AUGUST 16: The Pelicans have officially re-signed Hernangomez, the team announced today in a press release. The club also confirmed Didi Louzada‘s new deal, which was finalized last week.
“The passion Willy and Didi have for their teammates and our greater Pelicans community is reflected every day in their approach to the game,” Pelicans head of basketball operations David Griffin said in a statement. “Their joyful outlook, work ethic, attention to detail and desire to grow and evolve as professionals has been infectious and we look forward to continuing towards our goals together deep into the future.”
AUGUST 6: The Pelicans have agreed to a three-year deal with Willy Hernangomez that will keep the veteran big man in New Orleans, agents Jim Tanner and Guillermo Bermejo tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The third year will be a team option, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com.
Hernangomez, 27, spent his first four NBA seasons in New York and Charlotte before joining the Pelicans as a free agent last November. In his first year with the team, he averaged 7.8 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 1.1 APG in 47 games (18.0 MPG) and was the starting center in the season’s final weeks.
Most recently, Hernangomez represented Spain in the Tokyo Olympics, posting a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in the team’s quarterfinal loss to Team USA earlier this week.
Hernangomez was on a minimum-salary contract last season and New Orleans only held his Non-Bird rights, so the team’s ability to offer a raise without using cap room or another exception (ie. the mid-level) was limited. We’ll have to wait for the financial terms on Hernangomez’s deal to get a sense of how the Pelicans are re-signing him.
Probably plays over that bust Jaxson Hayes.
Hayes is no bust.
Some redundancy with Valanciunas there now. I feel like they might make another trade or 2, just looking at their roster, but I could be wrong. Trey Murphy was a good pick for them, but they still need more balance on the floor, and I still think they have to keep Josh Hart
Spot on. Remembering his days in NY, his numbers were always solid based on minutes played, but his defense was atrocious. Not sure if he’s improved in that area, but there’s worse out there.
Not sure what is on the radar for Hayes with this signing. Doesn’t help in the minutes distro.
He’s a solid big. More an old school big. He missed the 90s where he could of been a big 4 in that era.
He’s better than Hayes. Rebounds, passes and shoots. Hayes is just a dunker
hayes is electric.
Willy 3rd string behind Zeller and Biyombo before being dumped and Hornets better without him. Meanwhile Pels treading water with him.
Always more potential than results. Immature, does not engage opponents, contributes with stats, by now a fairly steady scorer. Doesn’t shoulder the win/lose stuff.
he’s electric cuz hayes got tazed.
NOW they can sign Willy Gilligan !!
I love guys like this who have amazing per minute stats but can never consistently get more than 20 minutes a game. Does he lack endurance? Is his defense that bad? I’d like to see him get 25-28 minutes a game to see if he could maintain his numbers.
Hernangomez is fine as a scoring big off the bench that takes possessions, but there is redundancy with him and Valanciunas, and Valanciunas is pretty much better at everything than him
Seems like he could make more in Europe. Minimum salaries are 1.5m/yr aren’t they