Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Davis, Mavs
When the Pelicans signed Anthony Davis to a max extension, the move put the franchise in win-now mode for five years, writes Shaun Powell in his 30 teams in 30 days series for NBA.com. The Pelicans, Powell adds, are anticipating a better record than last year’s with Alvin Gentry as the new coach. That’s partially why the franchise decided to stand pat this summer. Another reason for not making a move, as Powell points out, is because the contracts of Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson expire after this season. Seemingly being counterproductive, however, the Pelicans decided to spend a lot of money to re-sign Omer Asik and re-sign Alexis Ajinca, Powell adds.
Here’s more from around the Southwest Division:
- Speaking of Gentry, the Pelicans coach said on SiriusXM NBA Radio (Twitter link) that he would not hesitate to rest players like Davis, and Jrue Holiday during the season.
- The Mavs should be better in the backcourt with new starters Wesley Matthews and Deron Williams taking over for Monta Ellis and Rajon Rondo, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News writes, but overall, the team does not seem improved enough to be a lock for the playoffs. The team is expected have several position battles during camp, so the Mavs should nonetheless be a fun team to keep an eye on, Sefko adds.
- In the same piece, Sefko elaborates on the Mavs‘ bench and writes that Dallas added young players with upside, but the unit isn’t necessarily any better than last year’s group. The Mavs added Jeremy Evans and John Jenkins. Former Dallas bench players Al-Farouq Aminu, Amar’e Stoudemire, Richard Jefferson each bolted elsewhere during the summer.
Southwest Notes: Perkins, Stefanski, Matthews
Kendrick Perkins said it was the Pelicans‘ strong young core of players that led him to choose to sign with the team this summer, Jim Eichenhofer of NBA.com writes. “You looked at every position from AD [Anthony Davis] to Jrue Holiday to Eric Gordon to Tyreke Evans and you just saw that they had a nice core, young guys that were good at every position,” Perkins said. “Raw talent. All they needed was a couple teaching points on the little things and professionalism. They had that [professionalism] already, because they work hard. But on the court, they needed a leader. The leader is not always the best player on the team, but more so the vocal side.”
“The young talent [was appealing],” Perkins continued. “You look at their team and [think about] having a veteran guy around to lead them and teach them how to be professionals, how to take care of their bodies, to be responsible on the road, to stay focused and don’t worry about the nightlife. Just the little things. You could tell they were a few things away from reaching a great goal. So I just felt like this was the place for me. I reached out to [GM] Dell [Demps] and he reached out to me. I felt wanted.”
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Grizzlies VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski is happy in Memphis and has no interest in the Bucks’ vacant assistant GM position, Gery Woelfel of The Racine Journal Times tweets.
- Wesley Matthews, who signed a four-year, maximum salary deal with the Mavericks this offseason, hopes to break out of the three-and-D label he had with the Blazers and show his full repertoire of skills this season, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com relays. “You know, I’ve never been one to allow someone to label me,” Matthews said. “I always continue to try to get better. I’m not a content type of person. If they come up with a term ‘three-and-D’ and they want to fit me in that category, that’s fine. But there’s not a thing that I don’t think I can do on the court, and I’m excited for the opportunity. You know, talking to coach [Rick] Carlisle, I’m obviously familiar with the system, having ran it in Portland. And talking to him, there’s opportunities that he sees how I can help this team. And I’m excited for those opportunities.”
Norris Cole Takes Qualifying Offer From Pelicans
THURSDAY, 3:00pm: The signing is official, the Pelicans announced.
WEDNESDAY, 11:22am: Restricted free agent Norris Cole has accepted his qualifying offer from the Pelicans, a source tells Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Agent Rich Paul confirmed to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that he’s signed the tender, worth $3,036,927, though the team has made no official announcement (Twitter link). The qualifying offer, which covers one season, sets Cole up for unrestricted free agency next summer, and it also gives him the right to veto trades this season.
The point guard’s free agency had been slow-going, as is common among Paul’s clients. However, the start of camp is less than two weeks away, and fellow Paul client Montrezl Harrell reached an agreement in principle Tuesday with the Rockets. Cavs restricted free agent Tristan Thompson, Paul’s most prominent unsigned client, remains in limbo.
Cole, once he officially signs the qualifying offer, will become the just 20th player to do so since 1995, joining Matthew Dellavedova, who signed his qualifying offer from the Cavaliers in July. Still, it’s no shock that Cole is doing so, as a source told Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops in late July that the 26-year-old saw the qualifying offer as a viable option. Grantland’s Zach Lowe suggests both sides have reason to be comfortable with it (Twitter link). Cole, a backup, will play this season on a salary that’s almost as much as the value of the taxpayer’s mid-level exception and hit the open market next summer, just as the salary cap is set to spike and teams will have money to burn. The Pelicans keep costs in check and preserve about $5MM worth of room beneath the luxury tax line.
The Sixers, Knicks and Lakers all reportedly had interest this summer in the former 28th overall pick, but New Orleans kept up its pursuit and had the right to match offers. New coach Alvin Gentry recently expressed a desire to have Cole re-sign, and Anthony Davis was also hopeful that Cole would be back. Dana Gauruder of Hoops Rumors examined Cole’s free agency in depth last month, concluding that he would do well to sign the qualifying offer.
Cole is becomes the 17th Pelican to have either a signed contract or a verbal agreement with the team, and his addition will give New Orleans 14 fully guaranteed deals. It’ll bump the Pelicans team salary to about $79.652MM, well beneath the $84.74MM tax threshold and their $88.74MM hard cap.
Who do you think benefits the most from a signed qualifying offer, Cole or the Pelicans? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Southwest Notes: Gordon, Lawson, Motiejunas
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.