New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Mavericks, Iguodala, Melli

August 29th, 2019 at 7:54pm CST by clarkcrum

After years of whiffing in free agency, Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer writes that the Mavericks may have finally got it right this summer despite not signing rumored targets Kemba Walker or Al Horford.

The difference this time around? The Mavericks already had their stars in Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, so supporting cast acquisitions like Delon Wright and Seth Curry made more sense than finally signing the big free agent fish.

And, with the NBA beginning to highlight more twosomes as opposed to threesomes like what the Heat did back in the early 2010s, Doncic (20) and Porzingis (24) could have the brightest future of any pairings because of their youth.

There’s more notes to pass along from the Southwest Division:

Chris Herrington of the Daily Memphian opines that the Dwight Howard buyout with the Grizzlies may have set a baseline amount for a potential Andre Iguodala buyout sometime before or during the 2019/20 season.
In a player profile piece for the upcoming season, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News highlights how the aforementioned Wright could fit nicely alongside Doncic for the Mavericks.
Speaking to Italian newspaper il Resto del Carlino (h/t to Sportando), Pelicans rookie forward Nicolo Melli spoke about his decision to leave Europe to come to the NBA. “(M)y agent Matteo Comellini sent me a message with the proposal made by the Pelicans. I felt a strong vibration. The same I had two years ago the first time I spoke with coach (Zeljko) Obradovic.” Melli says the choice to come to the NBA was never about money.

Pelicans’ Darius Miller Suffers Ruptured Achilles

August 29th, 2019 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans forward Darius Miller underwent surgery on Thursday morning to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon, the team announced in a press release.

Although no recovery timetable was provided by the Pelicans, a torn Achilles typically sidelines an NBA player for at least a full season, so it seems unlikely that Miller will return to action for New Orleans in 2019/20.

ESPN’s Malika Andrews suggests (via Twitter) that Miller will began rehab work next week and is expected to miss seven or eight months. Even if he can make it back in exactly seven months – which is probably an optimistic forecast – that would put his return date at the end of March.

The injury is a devastating blow for both the Pelicans and Miller, who has averaged 8.0 PPG on .417/.388/.826 shooting in 151 games since returning to New Orleans in the summer of 2017. His absence will put more pressure on newly-added sharpshooter J.J. Redick to stretch the floor.

Fortunately for Miller, he received a nice payday as a free agent this offseason, signing a two-year, $14.25MM deal with the Pels. He’ll earn a $7.25MM salary in 2019/20, though his $7MM salary for 2020/21 is non-guaranteed and seems less likely to be picked up in the wake of today’s news.

If the Pelicans believe Miller’s injury will keep him out of action for the entire year, they could apply for a disabled player exception to sign a replacement. If approved, that exception would be worth $3.625MM, half of the 29-year-old’s salary. While the DPE would create some added cap flexibility for New Orleans, it wouldn’t allow the club to carry an extra player.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Joe Johnson To Work Out For Sixers; Other Teams Interested

August 28th, 2019 at 4:34pm CST by Arthur Hill

Before playing in Sunday’s BIG3 championship game, Joe Johnson will work out for the Sixers tomorrow, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. Johnson is also expected to get workouts with the Clippers, Bucks and Nuggets, a source tells Spears.

The Pelicans are also keeping their eyes on Johnson, Spears adds (Twitter link). Head coach Alvin Gentry and executive VP David Griffin showed up for a first-hand look last week when the BIG3 was in New Orleans.

Johnson, 38, captured MVP honors in his first BIG3 season, the league announced Tuesday. He led the league in points, (a league-record 175), assists (31) and field goals (63) and was the only player to sink four 4-point shots.

Johnson’s performance created talk of a comeback after sitting out the entire 2018/19 season. His last NBA experience involved brief appearances during the Rockets‘ 2018 playoff run after splitting the year between Utah and Houston.

Interest in Johnson has been growing throughout the summer, writes Frank Isola of The Athletic. He shares a story from Celtics TV analyst Brian Scalabrine, who said he recently asked president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, “Do you know who should be in the NBA?” and Ainge responded, “Joe Johnson.”

Scalabrine adds that Johnson does yoga every day and is keeping himself in “excellent shape.”

“Joe Johnson will play a game in the NBA next season,” he said. “I guarantee it. If he wants to – and I think he does – he’ll be playing in an NBA game.”

The Sixers have a roster spot open if they decide to add Johnson, as we track in our Roster Counts. Philadelphia has 17 players under standard contracts (14 fully guaranteed), along with both two-way slots filled. The Clippers are in the same situation, while Milwaukee is already at the league limit of 20 and Denver has three openings.

2019 NBA G League Expansion Draft Results

August 28th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA G League conducted its 2019 expansion draft on Wednesday, allowing the latest iteration of the Erie BayHawks to acquire the rights to up to 14 players.

Erie has been a G League mainstay in recent years. However, after serving as the affiliate for the Atlanta Hawks last season, the BayHawks were relocated to College Park and renamed the Skyhawks. As such, the Erie BayHawks team that participated in today’s expansion draft is technically a new G League franchise — it’ll be the affiliate for the Pelicans in 2019/20.

As Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days recently outlined, each of the G League’s other 27 teams were permitted to protect the rights for up to 12 players. Although the BayHawks could select up to 14 players in the expansion draft, they weren’t permitted to acquire more than two players from any one team.

Here are the 14 players whose rights were acquired by New Orleans’ G League affiliate, with each player’s previous NBAGL team noted in parentheses:

Taylor Braun (South Bay Lakers)
Trey Burke (Westchester Knicks)
Quinton Chievous (Capital City Go-Go)
Xavier Gibson (Sioux Falls Skyforce)
Isaac Hamilton (Canton Charge)
Isaiah Hartenstein (Grande Valley Vipers)
Derrick Jones Jr. (Northern Arizona Suns)
Scottie Lindsey (Grand Rapids Drive)
Erik McCree (Lakeland Magic)
Codi Miller-McIntyre (College Park Skyhawks)
Xavier Silas (Iowa Wolves)
Matt Williams Jr. (Grand Rapids Drive)
Kyle Wiltjer (Canton Charge)
Michael Young (Northern Arizona Suns)

Not all of the players whose rights the BayHawks acquired today will actually suit up for the team. In fact, many won’t.

Multiple players selected by Erie – Burke, Hartenstein, and Jones – are currently under contract with NBA teams and won’t be available to the BayHawks as long as they remain on those NBA deals. Other players will spend the 2019/20 season playing overseas.

However, if any of the players selected in today’s expansion draft sign contracts to play in the G League in ’19/20, the BayHawks will have their rights. Erie will hold each of these 14 players’ NBAGL rights for the next two seasons.

Zion Williamson Alleges Early Recruitment By His Former Agency

August 23rd, 2019 at 10:30am CST by Arthur Hill

Attorneys for Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson contend that a Florida marketing company began recruiting him in January, three months before he declared for the NBA draft, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The charge is included in amendments to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in North Carolina in an attempt to terminate an agreement with Prime Sports Marketing.

The legal action alleges violations of North Carolina sports agent laws and comes in response to a June lawsuit filed in Florida by the company and its president, Gina Ford. She is seeking $100MM from Williamson and his current representatives, Creative Arts Agency, for “breach of contract.”

Williamson contends Ford and Prime Sports lacked proper certification from the NBPA and wasn’t registered in North Carolina. It also alleges fraudulent inducement and violations of North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic shares a portion of the suit that alleges Ford “approached Mr. Williamson’s family before and after basketball games, texted them repeatedly about a potential business relationship, and eventually met with Mr. Williamson and his family to discuss the prospect of entering into a marketing agent agreement.” It also claims she misrepresented her involvement with sprinter Usain Bolt.

This year’s No. 1 selection, Williamson signed a marketing deal with Prime Sports on April 20, five days after declaring for the draft. It included a clause preventing him from terminating the agreement for five years. Williamson’s family announced on May 31 that he was leaving the agency, and he later signed with CAA.

Williamson’s suit contends that Prime Sports isn’t registered to act as an agent in North Carolina or Florida and his agreement doesn’t contain “a conspicuous notice in boldface type in capital letters” informing him that he was forfeiting his college eligibility.

Peers Choose Zion, Morant As Top Rookie Of Year Candidates

August 19th, 2019 at 5:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Top pick Zion Williamson of the Pelicans is considered the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award by his peers, but he’s not a clear-cut choice. The second pick in the draft, point guard Ja Morant of the Grizzlies, finished a close second in the voting. However, that might not be such a good thing for either player.

For the 11th time in 13 years, John Schuhmann of NBA.com got the opportunity to ask the NBA’s incoming crop of rookies a series of questions related to their fellow draftees.

Historically, the NBA rookies haven’t been soothsayers. They haven’t accurately identified a Rookie of the Year winner since Kevin Durant in 2007/08. Last season, Deandre Ayton and Collin Sexton were considered the co-favorites. Luka Doncic ended up winning the award with Trae Young finishing a solid second.

Here’s some of the highlights from the survey:

Williamson got 35% of the vote for the Rookie of the Year prize, while Morant received 27% backing. No one else got more than 5%.
Nuggets second-round pick Bol Bol and Cavaliers’ late first-rounder Kevin Porter Jr. were considered the steals of the draft, with each getting 19% of the vote.
Two players stood out to their peers as being the best defenders in the draft — the Sixers’ Matisse Thybulle and the Hawks’ De’Andre Hunter. Thybulle collected 37% of the votes in that category, while Hunter received 29% backing.
By a wide margin, Williamson was chosen as the most athletic rookie, garnering 87% of the votes. Morant was selected as the best ball-handler, receiving 40% of those votes.
The Heat‘s Tyler Herro (33%) edged out the Kings’ Kyle Guy (29%) as the best shooter.
LeBron James (38%) got the highest total in the ‘Favorite player in the league’ category with Kevin Durant (20%) finishing second.

Greivis Vasquez Named Associate Head Coach Of Pelicans' NBAGL Team

August 15th, 2019 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA point guard Greivis Vasquez, who played for six teams over the course of seven seasons from 2010-17, has been named the associate head coach of the Pelicans‘ new G League affiliate, the team announced today in a press release. Vasquez will work under Ryan Pannone, the head coach of the expansion Erie BayHawks.

International Notes: Morris, Melli, Delgado

August 13th, 2019 at 3:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Former Lakers and Nets guard Darius Morris was in camp with the Pelicans last fall and generated some in-season interest from the Suns, but 2018/19 represented his fourth straight season out of the NBA. It appears that streak will continue in 2019/20, as a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando that Morris has signed a “lucrative” contract with Enisey Krasnoyarsk in Russia.

Morris, who appeared in 132 total NBA games after being selected in the second round of the 2011 draft, is still just 28 years old, as so an eventual NBA comeback is possible. For now though, he’ll continue his professional career in Russia after spending his last few seasons in China and the G League.

Here are a few more basketball odds and ends from around the globe:

Nicolo Melli, who signed with the Pelicans this summer as a free agent, won’t play for Team Italy in the 2019 World Cup due to a knee injury, the Italian Basketball Federation confirmed today in a press release. As far as we know, Melli is still expected to be ready to go for training camp with New Orleans this fall.
Former Clippers big man Angel Delgado, who signed a lucrative one-year contract with the Beijing Royal Fighters, spoke to Jerry Carino of Asbury Park Press about making the move to the Chinese Basketball Association. “I had opportunities to stay in the NBA, but I’m doing what’s best for me,” Delgado said. “I’m excited about the experience I’m going to get in the CBA, and the people I’m going to get in touch with out there. I’m really excited and really motivated to give everyone a show every night. I want to give them what they want — a championship.”
Previously-reported international deals for Alan Williams (in Russia) and Omri Casspi (in Israel) are now official, with Lokomotiv Kuban and Maccabi Tel Aviv formally announcing the signings today.

Southwest Notes: Pelicans, Murray, Westbrook, Hartenstein

August 10th, 2019 at 6:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma expects big things from three ex-teammates who were shipped to the Pelicans in the Anthony Davis trade, relays Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, both former No. 2 picks, were sent to New Orleans along with Josh Hart in the deal to get another star to pair with LeBron James. Kuzma thinks the freedom of a new environment should benefit all three players.

“They were excited,” Kuzma said. “It’s a little bit less pressure. They didn’t (actually) say that. But obviously being in L.A., there’s more pressure. They can be themselves now. They can go to New Orleans and develop into the superstars they were supposed to be.”

There had been rumors for months that the Lakers were willing to part with young talent, including Kuzma, to acquire Davis. Kuzma said management told the players they weren’t eager to give up so much of their young core, but everyone understands that Davis is a rare talent.

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

Injured Spurs guard Dejounte Murray tweeted today that he has received medical clearance to continue his summer workouts. It’s the latest encouraging sign for Murray as he tries to work his way back from a torn right ACL he suffered during a preseason game last October. Murray was coming off a promising 2017/18 campaign in which he earned second-team All-Defense honors while posting an 8.1/5.7/2.9 line in 81 games. He is eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer.
As part of his trade from the Thunder to the Rockets, Russell Westbrook agreed to alter his contract, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. The changes will make his deal “more team-friendly and less front-loaded,” sources tell Stein.
Isaiah Hartenstein and Michael Frazier are trying to seize opportunities with the Rockets through extensive offseason workouts that are heavy on 3-point shooting, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. Both players will come to camp next month without fully guaranteed deals. Hartenstein has a 50% guarantee on his $1,416,852 contract for this season, while Frazier has the same salary with no guarantee.

Pelicans Sign Kavell Bigby-Williams

August 6th, 2019 at 1:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have signed forward/center Kavell Bigby-Williams to an NBA contract, per RealGM’s log of official NBA transactions. Andrew Lopez first reported last month that New Orleans was adding Bigby-Williams to its roster on an Exhibit 10 deal.

Bigby-Williams, who bounced around from school to school during his college career, played his senior season at LSU in 2018/19, recording 7.9 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 1.9 BPG in 35 games (21.2 MPG). He previously spent time at Oregon and Gillette College.

After going undrafted in June, Bigby-Williams played for the Pelicans in last month’s Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 7.7 PPG and an impressive 7.8 RPG in just 16.5 minutes per contest (six games). Now, he’s on track to attend training camp with an up-and-coming New Orleans squad.

The Pelicans now have 18 players officially under contract, including a pair on two-way deals.