New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Gordon, Lawson, Motiejunas

September 16th, 2015 at 12:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Eric Gordon says the talent surrounding him on the Pelicans and the replacement of coach Monty Williams with Alvin Gentry were the reasons that he picked up his option of more than $15.514MM to stay with the team, he tells SB Nation contributor Nick Weldon. Gordon says he was frustrated with Williams for failing to better define his role, according to Weldon.

“Oh, I was very happy when I heard Gentry was a candidate,” Gordon said to Weldon. “I mean, very happy.”

Gordon is set to hit free agency next summer, but he can’t envision leaving New Orleans, Weldon adds. See more from the Southwest Division, where a pair of Rich Paul clients finally agreed to sign:

The acquisition of Ty Lawson was Houston’s most significant offseason move, but coach Kevin McHale is making no promises that the trade netted the team a starter, observes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Lawson and Patrick Beverley, whom the Rockets re-signed this summer for $23MM over four years, will compete for the starting point guard job, McHale said Tuesday, as Feigen notes. McHale said that last season Lawson “had a very average year in Denver compared to what he had done before” and called upon him to improve his defense, according to Feigen.
Donatas Motiejunas probably won’t be ready for the start of training camp as he continues to recover from the back injury that forced surgery and prematurely ended his 2014/15 season, McHale confirmed, as Mark Berman of Fox 26 relays on Twitter. Motiejunas and the Rockets face a November 2nd deadline to sign an extension, as I examined in detail last month.
The extension that Rick Carlisle signed in 2012 reportedly includes an option for 2016/17, but it otherwise runs to term at the conclusion of this coming season. That could make Carlisle, who’s proven an elite bench boss with the Mavericks, the most intriguing free agent not named Kevin Durant next summer, opines Tim Bontemps of the New York Post (on Facebook).

Western Notes: Mavs, Cole, Tskitishvili

September 15th, 2015 at 10:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The competition for who will be the starting center for the Mavericks is one of the most important preseason battles to watch, writes Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. The winner of the training camp battle may not be the player who is the most talented, according to coach Rick Carlisle, Sneed adds. “You know, ultimately, who’s better may not be the one that starts,” Carlisle has said in the past. “I mean, we’ve done things a little different way than some teams the last several years. … The thing that’s exciting is the possibility of having another roster full of capable players and guys that are good and guys that are experienced. And at this point in their careers, they’re aiming more towards winning and getting back into the conversation of getting a ring than just trying to get some stats and get their next deal.”

Dallas currently has Zaza Pachulia as the projected starter at the pivot, with JaVale McGee, Samuel Dalembert, and Salah Mejri also competing for a shot to make the team and the rotation. McGee would appear to be Pachulia’s stiffest competitor for the starting slot, though there are some concerns regarding McGee’s health.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry acknowledged that the team hopes to have restricted free agent Norris Cole back, but he referred any questions regarding the status of the contract negotiations between the player and team to GM Dell Demps, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”I don’t know, I’ll leave that one to Dell to answer,” Gentry said when asked about Cole’s potential return. ”Obviously we would like to have him back on our team. He’s an important part of our team, but that’s something that will have to get answered on the [front office] side of it. But you know as a coach, I would like to have him back and I’m sure Dell wants him back also.” The Lakers also expressed interest in Cole this Summer, according to Reid.
Nikoloz Tskitishvili‘s one-year deal with the Clippers is a non-guaranteed Summer pact that includes limited injury protection, meaning it is an Exhibit 9 contract, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders relays (on Twitter).
Despite the bizarre and unnecessary trade that the team made with the Sixers, the Kings enter the 2015/16 season with a solid collection of talent, though Sacramento will likely fall just short of securing a playoff berth, Tim Bontemps of The New York Post (Facebook link) opines in his season preview for the franchise.

Pelicans, Chris Douglas-Roberts Agree To Deal

September 14th, 2015 at 3:16pm CST by Chuck Myron

3:16pm: The contract will be non-guaranteed, reports John Reid of The Times Picayune.

1:54pm: The Pelicans and Chris Douglas-Roberts have reached agreement on a two-year deal worth the minimum salary, league sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported last week that the Pelicans had a keen interest in the free agent small forward.

Douglas-Roberts, 28, sat out the end of last season after the Celtics waived him in January. The Clippers had traded him to Boston shortly before that. The Anthony Jones client had seen little playing time in L.A., which signed him to a guaranteed one-year minimum-salary deal before the 2014/15, when he was coming off a strong performance for Charlotte.

New Orleans has deals with 16 players, including 13 that are fully guaranteed. One-year veteran Sean Kilpatrick and undrafted rookie Bryce Dejean-Jones have partially guaranteed deals, while New Zealand prospect Corey Webster will also reportedly be with the team in camp. All three are wing players, like Douglas-Roberts.

How large a role do you think Douglas-Roberts will play for the Pelicans this season? Leave a comment to let us know.

Southwest Notes: Cummings, Holiday, Gordon

September 12th, 2015 at 8:09pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Will Cummings, who will join the Rockets in training camp after signing with the team, understands Houston has well-established point guards on the roster, but hopes to learn as much as possible from them, Colby Giacubeno of SB Nation writes.

“It’s going to be a great experience going against [Patrick Beverley and Ty Lawson] in practice. Pat has been back in Houston, so I’ve been able to work out with him a few times now and putting me through different types of workouts, which definitely helps give me a jump-start going to training camp,” Cummings said. “It’s really just a blessing to be playing at the highest level and learn as much as I can from the guys who have been there and want to be the best.”

Cummings went undrafted after leading Temple University in points (14.8), assists (4.2) and steals (1.9) per game as a senior last season.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Jrue Holiday is still rehabbing from the surgery on his right leg, but the point guard is optimistic about returning to the court full-time, John Reid of the Times Picayune tweets. ”I’m not doing everything that [the team] is doing [in volunteer workouts], my time is limited which I think is really good,” Holiday said.
The stakes are high for Eric Gordon this season, Jesse Blancarte of Basketball Insiders opines. Gordon will be a free agent after the season and Blancarte believes if the shooting guard can stay healthy, he will have a big contract waiting for him next summer. Shooting guards Wes Matthews and Khris Middleton just received $70MM each on their contracts this summer and Blancarte believes Gordon’s potential deal next summer could top both of those.

Southwest Notes: McGee, Motiejunas, Walker

September 11th, 2015 at 2:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Much will be expected of prominent offseason additions Wesley Matthews and Deron Williams, but the Mavericks will keep it simple with first-round pick Justin Anderson and free agent signee JaVale McGee, observes Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Anderson, this year’s 21st overall pick, has the comfort of a four-year rookie scale contract on his side, but McGee has only a $250K partial guarantee protecting his place on the roster.

“Well, I definitely feel like we’re different players, the centers that we have, so it’s definitely going to be good competition,” McGee said. “But that’s what basketball is for, competition, so it’s definitely going to make us all better. It’s definitely a positive thing, being a leaper as I am and a shot blocker and a dunker, so that’s definitely what teams need. I’m just somebody who keeps it simple, who dunks the ball, blocks shots and is just a presence in the paint. … [coach Rick Carlisle] just wants me to keep it simple, and just play as hard as I can and be a presence in the paint.”

McGee was a popular choice among Hoops Rumors readers in a recent poll about the starting center job in Dallas, but while we wait to see if McGee makes the regular season roster, much less the starting lineup, here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Donatas Motiejunas won’t say for sure if he’ll be healthy enough for the start of Rockets camp later this month, observes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). A back injury that required surgery ended his 2014/15 season prematurely this spring, and a November 2nd deadline looms for a rookie scale extension. I looked at his extension candidacy last month.
Chris Walker‘s camp deal with the Rockets is simply a one-year, non-guaranteed arrangement for the minimum salary, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Walker was once a heralded prospect before his stock fell during his time at the University of Florida.
Pincus clarifies his earlier report on Sean Kilpatrick‘s camp deal with the Pelicans, revealing that Kilpatrick’s partial guarantee of $50K doesn’t kick in unless he sticks with the team through October 27th (Twitter link). Otherwise, it’s a non-guaranteed contract, Pincus says.

Pelicans Interested In Chris Douglas-Roberts

September 11th, 2015 at 8:40am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans have keen interest in six-year veteran Chris Douglas-Roberts, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The 28-year-old has been out of the NBA since the Celtics waived him in January, shortly after his arrival via trade from the Clippers. The market has otherwise appeared scarce for the Anthony Jones client, despite his prominent role in the rotation for playoff-bound Charlotte in 2013/14.

A strained Achilles tendon helped curtial the impact that Douglas-Roberts had for the Clippers on a guaranteed minimum-salary contract this past season. He appeared in only 12 games, averaging 1.6 points in 8.6 minutes per contest. He put up 6.9 PPG in 20.7 MPG for Charlotte the season before, nailing 38.6% of his three-point attempts.

The client of agent Anthony Jones would give New Orleans another option at small forward, a trouble spot for the team over the past few seasons. The Pelicans are also eyeing Rasual Butler, whom they reportedly auditioned Wednesday, and they also reportedly worked out Corey Webster, a shooting guard prospect from New Zealand. New Orleans has 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts plus partially guaranteed deals with Sean Kilpatrick and Bryce Dejean-Jones, as our Pelicans roster page shows. Restricted free agent Norris Cole remains in limbo.

Do you think Douglas-Roberts can duplicate his season with Charlotte two years ago? Leave a comment to tell us.

Pelicans Work Out Rasual Butler

September 10th, 2015 at 11:13am CST by Chuck Myron

Free agent Rasual Butler worked out for the Pelicans at their practice facility Wednesday, sources tell John Reid of The Times Picayune, who writes at the bottom of a story about the team’s signing of Sean Kilpatrick. Before this, the Spurs were the last team with interest linked to the 36-year-old, with Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops reporting that San Antonio continued to eye Butler after The Oregonian’s Jason Quick first identified the Spurs as an interested party in early July. The swingman would like to play for the Heat, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wrote a few days ago, though it’s unclear if Miami wants that to happen.

Butler expressed a desire this past spring to return to the Wizards, with whom he played last season after making the regular season roster on a non-guaranteed deal for the minimum salary, and he appeared eager to join the Blazers after they became interested soon after free agency began this summer. Portland reportedly shifted gears away from him soon thereafter, however.

No movement appears to be taking place in negotiations between the Pelicans and lingering restricted free agent Norris Cole, Reid notes, leaving the team with 13 fully guaranteed contracts, plus partially guaranteed deals for Kilpatrick and undrafted shooting guard Bryce Dejean-Jones, as our Pelicans roster page shows. The team also worked out shooting guard Corey Webster, a prospect from New Zealand, as Niall Anderson of The New Zealand Herald reported and as Reid confirms.

Do you think Butler would be a fit for the Pelicans? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Pelicans Sign Sean Kilpatrick

September 10th, 2015 at 10:08am CST by Eddie Scarito

THURSDAY, 10:08am: The deal is official, the Pelicans announced.

WEDNESDAY, 5:40pm: The Pelicans have signed unrestricted free agent shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter link). The arrangement is a two-year, minimum salary deal that includes a partial guarantee of $50K for the 2015/16 season, Pincus adds. The 25-year-old was also a participant in recent workouts with the Hawks, Spurs and Lakers.

The former Cincinnati Bearcat averaged a strong 18.2 points in 28.7 minutes per game in summer league play for the Bucks this year, but Milwaukee already has 15 players on its roster possessing full guarantees. The path to a regular season roster spot for Kilpatrick would appear to be a bit less muddled with the Pelicans, with the team having 13 players with fully guaranteed pacts on its roster currently.

Kilpatrick appeared in four contests for the Timberwolves while on a 10-day contract during the 2014/15 campaign, averaging 5.5 points in 18.0 minutes per appearance. He spent the bulk of last season in the NBA D-League, playing for the affiliates of the Sixers and Warriors.

Pacific Notes: Morris, Curry, Teletovic, Huertas

September 10th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Suns coach Jeff Hornacek expressed optimism about the potential for a resolution that would see Markieff Morris back off his trade demand, as Craig Grialou of ArizonaSports.com relays. Several league sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe that the Suns don’t seem especially motivated to make a move, despite the bluster from the power forward.

“I know Markieff,” Hornacek said. “I know that when he gets here and starts playing, he’s a competitor and he’s going to try to win. Hopefully, he can get whatever he has off his chest with us and get back to business and help this team win.”

Lowe speculates about potential trade scenarios involving several teams around the league, opining that the Knicks are among those who should look into trading for Morris and writing that while New York isn’t ready to talk about dealing away Carmelo Anthony, who has a no-trade clause, the team is getting closer to that point. While we wait to see what happens, there’s more on the Suns amid the latest from the Pacific Division:

Seth Curry resisted overtures from overseas the past two years, but he and agent Alex Saratsis had planned for him to take one of those offers if he couldn’t find his footing in the NBA by this fall, writes Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated. An impressive summer league in July drew NBA interest from the Pelicans, Hornets and Warriors, as well as the Kings, who made the best offer and signed him to a two-year guaranteed deal, as Jenkins details. Golden State would have given him the chance to play with his brother, MVP Stephen Curry, but Seth looked the other way. “I didn’t want to go to Golden State,” Seth said. “I didn’t want to go back in Steph’s shadow.”
Hornacek is high on the game of free agent signee Mirza Teletovic, who seems in line to start at power forward if Morris isn’t in Phoenix, but the Suns coach wants to see better conditioning out of the former Net, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic chronicles. “He can shoot the ball,” Hornacek said of Teletovic. “The big thing is he can also makes some plays and he’s got a good eye of the court and good court sense. He’ll drive in there a little bit on a roll and look one way and pass it another way. He understands how to set things up. He probably needs to get in better shape. I don’t think he was used to the running that we do here but he toughed it out and kept going. He just got off a plane the other day from Bosnia.”
The contract that Marcelo Huertas signed with the Lakers is for one year and non-guaranteed, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. It’s worth the minimum salary with limited injury protection, adds Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, so it appears that it’s an Exhibit 9 contract.

Western Notes: Bryant, Gates, Malone

September 8th, 2015 at 6:48pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With Kobe Bryant entering the final year of his current deal, the Lakers were hampered by the Mamba’s $25MM salary when trying to rebuild their roster this offseason, and as a result this season will be more of a farewell tour for the superstar than a run at a final title, Shaun Powell of NBA.com writes in his season preview of the club. Powell also notes that while Bryant has a reputation as someone willing to do anything to win a championship, if that was indeed the case he would have pushed to join a contender for what could end up being his final NBA campaign. So instead, Powell opines that Bryant is willing to win, but only on his terms.

Here’s more out of the West:

Former Pelicans assistant coach Bryan Gates, who wasn’t retained when Monty Williams was fired, has been added to Flip Saunders‘ staff with the Timberwolves, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reports (Twitter link).
New Nuggets coach Michael Malone acknowledged that he was consulted by the team’s front office prior to troubled point guard Ty Lawson being traded to the Rockets, Nicki Jhabvala of The Denver Post writes. “We’re a team. There’s no separation between church and state,” Malone said of his relationship with Denver’s front office. “We’re together, we’re one, we communicate, and I think that’s so important. But at the end of the day, Tim’s [Connelly] job as GM is to make those decisions, obviously with the blessing of [team president] Josh Kroenke. They asked my opinion, I gave it, I tell him what I feel and believe in, and then whatever decision they make I roll with it.”
The Trail Blazers will have to take a committee approach to try and replace the rim protection that was lost when Robin Lopez departed for the Knicks in free agency this Summer, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes.