,” Kupchak said in a live chat on Lakers.com, transcribed by Pincus. “That’s our feeling all along. He did not have a very good summer league and I think that was a wake-up call for him.”

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

The Pelicans re-signed Omer Asik to a five-year, $58MM contract in the summer, but the center’s performance has been underwhelming so far, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. Only the first four years of the deal are guaranteed, as Reid notes. The total value of guaranteed money is close to $45MM and Asik will be able to get entire value of the contract if he meets a certain amount of performance-based incentives, according to Reid, but his play indicates that’s not likely to happen.
C.J. McCollum is in the midst of a breakout season for the Blazers and there is a strong possibility he could be the league’s most improved player, Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group details. Portland exercised its rookie scale team option for the 2016/17 season with McCollum in September.
The Wolves were a perfect fit for rookie Karl-Anthony Towns in comparison to the Sixers and Lakers because in Minnesota he has veteran mentors like Kevin Garnett, Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press writes.

Southwest Notes: Popovich, Simmons, Gentry

December 12th, 2015 at 7:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said the franchise used a low-key approach on LaMarcus Aldridge, as it does on all free agents, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com. Popovich said the Spurs learned a hard lesson about promoting the team to free agents when it tried to lure Jason Kidd in 2003. “If they come, they come,” Popovich said. “If they don’t, I don’t care. Because it’s as simple as that. Especially for a guy who’s been in the league for nine years. You know what he can do, you know what he can’t do. You know what you like, you know what you don’t like. Whatever it might be. But more importantly, he knows who you are, and he knows what team he would like to go to for whatever reasons.” The Spurs’ approach worked on Aldridge, who agreed to a four-year, $80MM deal in July.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Spurs may have found another hidden talent in Jonathon Simmons, according to Quixem Ramirez of SB Nation. Simmons, who scored 9 points in 19 minutes in Friday’s win over the Lakers, spent the last two seasons with the Spurs’ D-League affiliate in Austin. He signed a two-year deal in July with a non-guaranteed salary for the second season.
Even though his former team is 24-0, Alvin Gentry is happy to be in New Orleans, writes Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune. Gentry, who left the Warriors to become coach of the Pelicans, probably would be guiding Golden State in Steve Kerr’s absence instead of Luke Walton if he had stayed. However, Gentry doesn’t second guess his decision, even with New Orleans off to a 6-16 start. “I’m truly a believer in that God has a plan for all of us,” Gentry said. “I truly believe I’m where I’m supposed to be, and Luke’s where he’s supposed to be.”
The Mavericks have recalled Justin Anderson from the D-League, the team announced today. The 6’6″ guard is averaging 2.3 points in 6.4 minutes of playing time in 16 games with the Mavericks. He has been sent down and called up twice in the past two days, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Anderson’s latest recall was because Deron Williams missed tonight’s game in Washington with an illness (Twitter link).

2016/17 Salary Cap Projection: New Orleans Pelicans

December 11th, 2015 at 6:45pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 has been set at $70MM, which is an 11% increase from last season, and the luxury tax line is fixed at $84.74MM. The last cap projection from the league prior to the official numbers being announced had been $67.1MM, and the projection for the tax line had been $81.6MM. Many league executives and agents believe that the salary cap will escalate to a whopping $95MM for 2016/17, a higher figure than the league’s last projection of $89MM. This significant bump is a result of the league’s new $24 billion TV deal that kicks in just in time for next season.

The increase in the salary cap will almost assuredly set off a flurry of activity in the free agent market next summer, and it will also make it easier than ever for teams to deal away their higher-priced stars. Prudent executives are acutely aware of exactly how much cap room they have to play with, not just for the current campaign, but for next season and beyond as well. While the exact amount of 2016/17’s salary cap won’t be announced until next summer, it always pays to know just how much salary is on the books for each franchise. With this in mind, we at Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the projected 2016/17 financial commitments for each franchise, and we’ll continue onward with a look at the New Orleans Pelicans:

Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments: $65,030,848*
Partially Guaranteed Salary Commitments: $200,000
Non Guaranteed Salary Commitments: $2,342,734
Total Projected Salary Cap Commitments: $67,573,582

*Note: This amount includes Alonzo Gee‘s player option worth $1,379,400.

If the salary cap were to fall in line with the projection of $89MM, New Orleans would have approximately $21,426,418 in cap space, or $27,426,418 if the cap were to be set at the higher mark of $95MM. Again, these are merely predictions until the exact cap amounts are announced, and they are not meant to illustrate the exact amount that the team will have available to spend this coming offseason.

Trades and long-term free agent signings made during the season will also have a significant impact on the figures above, and we’ll be updating these posts to reflect the new numbers after any signings and trades have been made official.

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

Southwest Notes: Cole, Anderson, Pachulia, Jenkins

December 11th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

John Reid of The Times Picayune suggests that it’s doubtful that either Ryan Anderson or Norris Cole will re-sign with the Pelicans as unrestricted free agent this coming summer. The qualifying offer that Cole received from the Pelicans in restricted free agency this past offseason was the best he had, according to Reid, who points out that it still took him until the middle of September to agree to come back to New Orleans. The team is making Anderson available to other teams for a trade, Reid confirms, advancing a report from Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports that said the Pelicans would consider dealing Anderson to the Suns for Markieff Morris, especially if Anderson signaled he wouldn’t re-sign. The team is looking for a quick fix after starting 5-16, Reid adds. See more from the Southwest Division:

DeAndre Jordan‘s flip-flop on his decision to sign with the Mavericks led Dallas to trade for Zaza Pachulia, and while Pachulia is no Jordan, he’s had success this season and has won over a key teammate, as Ian Thomsen of NBA.com details. “After we didn’t get DeAndre we moved on pretty quick, and getting Zaza was a really good move,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “He is one of the smartest centers I ever played with. He can pass, he can shoot a little bit, he can put it on the floor. He may be undersized some nights, but he’s got a big heart, he fights and he is very, very smart. He will compete for us and I love him to death.”
Mavs offseason signee John Jenkins hasn’t put up the same flashy numbers in the regular season that he did during the preseason, but the opportunity Dallas gave him to excel during exhibitions was a key boost, he tells Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was huge,” Jenkins said. “I knew I had that in me. I was just showing everybody else. For me to do that was a lot of fun. They gave me the ball and said ‘Do what you do.’ Which is different. I enjoyed it a lot.”
Boban Marjanovic credits his recent D-League stint with helping his game, and his Spurs teammates are urging the free agent acquisition to use his 7’3″ size to his advantage on the court, observes Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.

Western Notes: Booker, Anderson, D-League

December 10th, 2015 at 10:25pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Suns GM Ryan McDonough is thrilled with the play of rookie shooting guard Devin Booker, who was the No. 13 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, Matt Petersen of NBA.com notes. “We thought he’d be a good player down the line, but he showed on this road trip that despite having just turned 19 years old, he’s a pretty darn good player right now,” McDonough said. Booker is averaging 5.8 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 14.3 minutes per night, and the rookie has connected on a ridiculous 71.4% of his attempts from beyond the 3-point line.

Here’s more from out West:

Pelicans power forward Ryan Anderson has been the subject of recent trade rumors, but the team hasn’t indicated to him that a deal is close to fruition, John Reid of the Times Picayune tweets. “It definitely has not got to the point where they’re asking me, ‘Ryan lets get a trade going or we want you gone,’ Anderson told Reid.
The Kings have recalled Duje Dukan from their D-League affiliate in Reno, the team announced. This was Dukan’s third stint with the Bighorns this season.
Center Mitch McGary has been recalled from the Thunder‘s D-League affiliate, the team announced. McGary has appeared in four games for the Blue this season and is averaging 13.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.0 block in 27.7 minutes per game.
Fans will likely see less of Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarters of Lakers games as the season progresses so that the team can give its younger players more crunch time experience, Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times notes (Twitter links). “Eventually, it’s going to be like this anyway. Just so these guys can grow,” coach Byron Scott said about keeping Kobe on the bench late in games.