The Pelicans and guard Jose Alvarado have agreed to a two-year contract extension worth $9MM, agent Ron Shade tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Alvarado is earning $1,988,598 in 2024/25 in the final year of his current minimum-salary contract. That salary, which had been non-guaranteed, will become fully guaranteed as part of the agreement, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
The new extension will begin next July and will include a player option for the ’26/27 season, according to Charania.
Alvarado, 26, has spent the past three seasons in New Orleans after going undrafted out of Georgia Tech in 2021. He emerged as a regular contributor for the Pelicans as a rookie free agent in 2021/22, earning a promotion from his two-way contract to the standard roster near the end of that season, and has maintained his place in the team’s rotation since then.
In 2023/24, Alvarado averaged 7.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals in 18.4 minutes per game across 56 appearances off the bench. Nicknamed “Grand Theft Alvarado” for his habit of making highlight-reel steals, the Pelicans guard posted a shooting line of .412/.377/.673 and finished sixth in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season.
The maximum extension that Alvarado could have signed would’ve been similar to the one Andrew Nembhard received from Indiana, worth over $18MM in 2025/26. While that would’ve been an overpay, the Pelicans did very well to lock up the reserve guard for an additional season at just $4.5MM, a bargain for any effective rotation player. If he continues to produce in New Orleans, Alvarado could opt out in 2026 and seek a more lucrative deal at that time.
The Pelicans now have seven players on guaranteed contracts for the 2025/26 season, with Jordan Hawkins likely to join that group in the next few weeks when the team exercises his rookie scale team option. Brandon Ingram (unrestricted) and Trey Murphy (restricted) will be among New Orleans’ 2025 free agents if they don’t sign extensions of their own.
I compare him to Payton Pritchard, who signed 4-year contract $30 million.
2/$9M for GTA is a good bargain for New Orleans. He’s a great defender, low volume high percentage shooter and one of the coolest nicknames in the NBA.
High percentage? He shot 41% from the field last year – 6% below league average