New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Bledsoe, Kleber, White, Samanic

January 27th, 2021 at 10:04pm CST by Arthur Hill

After a report Tuesday that the Pelicans are getting trade calls about guards Lonzo Ball and J.J. Redick, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst adds another name to the list. Appearing on “The Jump” today (video link), Windhorst said Eric Bledsoe is also available and that New Orleans is initiating trade talks with other teams.

With a 5-10 record, the Pelicans have been the most disappointing team in the West. Bledsoe has played a role in that as his numbers across the board are down from last season in Milwaukee. Acquired from the Bucks in the Jrue Holiday deal, Bledsoe is averaging 12.8 points per game, his lowest scoring average in eight years.

According to Windhorst, New Orleans wants to clear away its veteran guards to create more playing time for Nickeil Alexander-Walker and rookie Kira Lewis, who was the 13th pick in last year’s draft. Coach Stan Van Gundy talked to Ball and Redick today about the situation, tweets Will Guillory of The Athletic, and said the players realize that trade rumors are part of life in the NBA.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Maxi Kleber, one of five Mavericks players who were quarantined, has been cleared and has started individual workouts, tweets Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Coach Rick Carlisle said Kleber won’t be available for Friday’s game against the Jazz, but may return this weekend. “His clock is ticking at a different rate because his episode was longer,” Carlisle said. “He certainly won’t play in either of these two games (at Utah). Saturday I suppose could be a possibility, but I don’t know.” (Twitter link)
Spurs guard Derrick White is close to returning from a fractured toe and could be back in the lineup this weekend, according to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link). White, who has played just one game this season, had surgery on the toe in August and reinjured it on New Year’s Day.
The Spurs have sent second-year forward Luka Samanic to the G League bubble in Orlando, tweets Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. Samanic has seen limited playing time in four games this season.

Knicks Rumors: Rose, Gibson, Ball, Robinson

January 27th, 2021 at 2:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Following up on a Shams Charania report from Tuesday, Marc Berman of The New York Post confirms that the Knicks have interest in Derrick Rose, though he hears from sources that the team hasn’t yet talked to the Pistons about a possible trade.

According to Berman, sources close to Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau believe he would like to reunite with Rose, who played for him in Chicago and Minnesota. Berman notes that Thibodeau “pushed hard” for New York to re-sign Taj Gibson, who was also a member of the Bulls and Timberwolves under Thibs.

If the Knicks do give up any sort of asset for Rose, that would be a strong indication the team believes it would be able to re-sign him when he becomes a free agent during the 2021 offseason, says Ian Begley of SNY.tv. For now, it remains to be seen whether the Pistons will move Rose — or whether New York will make the best offer.

Here’s more on the Knicks:

While a Tuesday report indicated that the Pelicans are open to discussing a Lonzo Ball trade, it’s unclear whether or not the Knicks would have any interest. According to Ian Begley, some people within the organization supported the idea of trading for Ball entering the 2020 offseason. However, a strong early showing from Immanuel Quickley – combined with Ball’s up-and-down play – may have changed that equation. One team monitoring the Ball situation told Begley that the Pelicans still value the former No. 2 overall pick and won’t trade him if they don’t get a strong return.
Noting that Mitchell Robinson deleted a Tuesday tweet that read, “One day they’ll let me play,” Marc Berman wonders if the young center is seeking a larger offensive role. As Berman observes, Robinson is logging 29.6 minutes per game this season, well above his previous career high, so the tweet probably wasn’t about his playing time.
With All-Star voting set to open on Thursday, Julius Randle figures to receive consideration for a spot on the Eastern Conference squad. The veteran big man is averaging 22.5 PPG, 11.3 RPG, and 6.0 APG so far in 2020/21 — those marks would all be career bests.

Potential Paths Forward For The Pelicans

January 26th, 2021 at 10:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer considers next steps the Pelicans could take after their disappointing 5-10 start. New Orleans team president David Griffin is hopeful that star forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram will begin to develop defensively, and mentioned new head coach Stan Van Gundy‘s Dwight Howard-era Magic teams as a possible blueprint. “They played really big,” Griffin said. “They played big, skilled basketball. They weren’t like blitzkrieg fast, but they were super skilled and very big.”

Pelicans Receiving Trade Calls On Lonzo Ball, J.J. Redick

January 26th, 2021 at 2:31pm CST by JD Shaw

The Pelicans are receiving trade calls on Lonzo Ball and J.J. Redick, according to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic.

New Orleans has shown a willingness to discuss the two guards with interested teams, Charania writes, and rival executives believe the Pelicans will be prominent in the trade market this season.

The news isn’t exactly surprising — the team has opened the 2020/21 season with a 5-10 record and both Ball and Redick didn’t suddenly become available. A move for either player would likely result in more playing time for young guards Nickeil Alexander-Walker and/or Kira Lewis.

The Pelicans have briefly discussed a potential deal involving Kelly Oubre Jr. with the Warriors, according to Charania, though it hasn’t gained any traction. It’s unclear whether Golden State would’ve been targeting Ball or Redick in such a deal.

Teams typically begin ramping up dialogue in the weeks prior to the trade deadline, which is scheduled for March 25 this season.

In addition to Ball, Redick, Alexander-Walker and Lewis, the Pelicans also have point guard Eric Bledsoe on their roster. Bledsoe, 31, has started in 13 of 14 games this season.

Club Might Decline Ball's Qualifying Offer

January 25th, 2021 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Prior to the postponement of the Pelicans-Spurs game on Monday, San Antonio’s Drew Eubanks was ironically removed from the league’s COVID-19 protocols list, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express News tweets. The third-year big man has been out since January 7 due to those restrictions. He has appeared in three games this season.
Lonzo Ball may no longer be in the Pelicans’ long-term plans and there’s a real possibility they’ll decline their $14.36MM qualifying offer after this season, which would make him a restricted free agent, Seth Partnow of The Athletic opines. If New Orleans’ season continues to go sour, the franchise would likely prefer to trade him rather than allow the point guard to walk in free agency, Partnow adds.

Pelicans-Spurs Game Postponed

January 25th, 2021 at 6:34pm CST by Dana Gauruder

7:55pm: The issue with the postponement concerns a potential coronavirus exposure to a non-team member of the traveling parties for both teams in recent days, Andrew Lopez of ESPN tweets.

6:34pm: The NBA postponed Monday’s scheduled game between the Spurs and Pelicans, according to a league press release.

What made this late postponement even more noteworthy was that both teams did not have the league-required eight available players due to COVID-19 contact tracing.

The Pelicans had a January 11 postponement due to coronavirus issues surrounding the Mavericks. This is the first game for which they have not had enough players due to COVID-19 positives and contact tracing. This is the first postponement of any kind for San Antonio.

It’s the 22nd game that the league has postponed due to health and safety protocols.

Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Clarke, Mavericks, Richardson

January 24th, 2021 at 8:00pm CST by JD Shaw

While the Pelicans need more leadership from second-year forward Zion Williamson, the team still has no shortage of blame to go around for a poor 5-10 start to the season, William Guillory of The Athletic writes.

New Orleans sports an impress nucleus of Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and others, but the team’s overall fit remains in question. The club has two point guards (Ball and Eric Bledsoe) in its starting group, with another questionable offensive pairing in the frontcourt (Williamson and Steven Adams).

“We’ve just got to compete a little bit harder,” Bledsoe said. “It has nothing to do with talent or anything like that. When the games start to pile up, and your body starts to wear down, that’s when you’ve got to lock in the most.”

The question isn’t whether New Orleans has enough talent, but rather how the team uses its talent and whether a consistent effort will be given on both ends.

Here are some other notes from the Southwest Division:

Evan Barnes of The Memphis Commercial Appeal explores how Grizzlies big man Brandon Clarke has thrived as a starter this season. Clarke, 24, has averaged 13.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 29.3 minutes in the team’s first 13 games, starting in nine of those contests. “Last year, I would rather be in the sixth man role just because I was more comfortable with that but now I feel like that it’s what the team might need,” Clarke said about receiving a larger role. “If I can step up and be the player that I know I can be, I can come in and help us out with the first five.”
At least two of the Mavericks‘ players who tested positive for COVID-19 were “pretty sick,” Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News tweets. The team received four positive tests, with some of those players recovering quicker than others, according to Townsend.
Mavericks guard Josh Richardson could return to the lineup this week, Townsend notes in a different tweet. The most likely return order is Richardson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber, Townsend reports, though head coach Rick Carlisle cautioned that everything remains fluid.

Appraising Lonzo's Future With Pelicans

January 20th, 2021 at 7:47pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Fourth-year Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball has struggled to fit in on the hardwood during his second season with New Orleans, writes Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer. After failing to agree to terms on an extension by the deadline this season, Ball will be a restricted free agent this summer. Though he’s a savvy player and good defender, Ball’s jump shooting (just 38.7% from the floor) has limited his efficacy this season.

Nearly Half Of NBA’s Teams Have Open Roster Spots

January 20th, 2021 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

After the NBA’s transactions wire remained relatively quiet for the first few weeks of the 2020/21 season, teams have begun making moves with a little more frequency as of late.

While one recent transaction – the four-team trade that sent James Harden to Brooklyn – was clearly a higher-impact move than the rest, a number of clubs have made smaller changes to their rosters by waiving players this week. The Raptors and Wizards cut big men Alex Len and Anzejs Pasecniks from their 15-man rosters, while the Sixers opened up a two-way slot by releasing Dakota Mathias.

As a result, there are now 12 teams across the NBA that have at least one open 15-man roster spot. One of those teams – the Trail Blazers – also has an open two-way contract slot, as do two others, leaving just 16 clubs who are carrying the maximum of 17 players.

With so many clubs facing roster shortages recently and the NBA and NBPA discussing the possibility of adding a third two-way slot to rosters for the rest of the season, it’s a little surprising that more teams aren’t making use of all 17 available spots, but it will likely just be a matter of time before those many of those openings get filled.

Here’s the current breakdown of teams with open roster spots:

Teams with an open 15-man roster spot:

Brooklyn Nets
- Note: The Nets have three open roster spots and will need to fill at least two of them within two weeks of completing the Harden trade.
Charlotte Hornets
Los Angeles Clippers *
Los Angeles Lakers *
Milwaukee Bucks *
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes that the team can’t currently sign a 15th man due to the hard cap.

Teams with an open two-way slot:

Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Portland Trail Blazers

Ball Ready To Return From Knee Issue

January 19th, 2021 at 5:39pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lonzo Ball is listed as probable to play Tuesday against Utah after missing three games due to a knee injury, the team’s PR department tweets. Ball practiced in full on Monday, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Picayune Times writes. The Pelicans point guard said he “definitely” plans to play Tuesday, the first of two straight games against the Jazz. In nine games this season, he’s averaging 12.4 PPG and 4.4 APG.

The Pelicans re-signed Brandon Ingram to a five-year max contract in late November and ESPN’s Zach Lowe takes an in-depth look at Ingram’s development and desire for greatness. Ingram is averaging 23.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 5.1 APG this season.