New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans Sign Jimmer Fredette

November 10th, 2015 at 12:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

12:20pm: It’s a non-guaranteed contract, according to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 11:39am: The signing is official, the Pelicans announced via press release, adding that they indeed received league approval for a 16th roster spot.

2:39pm: The team has submitted its application for a hardship provision, Reid writes in a full story. Coach Alvin Gentry said uncertainty remains until the league grants approval for the 16th roster spot, adding that the Pelicans hold Fredette in high regard, but Reid hears from sources who confirm that the Pelicans will indeed sign Fredette, pending NBA approval, which could come as early as Tuesday.

11:43am: The team is in the process of applying for the hardship provision, as John Reid of The Times Picayune hears (Twitter link), so it would appear the signing has still yet to occur.

MONDAY, 10:23am: The Pelicans are signing Jimmer Fredette using the hardship provision for a 16th roster spot, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The team hasn’t made an announcement, but Charania indicates the move has already taken place. The former college star and 10th overall pick had started the season in the D-League with the Knicks affiliate shortly after the Spurs released him from their training camp roster last month. New Orleans, the team for which Fredette played last year, has been dealing with a rash of injuries for several weeks, and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported Friday that Kendrick Perkins is expected to miss the next three months.

Fredette, who made his reputation at BYU as a dead-eye shooter from behind the arc, made just 18.8% of his 3-point attempts for the Pelicans last season, and he didn’t impress during the small sample size of San Antonio’s preseason, going 2 for 10 from the floor and 0 for 3 from 3-point range. Still, New Orleans is in need of healthy players, with Perkins joining Norris Cole, Tyreke Evans and Quincy Pondexter among those currently shelved with long-term injuries. Omer Asik is questionable for Tuesday’s game. Teams need four players who are expected to miss at least two weeks to qualify for the extra roster spot via hardship, so New Orleans fits the bill.

The Pelicans are set to become the second team to use a hardship provision this season. The Sixers last week signed Phil Pressey to become their 16th man. It’s temporary relief, as both the Pelicans and Sixers would have to apply for another hardship provision after 10 days. If the league denies them, the teams would have to cut back to 15 men, though they could elect to keep Fredette and Pressey and offload other players instead. It’s unclear if Fredette is receiving any guaranteed money on his deal.

Fredette is also joining Pressey as the second D-League call-up of the season. New York’s D-League team picked Fredette second overall in the D-League draft on November 1st, after the Jazz affiliate took Jeff Ayres. Fredette, the once-heralded prospect, said recently that he hadn’t heard from Knicks team president Phil Jackson or coach Derek Fisher about joining New York’s NBA roster, which includes an open spot.

Do you think Fredette will stick with the Pelicans for this season, or will he be gone as soon as the team returns to health? Leave a comment to tell us.

Southwest Notes: Thornton, Pelicans, Spurs

November 9th, 2015 at 9:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Marcus Thornton has emerged as a surprise starter with the Rockets by showing he can do more than just shoot, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. Thornton is enjoying a career revival as the team’s small forward, averaging 16.6 points and making a team-best 40.5% of his 3-point attempts, but his overall contributions have kept him on the floor, Feigen continues. “He’s a very good passer,” Houston coach Kevin McHale told Feigen. “He’s a good on-ball defender.” Thornton believes that McHale’s confidence in him has led to his strong start. “I always had a lot more to show,” Thornton said to Feigen. “Just now, I’ve been in the right position to show it.”

In other news around the Southwest Division:

The only viable trade bait that the struggling Pelicans have to offer are their draft picks, according to Tom Ziller of SBNation.com. It would be difficult to move any of their rotation pieces because of injuries and/or contract status but the Pelicans do not owe any future first-rounders, Ziller continues in his analysis of the team’s slow start. Based upon GM Dell Demps’ history and the Pelicans’ mandate to make the playoffs, New Orleans is likely to dangle those picks on the trade market in an effort to turn its season around, Ziller believes.
Ray McCallum has gotten buried on the Spurs’ bench but is trying to make the best of the situation and remain patient, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News reports. McCallum is currently the team’s third option at point guard behind Tony Parker and Patty Mills and has been learning from the players ahead of him in the rotation, Orsborn continues. Coach Gregg Popovich told Orsborn that McCallum is still settling in after getting traded by the Kings. “He’s probably a little bit confounded right now, trying to figure out what’s going on,” Popovich said. “Some of that has to happen in his own mind, and get some sort of comfort level before they can help him too much.”
David West has been in the league a long time but he’s still opening eyes with his playmaking, Orsborn writes in a separate piece. The 13-year Spurs power forward had a six-assist outing off the bench against the Hornets last week. “Even from open gym, I realized he was better than I thought,” shooting guard Manu Ginobili told Orsborn. “He’s a willing passer, too. He’s looking for passes, looking for cutters. He can hit a jumper, but he’s also willing to pass.”

Southwest Notes: Thornton, Matthews, Grizzlies

November 9th, 2015 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Marcus Thornton signed with the Rockets this summer knowing that he wasn’t assured a spot in the rotation, much less a starting job, but he felt as though the team was a strong match for his skills and was willing to bet he could boost his value on a one-year deal, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle examines. Coach Kevin McHale elected to go small and promote Thornton to the starting five after the team’s first two games, Feigen notes, a move that’s paid dividends, since Thornton has been the team’s second leading scorer so far.

“It’s been great,” Thornton said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in an offense with coaches that have the ultimate confidence in you. When a coach has the ultimate confidence in you, it’s easy to go out there and play, let the chips fall where they may. If you mess up, get back, get it again. It’s great when you have guys that share the ball, too. It’s fun.”

See more from the Southwest Division:

Agent Jeff Austin thought six teams would aggressively court Wesley Matthews in free agency this past summer if he were healthy, but only two went hard after him, according to TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. One was the Mavericks, who reportedly wound up lifting the value of their deal with Matthews from $57MM to the max of about $70MM after DeAndre Jordan reneged on his decision to sign with Dallas. Both the Raptors and Kings were apparently talking to Matthews before he agreed to join the Mavs, so it’s unclear which of them went farther than the other.
The Grizzlies have no shortage of issues, but poor performances and a lack of cohesion from Marc Gasol, Mike Conley and coach Dave Joerger are far and away the most troublesome, opines Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal.
The Pelicans don’t have a lot of assets to trade, aside from their future draft picks, but even amid a bleak outlook for this season thanks to their injury-hit 0-6 start, their future remains bright, SB Nation’s Tom Ziller believes. That said, New Orleans is the only NBA team without a rookie, as we pointed out.
We rounded up news on the Spurs earlier today.

Kendrick Perkins Expected To Miss Three Months

November 6th, 2015 at 9:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pelicans center Kendrick Perkins is expected to miss three months of action while rehabilitating a right pectoral injury, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports. This unwelcome news comes while New Orleans is dealing with an 0-4 start to the young season, as well as adding to the team’s growing list of players dealing with injuries that includes Omer Asik, Tyreke Evans, Quincy Pondexter, and Norris Cole.

The veteran big man wasn’t expected to play a major role for the team this season, but with Asik being limited to just 10 minutes of action this season courtesy of a calf injury, this forced coach Alvin Gentry to utilize Perkins in a larger role than intended. His presence has also been considered important to the Pelicans’ coaching staff, which considered him a needed veteran voice in the locker room, Wojnarowski adds. Perkins had been a starter in three Pelicans games, averaging 5.3 points and 2.7 rebounds, before going suffering the injury last Saturday against Golden State.

Perkins appeared in a combined 68 games for the Thunder and the Cavaliers during the 2014/15 campaign, averaging 4.0 points and 5.5 rebounds for OKC and 2.6 PPG and 2.4 RPG for Cleveland. His career numbers through 12 NBA seasons are 5.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 1.2 BPG to go along with a slash line of .530/.000/.597. Perkins signed a one-year, minimum salary deal with the Pelicans back in July.

Southwest Notes: Carlisle, McGee, Douglas, Hayes

November 6th, 2015 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban usually doesn’t do extensions, but he made an exception with coach Rick Carlisle, whom he signed to a five-year, $35MM extension Thursday, notes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News details.

“I don’t say, ‘Here, this is the way it’s always going to be.’ The worst policy in the world is to be dogmatic about your policies,” Cuban said. “It was clear he wanted to stay. He didn’t put pressure on us at all. We reached out. What it confirms is we’ll never put money over winning. Winning always comes first.”

It was the right idea for both the team and the coach to extend the contract now, given the questions about whether the Mavericks can do much winning this season, since it removes any doubts about Carlisle’s future, opines fellow Morning News scribe Kevin Sherrington. See more on the Mavs amid the latest from around the Southwest Division:

It’s unlikely that JaVale McGee plays anytime in November, and his timetable for a return from his lingering leg injury is weeks, not days, tweets Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. McGee’s with the Mavs on a $750K partial guarantee he locked in when he made the opening night roster.
The Pelicans gave Toney Douglas a $50K partial guarantee as part of his deal with them, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It’s a prorated two-year, minimum-salary contract, according to Pincus.
The deal that the Rockets signed with Chuck Hayes this past weekend covers one year at the prorated minimum salary and is non-guaranteed, Pincus also shows. Since it’s only a one-year deal, it counts toward Houston’s tax and hard cap at only the two-year veteran’s minimum rate instead of the full 10-year minimum that the 32-year-old Hayes is actually making. The league will pay the difference.

Southwest Notes: Hayes, West, Davis

November 4th, 2015 at 10:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Veteran power forward David West sacrificed both money and playing time to join the Spurs as a free agent this past offseason, a move that was necessary to keep his competitive fire burning after 12 NBA seasons, Harvey Araton of The New York Times writes. “For me, in terms of basketball, I needed every night to mean something, in order to keep going,” West said. The player also acknowledged that the Pacers’ treatment of center Roy Hibbert played a part in his decision to leave Indiana, Araton adds. “It was a great environment, but I got to the point where I felt it was time to move in a different direction,” West said of his former team.

Here’s more from out of the Southwest Division:

Chuck Hayes, who was signed by the Rockets on Sunday, is thrilled to be back out on the court as a player after flirting with becoming an assistant coach, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle writes. “It was a good feeling to go out there in the second quarter,” said Hayes after his first game back. “I don’t know all the timing, the offensive rhythm yet. I consider myself a good defensive player. I figure that’s the best way I can dictate and put an imprint on the game is on the defensive end. The thing I did is talk to the guys, tell them where the screens are coming, be active, let my voice do the work for me.”
Anthony Davis isn’t thrilled with his play in new coach Alvin Gentry‘s up-tempo system, and the Pelicans‘ slow start to the season isn’t helping matters either, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”I’m always frustrated; I just want to be the best I can be to help the team win,” Davis said. ”I feel I’m not doing it right now. All the frustration is on me. They’re giving me great opportunities and I can’t find a way to put the ball in the basket.”
As his career winds down, Spurs big man Tim Duncan has re-invented himself as a “glue guy,” and instead of looking to score, he must look to do “the little stuff” that impacts the game, Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News writes. “I’m just trying to figure that out,” Duncan said when asked to describe his role. “I’m not sure what it is yet. It’s a little different now, because we added some different players. We’re all just trying to figure it out.”

And-Ones: Rockets, Knicks, Robinson

November 1st, 2015 at 9:21pm CST by Will Joseph

The Rockets remain skeptical that they will be able to reach agreements on signing rookie scale extensions for forwards Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reports. The deadline for rookie scale extensions is Monday. It was recently reported that both players preferred to set themselves up for restricted free agency this coming summer. Both Motiejunas and Jones are considered “vitally important” to the team, according to Feigen.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Nikoloz Tskitishvili signed with Tochigi Brex in Japan, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Tskitishvili briefly attempted an NBA comeback with the Clippers this fall.
Karl-Anthony Towns is off to a torrid start, but the rookie isn’t alone as this year’s crop of first-year players are much more talented than the groups from recent memory, Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post opines.
Nate Robinson, who was waived by the Pelicans last week after just two games, seems to have lost a step and his days in the league might be over, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes in his Sunday column.
It’s only a matter of time before Knicks rookie point guard Jerian Grant overtakes the starting role from Jose Calderon, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Knicks president Phil Jackson still thinks Calderon can be a force this season and chose against waiving him via the stretch provision, Berman adds.

Southwest Notes: Mavs, Pelicans, Spurs

November 1st, 2015 at 5:30pm CST by Will Joseph

Dirk Nowitzki said that he still is surprised by the decision made by DeAndre Jordan and added Jordan abruptly stopped texting with the Mavs star when he reversed course and elected to re-sign with the Clippers, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays. Jordan declined to comment when asked about the decision. Mavs owner Mark Cuban said he has not spoken to Jordan since July 9th, MacMahon adds.

“I think we were disappointed, but we still have to move on as a franchise, and that’s what we did,” Nowitzki said. “That happens in free agency sometimes.”

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry wants his team to play a better style of defense, with an emphasis on the perimeter, and to utilize their roster versatility to switch on pick-and-rolls, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News details. To that end, Gentry wants to limit the amount of time Anthony Davis spends in the post. That is in stark contrast to how Davis, the league’s leading shot blocker last year, has been used in the past, Deveney adds.
Rasual Butler told reporters, including Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News, that he is delighted to have made the Spurs‘ regular season roster. “This is the gold standard of the NBA,” Butler said. “To have the opportunity to be part of this culture; to play for Coach [Gregg] Popovich just the way that we play the game is a huge deal for me. It’s very exciting to be a part of this.”
Optimism surrounds the Mavs because of Chandler Parsons‘ impending return and Dallas’ ball movement in coach Rick Carlisle‘s motion-driven system on offense, opines Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News.

Western Notes: Hayes, Perkins, Brown, Alexander

November 1st, 2015 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

A shortage of big men led to the Rockets signing Chuck Hayes earlier today, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. With Dwight Howard sitting out because of a back-to-back and forwards Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas out with injury, Houston needed emergency help in its frontcourt. The solution was Hayes, who received a non-guaranteed contract, an unidentified source told Feigen. “Sitting at home watching games is not a good feeling,” Hayes said. “I’m excited. I’m familiar with the organization, familiar with the coaching staff from meeting with them this summer. I’m looking forward to it.” During the summer, the Rockets were interested in having Hayes join their coaching staff, but he wanted to continue playing.

There’s more from the Western Conference:

The Pelicans‘ Kendrick Perkins will be sidelined indefinitely with a right pectoral injury, tweets John Reid of The Times-Picayune. He suffered the injury in the first quarter of Saturday night’s loss to the Warriors.
Jabari Brown, the last player waived by the Lakers during camp, is considering playing in China, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. A source told Spears that Brown won’t play for the Lakers’ D-League team.
Surgery is being considered for the Blazers‘ Cliff Alexander, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Tests showed Alexander suffered torn cartilage in his knee, but the team is hoping the injury will heal with rest. If swelling or pain emerges again, surgery will be an option. “As of now, I’m fine, I feel no pain,” the 19-year-old rookie said. “I can run and jump, do everything. But if the swelling and pain comes back, then I might need surgery.”
Warriors GM Bob Myers told Sam Amick of USA Today that even though an extension couldn’t be reached with Harrison Barnes, the discussions ended “in a very healthy place.” Barnes reportedly turned down a four-year, $64MM offer and will become a restricted free agent next summer. “The deal has to work for Harrison and the organization,” Myers said. “And I always — maybe it’s my background [as a player agent] — but I always respect the position that an athlete takes in these situations. And now, representing the organization, we’re going to make the decision the best decision for us.”

Southwest Notes: Douglas, Kazemi, Pachulia

October 31st, 2015 at 7:41pm CST by Arthur Hill

Toney Douglas‘ new contract with the Pelicans covers two years, with the second year non-guaranteed, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops. New Orleans signed the 29-year-old guard Friday after waiving Nate Robinson. This is the second stint with the Pelicans for Douglas, who signed two 10-day contracts and a multiyear deal with the team last season. However, the Pelicans waived him in July to avoid guaranteeing his salary for this season. Douglas cleared waivers earlier this week after being released by the Pacers.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Arsalan Kazemi, who was with the Rockets briefly this preseason, will play overseas rather than in the D-League, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com. Kazemi was waived last week after being claimed on waivers from the Hawks on October 12th. He appeared in one preseason game with Houston.
Dirk Nowitzki is a already a huge fan of new teammate Zaza Pachulia, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. Pachulia, who came to Dallas in a July trade with the Bucks, had 10 points and 10 rebounds in his first game with the Mavericks. “I don’t think I’ve played with a smarter center than he is,” Nowitzki said.
“Just making smart plays, setting good picks, getting guys open. He’s a good passer for his size and just makes really, really smart plays.”
The Grizzlies know what to expect from their core starters, but their level of success could depend on complementary players, writes Chris Herrington of The Commercial Appeal. Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Tony Allen are established after playing in 279 games together entering this season, according to Herrington, but it’s the contribution of other players, such as offseason addition Brandan Wright, who could determine if Memphis makes a serious run at the title.