JULY 21: New Orleans has officially re-signed forward Darius Miller to a contract, per a team release.
“He has established himself as a versatile, multi-positional shooting threat & we are elated to be in position to continue to grow with him,” Pelicans executive VP of basketball operations David Griffin said of Miller. “His selfless nature, on and off the floor, makes him an ideal fit for us both in the locker room & in our community.”
JULY 3: The Pelicans will bring back veteran forward Darius Miller, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the two sides have agreed to a two-year contract worth $14.25MM. The second year will be non-guaranteed, Woj adds.
Miller, 29, has spent the last two seasons with the Pelicans after playing for two years in Germany. While his numbers dipped a little last season, he has been reliable outside threat in New Orleans since returning stateside, averaging 8.0 PPG on .417/.388/.826 shooting in 151 total games (24.5 MPG).
Outside of Nikola Mirotic, who was dealt to Milwaukee in a mid-season trade, no Pelican made more three-pointers per game last season than Miller (1.9). He’ll have a little help spacing the floor in 2019/20, as New Orleans reached a deal to sign J.J. Redick earlier this week.
Miller had a modest cap hold of about $2.9MM as a free agent, so the Pelicans will keep that hold on their books while using their cap room to add newcomers like Redick and Derrick Favors. They can then go over the cap to re-sign Miller using his Early Bird rights.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), contracts signed using the Early Bird exception must run for at least two years, which explains the non-guaranteed second year on Miller’s new deal.
Wow seems like an over pay especially when you have JJ making over $13 million
There’s no such thing as a bad one year deal
Happy for the former Wildcat, he’s worked hard for everything.
I can’t believe 14M
It can’t bè true
I can’t believe 14M
It can’t bè true
The way I read this is that the total contract is worth 14.25 over two years, with the 2nd year not guaranteed. No telling how they split it up, but if you split it evenly, he’s getting a little over 7m this year.
Basically a 1/7 in a transition year is not a bad thing from the team perspective. Lots of new people to notice that hanging in there gets rewarded.
I could live on 7 MILLION. Good luck to him!