OCTOBER 11: The Pelicans announced they signed both Elfrid Payton and Josh Oduro on Friday morning. Nearly a month after the original report, the deal with Payton becomes official a day after both Matt Ryan and Adonis Arms were waived.
As we originally wrote, the Pelicans have a spot on their 15-man roster open. With Ryan out of the picture, Payton could theoretically make a push for that slot. However, it seems more likely that this is positioning for Payton to join the team’s G League affiliate in Birmingham.
The Oduro signing hadn’t previously been reported. He played four collegiate seasons at George Mason before transferring to Providence for his final year. He averaged 12.9 points and 6.6 rebounds across 148 college games (128 starts). Oduro went undrafted in 2024 but suited up for New Orleans in summer league, making two appearances.
While the terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, several reports indicated both are signing non-guaranteed training camp contracts that presumably include Exhibit 9 language and possibly Exhibit 10 as well. If the latter is true for either one of them or both, they’ll be eligible for a bonus worth up to $77.5K if they spend at least 60 days in Birmingham.
SEPTEMBER 19: The Pelicans have agreed to sign free agent point guard Elfrid Payton to a non-guaranteed training camp contract, reports Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).
Payton, the 10th overall pick in the 2014 draft, has 500 regular season appearances under his belt across eight NBA seasons with the Magic, Suns, Pelicans, and Knicks. However, he hasn’t been in the league since suiting up for Phoenix during the 2021/22 season. The 30-year-old played in Puerto Rico in 2023 and then spent last season with the Indiana Mad Ants, the Pacers’ G League affiliate.
A Louisiana native who played college ball for the Ragin’ Cajuns in Lafayette, Payton has never been a great shooter, with career averages of 44.7% from the floor and 28.7% from beyond the arc. However, he’s a talented ball-handler and play-maker who averaged 10.1 points, 5.7 assists, and 4.0 rebounds in 26.8 minutes per game over the course of his NBA career.
Payton had been working out at the Pelicans’ practice facility in Metairie this offseason, notes Christian Clark of NOLA.com (Twitter link).
While the Pelicans are only carrying 14 players on standard contracts, they seem likely to leave their 15th roster spot unfilled to start the season due to luxury tax concerns, so Payton is probably a long shot to make the club. If New Orleans is open to carrying a 15th man, he’d presumably vie with Matt Ryan and other camp invitees for that spot. Otherwise, Payton may end up back in the G League this fall.
Once Payton’s deal is official, the Pelicans will have a total of 19 players under contract, including two-ways, leaving a pair of openings on their 21-man preseason roster.
Wow, pretty telling that he got a camp deal over fultz.
Probably salary/contract terms. I doubt Fultz is looking for an exhibit-10 deal
I mean certainly not ideally, but if it’s that vs nothing w an nba team before the szn?
Cut him