New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Draft Notes: Kentucky, Johnson, Jones

April 7th, 2015 at 2:25pm CST by Chuck Myron

Kentucky coach John Calipari acknowledged Monday that Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles, Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison are all likely to declare for the draft, as Kyle Tucker of The Courier-Journal relays. Devin Booker and Dakari Johnson are still weighing their options, according to Calipari, Tucker notes, adding that the coach expects that Tyler Ulis, Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee will decide to stay. Calipari later addressed the idea of his own departure for the NBA, downplaying the idea in a piece on his own website, wherein he said he doesn’t have a desire to prove himself in the NBA. A recent report indicated that Calipari “desperately” wants an NBA job, and he apparently still has supporters within the Nets organization. Here’s more on those potentially making the college-to-NBA leap:

Projected lottery pick Stanley Johnson is on the fence as he decides whether to enter the draft this year or return to Arizona for a sophomore year, sources tell Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com, with one source describing him as “really torn.” The small forward is the No. 9 prospect in Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings and No. 11 with Chad Ford of ESPN.com.
NBA personnel who spoke with Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com are in wide agreement that Final Four Most Outstanding Player Tyus Jones would go in the final third of the first round this year if he entered the draft, as Goodman writes in an Insider-only piece. Those sources also tell Goodman that the freshman point guard’s stock is peaking and that he wouldn’t benefit from staying at Duke another year, and even Jones’ father is encouraging him to declare. The Pistons, Pelicans, Sixers and Magic are among the NBA teams focusing on the Minnesota native, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
Brice Johnson is returning to North Carolina, multiple sources tell Evan Daniels of Scout.com. The junior power forward was No. 50 in Givony‘s rankings, while Ford had the power forward 82nd.

Western Notes: Green, Davis, Jazz

April 6th, 2015 at 7:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Draymond Green, who will be a restricted free agent after the season, said that being a 2012 second-round pick gave him motivation to prove his skeptics wrong, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press writes. The Warriors’ versatile forward felt snubbed when he was passed over in the first round, Green told Ellis, and that led him to become one of the league’s most sought-after free agents. “Everybody wants to be a first-round pick. But things have a funny way of working out,” Green said in the article. “Who’s to say I’d be having this season if I was a first-round pick? Who’s to say I’d even be here? But it’s all worked itself out. It’s put me in a solid position and I’m just trying to take advantage of it.” Green is expected to receive an offer sheet worth over $10MM per season, Ellis speculates, but the Warriors have said they will match any offer. Whether Golden State can actually afford to do that is debatable, Ellis adds, and they may have to trade David Lee to create financial flexibility in order to retain Green. Green wouldn’t confirm or deny a recent report that the ex-Michigan State forward would like to play for his hometown Pistons, Ellis adds.

In other news around the Western Conference:

Anthony Davis should decline a maximum extension this summer and instead accept a qualifying offer so that he can become an unrestricted free agent in 2017, Daniel Leroux of RealGM.com opines. By doing so, Davis can maximize his leverage with the Pelicans and position himself to sign two major multi-year deals during his career rather being past his prime after the first one expires, Leroux continues. With the salary cap rising dramatically after next season, the benefits of waiting for his first big contract outweigh the risks, Leroux adds. It also puts added pressure on New Orleans to surround Davis with enough talent by the summer of 2017 to convince him to stay put, Leroux concludes.
Bryce Cotton feels he still has much to prove to the Jazz even after signing a contract for the remainder of the season, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic reports. Cotton, who is backing up Dante Exum and Trey Burke at point guard, received the contract after two 10-day contracts expired. Cotton’s approximately $845K salary for next season is not guaranteed and he doesn’t feel secure, Coro adds. “It’s one of those temporary sighs of relief but you never want to get complacent no matter what your situation is,” Cotton said in the story. “Just keep working hard and do whatever it was that got you to this situation.”

Southwest Notes: Davis, Belinelli, Carter

April 5th, 2015 at 11:48am CST by ChrisCrouse

In just his third season in the league, Anthony Davis has made a case to win the MVP award. The Kentucky product is averaging 24.4 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per game, while leading the league with a 30.91 player efficiency rating. If Davis takes home the Maurice Podoloff trophy either this year or next, he could benefit financially if he signs an extension with the Pelicans because he would meet the fifth year 30% max criteria. These criteria, known collectively as the Derrick Rose rule, would allow him to receive roughly 30% of the salary cap as his starting salary in an extension, as opposed to roughly 25%, which is usually reserved for players with 0-6 years of experience. Davis could also meet the criteria if during his first four years in the league, he makes two All-NBA teams or is twice voted as a starter in the All-Star game. Davis was voted as starter for the first time in the 2015 All-Star game and is likely to make his first All-NBA team this season. Davis would meet the criteria if he accomplishes either of those feats again during the 2015/16 season, even if he signs an extension before that happens when he is eligible this offseason.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Marco Belinelli will be a free agent at the end of season and it’s uncertain whether he will return to San Antonio next season, as he says in an interview with II Corriere dello Sport, which is translated by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. At 29-year-old, Belinelli acknowledges that salary will be an important factor in his decision in free agency.
Vince Carter has battled injuries this season, but the 38-year-old guard is not looking to retire after the season, Scott Cacciola of The New York Times writes. “I can’t imagine not playing.” said Carter, who signed a three year, $12MM deal with the Grizzlies last offseason. “I can’t accept that yet. I’m not at the point where I wake up and it’s like, I’m tired of this. Being around these young guys makes you feel young, I promise you.”
Ian Thomsen of NBA.com chronicles Carter’s time in the league starting in 1998 when he was an intriguing young prospect with star potential to this season where he is an elder statesman for a contender in Memphis.

Latest On Monty Williams

March 31st, 2015 at 9:48pm CST by Chuck Myron

Monty Williams declined to elaborate today after telling reporters that he and the Pelicans haven’t spoken about an extension on his deal with the team, which runs out after next season, as John Reid of The Times-Picayune relays. New Orleans plans an evaluation of Williams as well as GM Dell Demps after the season, Reid hears. Demps’ contract has a team option for 2015/16, but the Pelicans haven’t given any indication about whether they’ll pick that up, according to Reid.

Williams did point to the team’s accomplishments this season, one in which New Orleans has a chance at the playoffs if it can make up a deficit of two and a half games to catch the Thunder for the final playoff spot. Ryan Anderson also offered his support, saying that Williams has “handled everything perfectly,” Reid notes.

”Look at the improvements we’ve made — we were 34 wins last year,” Williams said. ”I don’t want to think that far ahead, but we’ve overcome a lot. I don’t think our guys get enough credit for what they’ve been able to do under some weird circumstances. We’ll see how we finish up. One of our goals this year was to have a winning record and we want it badly to make the playoffs. We have a chance to do both, so I would say we have come a long way.”

Williams has reportedly been under pressure this season, his fifth as coach of the Pelicans, who haven’t appeared in the playoffs since his first year in charge of the team. There was a perception around the league at midseason that he and Demps were on “thin ice,” as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders wrote at the time. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher reported in January that there was talk around the NBA that owner Tom Benson, who’s since been embroiled in a legal battle regarding control of the team, was eyeing former Pistons president of basketball ops Joe Dumars and former Mavs and Nets coach Avery Johnson. Still, Bucher heard that New Orleans hadn’t contacted either and that there were no definitive signs that the Pelicans wanted to move on from Demps and Williams.

2015/16 Salary Commitments: Pelicans

March 30th, 2015 at 11:14am CST by Eddie Scarito

With the NBA trade deadline passed, teams are focusing on locking down playoff spots or vying for a better chance in the draft lottery. Outside of the players who are added on 10-day deals, or those lucky enough to turn those auditions into long-term contracts, teams’ rosters are relatively set for the remainder of the season.

We at Hoops Rumors are in the process of taking a look ahead at each franchise’s salary cap situation heading into the summer, and the free agent frenzy that occurs every offseason. While the exact amount of the 2015/16 salary cap won’t be announced until July, the cap is projected to come in somewhere around $67.4MM, with the luxury tax threshold projected at approximately $81MM. This year’s $63.065MM cap represented an increase of 7.7% over 2013/14, which was well above the league’s projected annual increase of 4.5%.

We’ll continue onward by taking a look at the Pelicans’ cap outlook for 2015/16…

Here are the players with guaranteed contracts:

Ryan Anderson — $8.5MM
Anthony Davis — $7,070,730
Tyreke Evans — $10,734,586
Jrue Holiday — $10,595,507
Quincy Pondexter — $3,382,023

Here are the players with non-guaranteed contracts:

Toney Douglas — $1,185,784

Players with options:

Eric Gordon (Player Option) — $15,514,031

The Pelicans’ Cap Summary for 2015/16:

Guaranteed Salary: $40,582,846
Options/Non-Guaranteed Salary: $16,699,815
Total: $57,282,661

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

Eastern Notes: Dudley, Monroe, Fisher

March 30th, 2015 at 10:04am CST by Chuck Myron

Jared Dudley didn’t really want to play for the Bucks after the Clippers traded him to Milwaukee this summer, but his new team’s training staff, Jason Kidd‘s coaching style, and Milwaukee’s competitiveness helped convince him otherwise, as Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel details. Dudley has a $4.25MM early termination option for next season, and while he hasn’t said what he’ll do with that, he told Nickel that he’d like a long-term deal with the Bucks and that he’s willing to take a discount to sign one, citing Kidd as his top reason why. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Greg Monroe believes former Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars deserves another chance to run a team, as Terry Foster of The Detroit News relays. Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher wrote in January that Pelicans owner Tom Benson had some interest in Dumars, and Monroe, soon to be an unrestricted free agent, is a New Orleans native. “I mean, yeah,” Monroe said when asked if Dumars should have another shot at team building. “He put together a championship team. Obviously he knows what it takes to get it done. For a stretch he had one of the most successful teams in the league. Obviously he is good at that job. I don’t see how that would be a problem to get back.”
Derek Fisher says he doesn’t have regrets about taking on the Knicks coaching job even with the team in possession of the league’s worst record and added that he talks daily with team president Phil Jackson, notes Peter Botte of the New York Daily News. Coaching colleagues, like Tom Thibodeau, have no shortage of praise for Fisher, Botte adds.
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers believes the Celtics almost had to trade Rajon Rondo this season with his contract running out this summer, as he told reporters, including Brian Robb of Boston.com. Rivers said a rebuilding team like the Celtics, whom he used to coach, can’t afford to risk that a soon-to-be free agent walks and added that he believes Rondo, and not the Celtics front office, was the catalyst for the move, as Robb passes along.

Western Notes: Anderson, Douglas, Barron

March 26th, 2015 at 7:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Ryan Anderson, who has been out of action since February with an MCL sprain in his right knee, could be making his return for the Pelicans next week, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. ”We’re progressing each day and continue to ramp up to be ready,” Anderson said. ”We’ll do a little more on the court. There is a mental aspect where I got to get over the fact that my knee is stronger and OK. There is still some strengthening I need to build up. But we’re doing everything we can and it is frustrating and it’s tough being out.” In 52 games this season the big man has averaged 14.6 points and 5.1 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per night.

Here’s more out of the Western Conference:

Earl Barron‘s deal with the Suns for the rest of the season is indeed just that, without any extra years tacked on, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Jordan Hamilton‘s latest Clippers contract is a two-year arrangement with non-guaranteed salary for next season, Pincus tweets.
The Pelicans tacked a non-guaranteed minimum salary for next season onto their deal with Toney Douglas, Pincus relays (Twitter link). His 2015/16 pay becomes guaranteed if he remains under contract through August 1st, as Pincus shows on the Basketball Insiders Pelicans salary page.
Bryce Cotton‘s multiyear deal with the Jazz covers both 2015/16 and 2016/17 with non-guaranteed salaries, as Pincus also reports (Twitter link).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Southwest Notes: Williams, Gentile, Mills

March 25th, 2015 at 1:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

Dwight Howard will start against the Pelicans tonight in his first game since January 23rd, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. That’ll be a boost for Houston as it looks to climb from the third seed in the Western Conference. Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

The Pelicans have decided against signing Elliot Williams for the remainder of the season, tweets John Reid of The Times-Picayune. New Orleans signaled that choice when it signed Toney Douglas to a deal for the balance of 2014/15 on Tuesday, the day after the team’s second 10-day contract with Williams expired.
Rockets draft-and-stash prospect Alessandro Gentile doesn’t have an NBA escape clause for 2015 in his contract with Italy’s EA7 Milano, and the deal doesn’t include a buyout provision, either, a source tells HoopsHype. That runs counter to comments EA7 teammate Daniel Hackett made on SkySport television indicating that Gentile has decided to play for the Rockets next season, as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia notes. Gentile said recently that he’s increasingly intrigued with the NBA and that the Rockets had been in close contact. The small forward is under contract through 2017, as Mark Porcaro shows on our Draft Rights Held Players database.
Patty Mills had a shoulder injury that would sideline him for the first two months of the season when the Spurs re-signed him this summer to a three-year, $11MM deal, but Spurs president/coach Gregg Popovich had no reservations about the move. Alexander Wolff of Sports Illustrated has the details in a story that looks at Mills’ heritage and the homage the Spurs have paid to it. “It wasn’t even a question,” Popovich said of the deal. “Obviously he can shoot the basketball and has a lot of energy. But he’s beloved on this team for his enthusiasm, his kindness, his understated gravitas. As long as I’m here, he’s going to be here. Unless we can’t afford him.”
The Spurs top ESPN Insider’s Front Office rankings for a second straight year. The synergy between Popovich, GM R.C. Buford and owner Peter Holt, balance between the future and the present, and structuring of player contracts that include salary declines instead of raises help the Spurs stand out, as Chad Ford and Amin Elhassan opine in a separate Insider story.
We rounded up the latest on the Mavs earlier today.

Pelicans Re-Sign Toney Douglas For Season

March 24th, 2015 at 10:02am CST by Dana Gauruder

TUESDAY, 10:02am: The deal is official, the team announced.

MONDAY, 8:05pm: The Pelicans have signed Toney Douglas for the remainder of the season, a source told Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). The team has not made an official announcement.

Douglas was released last month by the club after he was signed to two 10-day contracts, though he did not finish out his second 10-day deal. Douglas appeared in three games for New Orleans in February, averaging 9.0 points, 4.0 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 22.0 minutes per game.

The Pelicans have been trying to get by without starting point guard Jrue Holiday for an extended period. Holiday has been sidelined since January 12 with a right leg injury. Tyreke Evans, who has run the point in Holiday’s absence, has been dealing with a sore ankle.

The Pelicans have an open roster spot and will gain another when Elliot Williams‘ 10-day contract expires overnight. Douglas had been playing in China earlier this season before New Orleans brought him in. He played a total of 58 games for the Warriors and Heat last season. The Pelicans also signed another point guard, Nate Wolters, to two 10-day contracts this season but opted not to sign him for the remainder of the season.

Western Notes: Howard, Thunder, Nuggets

March 22nd, 2015 at 2:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets expect to have Dwight Howard back on the court soon, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. Howard hopes to play on the upcoming road trip, either Monday in Indiana or Wednesday in New Orleans. Howard said, “That’s a big step” when told his status had been updated from out to doubtful for the Pacers game. (Twitter link). Howard said he hasn’t “circled a day” for his return, but told Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle, “It’s going to depend on how I feel … after the workout I just had.” (Twitter link). Coach Kevin McHale offered little indication about Howard’s return, saying, “As I said to you, I’ll talk to you about (Howard) when I see him out on the floor with us.” (Twitter link). Howard has been sidelined since January 23rd because of ongoing pain in his right knee.

There’s more from the Western Conference:

It’s time for the Thunder to shift their focus toward next season, argues Michael Lee of The Washington Post. With fears that Kevin Durant is done for the season and the reigning MVP’s free agency a little more than a year away, Lee contends Oklahoma City’s urgency has already moved to 2015/16. With Serge Ibaka‘s status also uncertain after undergoing knee surgery, Lee’s advice to the Thunder is to avoid rushing Durant back and save him for a run at the title next season.
With all the bad news surrounding the Thunder, Dion Waiters is providing some hope, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. Waiters broke a long shooting slump Friday with 26 points in a win over the Hawks, giving the Thunder the boost they hoped for when they acquired him from Cleveland in a three-team deal in early January. “He’s a good player,” said coach Scott Brooks. “I told him we’re just going to have to keep working with you.”
The Nuggets are making no effort to hide their intentions to tank, charges Brian K. Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel. Far out of the Western Conference playoff race, Denver has been “resting” healthy starters, Schmitz claims, and has little interest in picking up late-season wins that might harm its draft position. The Nuggets rank eighth in Hoops Rumors’ Reverse Standings.