New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans’ Second-Rounder Louzada To Play In Australia

July 5th, 2019 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans second-round pick Marcos Louzada Silva – aka Didi Louzada – will sign with the Sydney Kings as part of the National Basketball League’s “Next Stars” program, a source tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com (Twitter link)

Louzada, a 6’5″ shooting guard, has spent the last two seasons playing for Franca in Brazil, earning a Novo Basquete Brasil All-Star nod earlier this year. The Pelicans will acquire his draft rights in a trade with the Hawks that was agreed upon on draft day. He was selected 35th overall.

With three rookies – Zion Williamson, Jaxson Hayes, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker – set to join their roster, the Pelicans have opted to go the draft-and-stash route with Louzada, who will have an NBA out clause for next summer in his deal with the Kings, per Givony. He’ll also receive English tutoring while he plays in Australia, Givony adds.

[RELATED: 2019 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

The NBL’s Next Stars program, introduced in 2018, gives teams an extra roster spot for import prospects. It paid a salary of approximately $78K in its initial season.

Guillory Explores Brandon Ingram's Fit With Pelicans

July 5th, 2019 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

Will Guillory of The Athletic takes an in-depth look at how Brandon Ingram might fit into the Pelicans‘ short- and long-term plans after the team made deals to add J.J. Redick and Derrick Favors to its roster this week.

Williamson, Morant Sign Rookie Contracts

July 1st, 2019 at 5:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The top two picks in the draft, Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, have officially signed their rookie contracts, according to a press release from the Pelicans and a tweet from the Grizzlies’ PR department.

Assuming he receives a max of 120% of the rookie-scale salary for the top pick, Williamson will earn approximately $9.757MM in his first year, according to Jeff Siegel of EarlyBirdRights.com (Twitter link). Morant would receive $8.73MM if he received the max for the second pick.

Williamson’s salary numbers for years 2-4 would be $10.245MM, $10.733MM and $13.535MM. Morant would get $9.167MM, $9.6MM and $12.1MM over those seasons.

Williamson appeared in 33 games for Duke, averaging 22.6 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2.1 SPG and 1.8 BPG. With Anthony Davis‘ impending trade to the Lakers, he’ll immediately be the marquee attraction for the franchise.

Morant averaged 24.5 PPG, 10.0 APG and 5.7 RPG for Murray State. Morant should step right into the starting lineup after veteran point guard Mike Conley was shipped to the Jazz.

Pelicans Won’t Bid For Al Horford

June 29th, 2019 at 8:43pm CST by Arthur Hill

New Orleans won’t be among the teams pursuing Al Horford when free agency begins tomorrow, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. Horford created some excitement when he followed Jrue Holiday and Zion Williamson on Twitter earlier today, but that didn’t turn out to be a sign that he was planning to join them as a teammate.

The Pelicans won’t sign anyone to a four-year contract this offseason, Stein adds (Twitter link). Horford has indicated that an unidentified team is prepared to offer him a four-year deal in excess of $100MM.

Will Guillory of The Athletic confirmed Stein’s report, adding that the bidding for Horford got higher than the Pelicans were willing to spend (Twitter link).

Horford, 33, was a veteran leader and a source of stability on an otherwise chaotic Celtics team this season. His numbers remained typical at 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 68 games.

Free Agent Rumors: Randle, Gibson, Bullock, Bulls

June 29th, 2019 at 4:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings will be among the teams in pursuit of Pelicans forward Julius Randle, tweets Jordan Schultz of ESPN. He cites the Nets, Knicks and Bulls as other expected suitors.

Randle, 24, had a career-best season after signing a one-year deal with New Orleans last summer. He averaged 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in 73 games while shooting 52% from the field. He also improved as a long-distance shooter, hitting 34% of his shots from 3-point range.

Here are more rumors as we move to within 24 hours of the start of free agency:

The Timberwolves will have plenty of competition for Taj Gibson, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who lists the Clippers, Nets, Bucks, Bulls, Warriors, Raptors, Trail Blazers, Hornets and Lakers as having interest in the veteran forward (Twitter link). Gibson has averaged 11.5 PPG and 6.9 RPG during his two years in Minnesota.
There’s mutual interest between the Knicks and shooting specialist Reggie Bullock, according to Ian Begley of SNY.TV. Bullock averaged 11.3 points per game while splitting last season between the Pistons and Lakers.
The Bulls are looking for a point guard, but want to limit the contract to two years, reports K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. That may take them out of the running for Malcolm Brogdon or Patrick Beverley, Johnson notes, but he cites other options such as Cory Joseph, Tyus Jones and George Hill who might be willing to accept a shorter contract. The Bulls are counting on first-round pick Coby White to take over the position within two years and want the free agent’s contract to expire in the summer of 2021 at the same time as Otto Porter‘s and Cristiano Felicio‘s.

Pelicans, Kings Interested In Al Horford

June 29th, 2019 at 12:24pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Pelicans are interested in Al Horford but fear that another team will outbid them for his services, Marc Stein of the New York Times reports (Twitter link).

Sacramento could be the team that the Pelicans are fearing. SI’s Chris Mannix tweets that many around the league see the Kings are a strong threat to make Horford a lucrative offer once free agency begins. Mannix adds that Horford fits what the team needs on the floor and could add leadership in the young locker room.

Stein had previously passed along that there was a sense around the league that Horford had a mystery team willing to make him a four-year offer worth in excess of $100MM. The scribe recently tweeted that the Pelicans may not be that suitor. While New Orleans is interested, the Kings might be the aggressive suitor that rival teams fear will win the Horford sweepstakes.

Free Agent Rumors: Knicks, Pelicans, Looney, Satoransky, More

June 27th, 2019 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Following up on recent reports that have linked the team to Julius Randle and Bobby Portis, Ian Begley of SNY.tv confirms that the Knicks will have “strong interest” in those young bigs if they can’t land their top free agent targets. However, as we’ve heard repeatedly in recent days, New York prefers not to offer contracts longer than two years to its secondary targets, according to Begley, who acknowledges that either Randle or Portis could get a longer-term offer from another team.

Begley also confirms that the Knicks have weighed the idea of pursuing DeMarcus Cousins in free agency, as was previously reported. According to Begley though, some in the organization have indicated that going after a younger player like Randle or Portis is a higher priority than pursuing Cousins, who is entering his age-29 season.

The Pelicans are among the teams expected to show interest in free agent big man Kevon Looney, writes former Sporting News reporter Sean Deveney (Facebook link). As Deveney notes, New Orleans will have cap flexibility and could use another veteran big man in the frontcourt with Anthony Davis and potentially Julius Randle departing.
Tomas Satoransky, who will become a restricted free agent after receiving a qualifying offer from the Wizards, is expected to receive interest from the Mavericks, Pacers, Magic, and Celtics, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. According to Hughes, the Jazz also had Satoransky on their list of targets before swinging a deal for Mike Conley. I’d imagine the Celtics would be out of the running as well if they can land Kemba Walker.
Appearing on a recent ESPN podcast with Zach Lowe, Brian Windhorst said he got word a month ago that the Spurs were interested in free agent forward Bojan Bogdanovic. As Windhorst notes though, San Antonio doesn’t have the cap room to make a play for Bogdanovic and would need to make a cost-cutting move for it to be a realistic possibility.

Pelicans Not Believed To Be Horford's Mystery Suitor

June 27th, 2019 at 8:31am CST by Luke Adams

Reporters around the NBA are still trying to pin down the mystery team that appears to be on track to sign Al Horford to a lucrative four-year contract. Marc Stein of The New York Times thought it might be the Pelicans, but says he has been “strongly advised” that that’s not the case (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) doesn’t believe the Mavericks are seriously in the mix for Horford, despite reports that suggested otherwise.

Stanley Johnson Won’t Receive QO From Pelicans

June 26th, 2019 at 8:34pm CST by clarkcrum

Not long after it was reported that the Pelicans opted not to extend a qualifying offer to Cheick Diallo, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium is now reporting that New Orleans will also decline to tender a QO to swingman Stanley Johnson. As a result, Johnson will become an UFA when free agency begins on June 30.

As Charania notes, the Pelicans will now have somewhere in the vicinity of $28MM in cap space this summer after renouncing Johnson’s cap hold. Johnson, who failed to meet starter criteria this past season, only had a QO worth $4,485,665, but as a former first-round pick, his cap hold would have cost the Pelicans $11,821,206 (i.e. 300% of his 2018/19 salary) in valuable cap space.

Johnson, 23, was drafted 8th overall by Detroit back in 2015 but has largely under performed his draft position during his first four seasons in the league. Expected to come in and fill a role as a 3-and-D guy, Johnson has only converted on 29.3% of his career three-point attempts. The Pistons traded him to New Orleans last season, where he only averaged 13.7 minutes per contest in 18 games with the Pelicans.

Pelicans Won’t Make Qualifying Offer To Cheick Diallo

June 26th, 2019 at 6:09pm CST by clarkcrum

The Pelicans will not make a qualifying offer to forward Cheick Diallo, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. As a result, the 22-year-old Malian will become an unrestricted free agent on June 30.

While Diallo projects as a promising young player, the move is not entirely surprising, as the Pelicans have the opportunity to be active in free agency after trading away Anthony Davis. Even though it’s a relatively modest amount, clearing Diallo’s $1.93MM cap hold from their books creates more cap room for the team to pursue top free agents.

Additionally, the Pelicans just drafted Zion Williamson with the No. 1 overall pick and he projects to play the same position as Diallo.

Diallo, a former McDonald’s All-American, was drafted 33rd overall in 2016 by the Clippers, but was acquired by New Orleans on draft night. In three seasons, he’s averaged 12.6 minutes, 5.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest while appearing in 133 games.