Eric Gordon, who will reportedly pick up his player option worth more than $15.514MM to stay with the Pelicans, is likely making a savvy financial decision, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes, because there’s a strong chance the guard fetches a more lucrative deal in the summer of 2016, when the salary cap rises. The projected salary cap of $67.1MM for next season is expected to jump to $89MM in 2016/17 before soaring to $108MM in 2017/18, as Reid points outs. There’s a distinct possibility Gordon thrives under new coach Alvin Gentry‘s up-tempo offense, Reid adds, and that would give a boost to his numbers and stock.
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- Free agent Bernard James has teams interested in signing him, but the center would like to return to the Mavs, the team that re-signed him in March for the remainder of the season after two 10-day pacts, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com writes. James signed with the Shanghai Sharks of China in November after the Mavs waived him just before the season started. “You know, I’ve been talking to my agent a lot, and there’s a few teams interested,” James said. “But, hopefully, I’d like to be back here with the Mavericks. We’ll see what happens in the draft, what’s their needs and whoever [Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and coach Rick Carlisle] find for next year. Whatever players they sign, hopefully there’s a spot for me and there’s a niche I can carve out. We’ll see what happens, man, but I’m expecting it not to be quite as crazy as the last two summers.”
- Cliff Alexander, Aaron Harrison, Jamal Jones, Kenneth Smith, Corey Walden and Christian Wood will all work out for the Grizzlies on Monday, the team announced in a press release.