The Shreveport City Council voted on Tuesday against moving forward with the plan to invest $30MM into building an arena capable of housing a G League franchise for the Pelicans, according to William Guillory of The Times-Picayune. As we heard last month, Shreveport and Pensacola, Florida are considered the two finalists for the Pelicans’ G League affiliate.
A new facility in Shreveport would likely have made the Louisiana the strong favorite to become the home of the Pelicans’ G League squad, which is expected to begin play in 2018/19. However, even with the city reluctant to commit financially to the project, Shreveport remains in the conversation, per Pelicans VP of communications Greg Bensel.
“We are still moving in the process,” Bensel said, per Guillory. “Shreveport is part of our Saints and Pelicans family and we value that market and both teams will continue to promote our community outreach efforts throughout the area.”
Here’s more from around the Southwest division:
- Less than eight months after tearing his Achilles, Rudy Gay has been cleared for all basketball activities and is ready to begin his first season with the Spurs, writes Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. As McDonald notes, it remains to be seen how long it will take Gay to get back to full strength, but the veteran forward is optimistic. “I’m feeling great,” Gay told reporters on Wednesday. “I know a lot of people say that. I don’t think you’d expect me to say anything else. But I actually feel great.”
- After winning a title with the Warriors last season, Ian Clark is looking forward to a new challenge – and a potentially larger role – with the Pelicans in 2017/18. Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com has the story on Clark, who explains why he decided to sign a one-year contract with New Orleans this summer.
- While James Harden was happy to play some pickup ball with Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony this week, he was focused more on meshing with his new teammate CP3 than he was on the rumors that Anthony could become a member of the Rockets as well, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.