Liam Robbins Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans Sign Jalen Crutcher, Waive Liam Robbins

October 12th, 2023 at 11:42am CST by Rory Maher

The Pelicans have made a minor change to their preseason roster, signing free agent guard Jalen Crutcher, the team announced in a press release. New Orleans waived Liam Robbins to create a roster opening for Crutcher.

A former college standout at Dayton, Crutcher played four years for the Flyers prior to going undrafted in 2021. He has spent his first two professional seasons playing in the G League for the Greensboro Swarm — Charlotte’s affiliate — after signing Exhibit 10 deals with and then being waived by the Hornets.

A 6’2″ point guard, Crutcher appeared in 57 regular season games (39 starts, 32.7 MPG) with the Swarm from 2021-23, averaging 15.8 PPG, 5.8 APG and 3.0 RPG with an impressive .473/.430/.774 shooting slash line.

The Birmingham Squadron — the Pelicans’ NBAGL affiliate — acquired Crutcher’s returning player rights last month in a deal with the Swarm. That means the 24-year-old likely signed an Exhibit 10 contract with New Orleans, which would entitle him to a $75K bonus if he’s waived and spends at least 60 days with the Squadron.

Robbins, a 7’0″ big man who went undrafted in June out of Vanderbilt, inked an Exhibit 10 deal with the Pelicans at the end of last month. It looked like he might be promoted to a two-way contract, but last week he unfortunately sustained a stress fracture in his right fibula and was ruled out indefinitely.

Pelicans Notes: Ingram, Daniels, Zion, Robbins

October 5th, 2023 at 9:33pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Without a true point guard in the starting lineup, the Pelicans are planning to lean on Brandon Ingram more as a primary play-maker in the 2023/24 season, Christian Clark of NOLA.com writes. Ingram had a career average of 3.8 assists per game prior to last season, when he averaged 5.8 APG across 45 appearances.

Clark writes that the Pelicans were impressed by Ingram’s growth as a play-maker last year. He didn’t have a triple-double in the first six seasons of his career, but wound up having two in an eight-day span in March. In the final 25 games of the season, he averaged 6.5 assists per night.

“You can put the ball in his hands, and he makes great decisions,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “Finding his teammates. Then his ability to score. We want to explore that more this season.”

Pelicans guard CJ McCollum isn’t a true point guard, but has been playing in that role for New Orleans since his arrival. Like Ingram, McCollum has had career-high assist numbers in New Orleans, averaging 5.8 APG as a Pelican. However, New Orleans missed the playoffs last season and could be looking to switch things up.

“With [Ingram] having the ball in his hands and [Zion Williamson] running into a screen, what is the defense going to do?” Green said. “Vice versa. If [Williamson] has the ball, here comes [Ingram]. Here comes [McCollum]. We are playing around with different ways we can attack.”

We have more on the Pelicans:

Heading into his second season in the league, Dyson Daniels wants to become one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, Clark writes in a separate story. Daniels was respectable in his rookie year in that regard, with Clark noting that he guarded some of the league’s premier ball-handlers at a high level at times. Clark adds that the 6’8″ guard is poised to become a major rotation piece, but the key for him to do so is to grow on the offensive end. “We know Dyson is solid defensively,” Green said. “Now, it’s just about creating an offensive identity. And being a solid basketball player for us. We know he can do it.“
In an interview with Green posted to the Pelicans’ Twitter account, the coach said that the Pelicans will look to use Williamson at the center position more this season, as ESPN’s Andrew Lopez observes (Twitter link). The Pelicans averaged 1.16 points per chance when Williamson acted as the team’s screener last season, according to Lopez, which ranked top five among players with 150 screens or more.
Center Liam Robbins was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right fibula, according to a release from the team. There is no current timetable for his return. The Pelicans signed Robbins to an Exhibit 10 deal this offseason and, with one open two-way contract slot, it looked like the Vanderbilt product was primed to compete for one of those spots. Now, the injury makes it an uphill battle. However, if Robbins is waived, he’ll be eligible for a $75K bonus if he spends at least 60 days with New Orleans’ G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron.

Pelicans Sign Malcolm Hill, Four Others

September 30th, 2023 at 9:11am CST by Tristan Tucker

9:11am: The Pelicans announced the signings of Hill, Jones, Jemison and Robbins, along with Nolley.

New Orleans also confirmed the signing of Kaiser Gates to a two-way contract, which became official earlier in the week. The Pelicans’ offseason roster now stands at 21.

8:18am: The Pelicans have officially signed Malcolm Hill, Tevian Jones, Trey Jemison and Liam Robbins, according to RealGM’s transaction log. We previously wrote that New Orleans had agreed to sign Jones, Jemison and Robbins, but the Hill signing hadn’t been covered.

Hill, 27, has 24 games of NBA experience across stints with the Hawks and Bulls holding averages of 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds. Most recently, Hill spent time with Chicago on a two-way contract, but was waived in February.

A product of Illinois, Hill has received more extensive playing time in the G League. In 32 regular season and Showcase Cup appearances last season with the Windy City Bulls (Chicago’s affiliate) and Birmingham Squadron (New Orleans’ affiliate), Hill averaged 15.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals.

It was reported in August that Jemison would be receiving an Exhibit 10 contract, and it’s likely safe to assume that’s the type of deal Hill, Jones and Robbins received from the Pelicans as well. If that’s indeed the case, all four players would be eligible for a bonus of up to $75K if they are waived by the Pelicans before the season begins and spend at least 60 days with Birmingham.

The signings of all four players brings New Orleans to 20 players under contract, one short of the offseason maximum. New Orleans has 14 players on standard contracts and two players signed to two-way deals. However, New Orleans is a bit over the tax and isn’t likely looking to keep a 15th standard player on the opening night roster in case they can duck under the tax. That means filling out the final open two-way spot is likely their primary goal, and one of these players could fill that spot.

It’s important to note that Landers Nolley was also reported to be joining New Orleans, but that deal has yet to be made official. It’s possible Nolley will fill the 21st and final spot on the team’s offseason roster.

Pelicans To Sign Kaiser Gates To Two-Way Contract

September 22nd, 2023 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have reached an agreement to sign free agent forward Kaiser Gates to a two-way contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Gates, who went undrafted out of Xavier in 2018, spent one season (2021/22) in Israel with Hapoel Jerusalem but has otherwise been playing in the G League since going pro, enjoying stints with Windy City, Maine, and Long Island.

In 40 total appearances in the NBAGL regular season and Showcase Cup for the Long Island Nets last season, the 26-year-old averaged 12.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .473/.468/.674.

The Pelicans still have several openings on their 21-man offseason roster and had been the only NBA team with multiple two-way slots available, so they won’t need to make a corresponding move to clear room for Gates.

Once Gates’ deal is official, New Orleans will be able to add one more two-way player to join him and Dereon Seabron. Christian Clark of NOLA.com (Twitter link) says he’d be surprised if rookie big man Liam Robbins – who reached a deal with the Pelicans in June – doesn’t end up filling that opening.

Pelicans To Sign Landers Nolley, Tevian Jones, Liam Robbins

June 23rd, 2023 at 10:33am CST by Rory Maher

The Pelicans are signing a trio of undrafted players, according to reports from Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers.com, Jon Chepkevich of DraftExpress.com and Michael Scotto of Hoopshype (All Twitter links). The three prospects are Cincinnati guard Landers Nolley II, Southern Utah wing Tevian Jones and Vanderbilt big man Liam Robbins.

The terms of the contracts were not disclosed, so it’s unclear if they might be two-way deals or Exhibit 10 training camp contracts, the latter of which would put the players in line for a bonus worth up to $75K if they’re waived and spend up to 60 days with the Pelicans’ G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron.

All three prospects are on ESPN’s best undrafted players list. Robbins is No. 16, Nolley is No. 23 and Jones is No. 30.

Robbins, who played for Drake and Minnesota prior to finishing out his career at Vanderbilt, was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in ’22/23, averaging 15.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 3.2 BPG on .504/.365/.731 shooting for the Commodores. He managed to put up those numbers in just 23.0 minutes per contest over 26 games, including 15 starts.

Nolley played for Virginia Tech and Memphis before transferring to Cincinnati for his senior season in 2022/23, averaging 16.8 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 2.6 APG and 1.0 SPG on .447/.417/.750 shooting in 36 games (32.1 MPG) for the Bearcats.

Jones started his college career at Illinois before transferring to Southern Utah. As a “super senior” in ’22/23, he averaged 17.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 1.1 SPG on .407/.362/.840 shooting in 36 games (33.8 MPG) for the Thunderbirds. Chepkevich states that Jones impressed during the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, which is used as a springboard for lesser-known prospects.