New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

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.

Pelicans In Mix As Sean Kilpatrick Nears Camp Deal

September 7th, 2015 at 2:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

One-year NBA veteran shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick is closing in on signing a deal for training camp, and the Pelicans are squarely in the mix, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). The 25-year-old who was with the Timberwolves on a 10-day contract last season was a participant in recent workouts with the Pelicans, Hawks, Spurs and Lakers.

New Orleans has plenty of roster flexibility, with 13 fully guaranteed salaries and a partial guarantee for Bryce Dejean-Jones the team’s only commitments so far. They were reportedly to have worked out shooting guard Corey Webster, a prospect from New Zealand. The Hawks and Spurs also have only 13 full guarantees apiece, but they have plenty of others on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed arrangements. The Lakers have a dozen full guarantees but are similarly stocked with multiple players who are without fully guaranteed salary.

The 6’4″ former Cincinnati Bearcat averaged an impressive 18.2 points in 28.7 minutes per game in summer league for the Bucks this year, but Milwaukee has 15 full guarantees and it’s unclear if the team has interest in him for camp. The Timberwolves have 16 fully guaranteed deals, so Kilpatrick would seemingly have a tough time making the regular season roster in Minnesota despite his experience there. The Wolves signed Kilpatrick in large measure because he was in close proximity to New York when they were short a player before a game against the Knicks, but he saw plenty of playing time in his brief stint with Minnesota, putting up 5.5 PPG in 17.9 MPG.

Southwest Notes: Davis, Gentry, Smith, Buford

September 5th, 2015 at 4:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

New Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry is sold on the idea of Anthony Davis as a “generational player” along the lines of the game’s true greats, as he said to Ian Thomsen of NBA.com. The Pelicans secured Davis on a max extension this summer, not long after hiring Gentry to become the big man’s first NBA coach aside from Monty Williams.

“Anthony is right in that category, and there is a lot of responsibility that comes with that,” Gentry said. “It is up to us to make him as good as he can possibly be, and not settle for him to be less than great in this area or that area. I told him that I have no doubt that he is going to be an MVP in this league. And I said to him, ‘We are going to be really, really good if you also win Defensive Player of the Year.”’

See more on Gentry amid the latest from the Southwest Division:

Gentry doesn’t expect to fall in lockstep with Pelicans GM Dell Demps and executive VP of basketball operations Mickey Loomis, but Demps told Thomsen that it’s clear that they have the same vision for the team. “Dell has no desire to control anyone,” Gentry said. “He wants opinions. He wants you to challenge what he is saying. He does not want to be in the situation where everything is yes, yes, yes. We’re going to disagree on a lot of things; we are going to agree on a lot of things. To me that is healthy. That is one of the reasons why teams are successful. We talked about loyalty, and I told Dell: I look at loyalty as guys expressing their opinions, and then when everything is discussed and you come to a conclusion, you walk out united. When I worked with Doug Collins, we used to have a saying: Agree, disagree, but align.”
Former Mavericks and Rockets center Greg Smith will work out for the Guangdong Southern Tigers, a source told international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). The 24-year-old Seth Cohen client spent last season with the Mavericks and was also briefly on the Bulls roster in 2013/14 after spending parts of three seasons with the Rockets, but NBA interest has appeared slim this summer, as his rumors page shows.
GM Daryl Morey deserves credit for his move to acquire Ty Lawson for the Rockets in a trade that didn’t cost any core pieces, but Spurs GM R.C. Buford is an overwhelming favorite for Executive of the Year honors, argues Fran Blinebury of NBA.com. The additions of LaMarcus Aldridge and David West drew headlines, and Blinebury is also a fan of what he believes is a team-friendly new deal with Danny Green.

Southwest Notes: Holiday, Aldridge, McGee

September 4th, 2015 at 9:15pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday has made sufficient progress in his recovery from the surgical procedure he underwent in May that the team expects him to be cleared to participate in basketball related activities when training camp begins, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”What I think we’re trying to do is not push him anywhere,” coach Alvin Gentry said. ”We’re going to monitor obviously his practices. I doubt there will be a situation where we’ll let him go two-a-days. It’s just doesn’t make sense right now.” Holiday has missed a combined 90 games over the past two campaigns because of recurring problems with his right leg. The NBA had ordered the Sixers to pay $3MM to the Pelicans last season for not fully disclosing the extent of Holiday’s injury prior to shipping him to New Orleans.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Rick Barnes, who coached LaMarcus Aldridge at the University of Texas, doesn’t think that his former player will have any difficulty adapting his game to the Spurs‘ system, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News relays. “What he wants is to win an NBA championship,” Barnes said. “He’ll do whatever he feels he has to do to make that happen.” Aldridge had expressed some level of concern to San Antonio assistant Ime Udoka about him being more of a scorer than the Spurs typically feature during the team’s recruitment of him, McDonald adds. “He’s a tremendous teammate. He’s a team player,” Barnes continued. “He knows he’s a franchise-type guy, but he also has to have people around him. Credit to him for wanting to be part of something special.”
Mavs big man JaVale McGee believes that his athleticism will set him apart from the other centers on Dallas’ roster, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. “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.”