4:50pm: The Pelicans are being aggressive in trade talks around the league and Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links) wouldn’t be surprised if there is a forthcoming move after New Orleans freed two roster spots. He adds that many around the league expect a move to happen.
4:18pm: The Pelicans announced that they have waived Darius Miller and Patric Young. Both players were on minimum salary deals with only partial guarantees on the first season.
Miller, a 2012 draft pick of New Orleans, was not extended his $1.15MM qualifying offer in June. However, in July, the Pelicans worked out a deal could pay him as much as $1.897MM over two years. The first year of the deal was only guaranteed for $400K, however, while the second year was completely non-guaranteed. Miller averaged 3.3 points in 14.6 minutes per contest over his first two seasons in New Orleans but he has played sparingly in year three. So far this season, the small forward has seen just 43 minutes of action across five games.
Young, a former Florida standout, went undrafted in 2014 before hooking on with the Pelicans in July. In four seasons with the Gators, the big man averaged 8.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 1.1 BPG while playing 24.3 minutes per contest.
With today’s moves, New Orleans’ roster now stands at 13.