JULY 25TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 18TH: The Hornets and point guard Jannero Pargo have struck a deal, according to Pargo’s agents at Priority Sports & Entertainment (Twitter link; hat tip to Marc Stein of ESPN.com). The Mark Bartelstein client returns to Charlotte presumably to reprise his role as the team’s third point guard after the Hornets agreed to a deal with Brian Roberts to replace Luke Ridnour, who’s off to Orlando, as the primary backup to Kemba Walker. It’s a fully guaranteed one-year deal for $1.5MM, a source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). That figure is closely aligned with his minimum salary, which would be $1,448,490, so presumably it’s a deal for that minimum.
Charlotte had renounced its rights to the 34-year-old earlier this month as it cleared cap room, but while that move meant the team gave up its Early Bird rights to him, it didn’t necessarily preclude a new deal. He saw just 8.3 minutes per game in 29 appearances this past season, but apparently the Hornets like having the 10-year veteran around. This year’s deal is a slight upgrade on the one-year contract that Pargo signed last year with the team, since that arrangement was only partially guaranteed.
Pargo made the most of his meager playing time last season, averaging 4.7 points per game and draining a career-high 40% of his three-pointers on 2.1 attempts per contest. His 18.9 PER was also a career-best.
Was hoping we pick up a youngin but Pargo has never done us wrong yet.