New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Wiseman, Barrett, Dedmon, Barbosa, DeMarco

June 22nd, 2019 at 11:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

The latest 2020 mock draft has Memphis freshman center James Wiseman going to the Knicks with the No. 1 pick. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony has Georgia guard Anthony Edwards going to the Cavaliers at No. 2 and North Carolina guard Cole Anthony heading to the Suns at No. 3.

We have more from around the basketball world:

Top pick Zion Williamson and his former college teammate R.J. Barrett could face each other in the Las Vegas summer league opener, the Associated Press reports. The Pelicans’ summer squad will face the Knicks on July 5.
Dewayne Dedmon, Bojan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gay are among the underrated free agents heading to the market, Ameer Tyree of the Sporting News writes.
Former NBA guard Leandro Barbosa will return to the Brazilian league and re-sign with Minas Storm, Sportando reports.
Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco has agreed to become the head coach of the Bahamas Basketball Federation’s national team, according to a report from ESPN’s Marc Spears. The Bahamas did not qualify for the FIBA World Cup this summer but it does have some NBA talent, including Deandre Ayton and Buddy Hield.

Jalen Adams To Receive Exhibit 10 Deal With Pelicans

June 21st, 2019 at 8:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Undrafted University of Connecticut point guard Jalen Adams will sign an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pelicans, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando tweets.

Adams averaged 16.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 3.4 APG during his senior year, which was limited to 26 games due to a knee injury. He posted averages of 18.1/4.2/4.7 in the same categories as a junior. The 6’3” Adams started 99 of 124 career games with the Huskies.

He made the rounds prior to the draft, working out for a number of teams. He’ll look to earn a roster spot with New Orleans during camp.

Griffin: Zion Not Face Of Franchise -- Yet

June 21st, 2019 at 7:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans’ top executive, David Griffin, is trying his best to keep the pressure off top pick Zion Williamson. He said on Friday to ESPN”s Malika Andrews and other media members that Williamson doesn’t have the burden of “saving this franchise.” Griffin added that Williamson is not yet the face of the franchise. “This is Jrue Holiday‘s team,” Griffin said. “Zion is going to be learning how to win at a really high level. At some point, if there is a time that the baton gets passed in terms of who is expected to carry us to win games, it will. That is not now.”

Pelicans Sought Covington In Trade Talks With Wolves

June 21st, 2019 at 12:33pm CST by Luke Adams

According to Krawczynski, the Timberwolves might have had an opportunity to move up to No. 4 before the Pelicans made a deal with the Hawks, but Minnesota was seeking the No. 11 pick and Robert Covington and would’ve wanted to dump Solomon Hill‘s unwanted contract on the Wolves.

[SOURCE LINK]

Warriors Acquire No. 39 Pick, Select Smailagic

June 20th, 2019 at 10:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

11:13pm: The trade is now official. The Warriors gave New Orleans second-round picks in 2021 and 2023 and cash, Mark Medina of the San Jose Mercury News tweets.

10:43pm: The Warriors acquired the rights to the No. 39 pick from the Pelicans and selected Alen Smailagic, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

The Pelicans received two future second-rounders and cash in the trade, Will Guillory of The Athletic tweets.

This was an unusual case of Golden State gaining the rights to a player it had on its G League team last season.

The Serbian power forward played for Santa Cruz but wasn’t draft-eligible until this year. He was shut down early in the pre-draft process and stashed in Serbia from the rest of the NBA. He averaged 9.1 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 17.4 MPG over 47 G League appearances, mostly off the bench.

Anthony Davis Trade Likely To Become Official July 6

June 20th, 2019 at 7:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pelicans’ decision to move the No. 4 pick to the Hawks today makes it likely that the Anthony Davis trade to the Lakers will be finalized on July 6, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The Lakers emerged from the lottery with the No. 4 pick and agreed to trade it to the Pelicans as part of the Davis deal. New Orleans reached an agreement to forward the pick to the Hawks just prior to the draft.

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and the Pelicans’ top executive, David Griffin, agreed that if a third team was looped into the Davis trade, the teams would make the deal official on July 6.

The Davis deal could theoretically be delayed until July 30, as newly-drafted players can’t be dealt for 30 days after signing a contract. Waiting those 30 days would be advantageous to the Lakers for cap-related reasons. However, it would have been unrealistic for the Lakers to expect the Pelicans and Hawks to wait that long to bring in those traded players.

Pelinka was already on board with making the trade official on July 6 before New Orleans came to an agreement with Atlanta, according to Wojnarowski.

Thus, the Lakers won’t be able to count the No. 4 pick’s salary slot for salary-matching purposes in the AD trade. In order to maximize their cap room, they’ll have to use the cap room first by signing free agents, then make the Davis deal as an over-the-cap team under salary-matching guidelines.

The Lakers are offering the contracts of Moritz Wagner, Jemerrio Jones, and Isaac Bonga to teams as part of the Davis deal in order to make the salaries match up. The Hawks don’t necessarily have to be part of the Davis deal, since the Pelicans could make that trade separately after the trade with the Lakers becomes official.

Davis could also waive most or all of his $4MM trade bonus, something that he’s not necessarily expected to do. In a scenario where the Lakers get Davis to agree and find a taker for each of the three aforementioned players as part of a larger AD deal, Los Angeles could have roughly $32MM in cap space.

Pelicans Select Zion Williamson With Top Pick

June 20th, 2019 at 6:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Zion Williamson‘s ascension as the top prospect in the draft became official when the Pelicans selected him with the No. 1 pick on Thursday night.

Williamson has been regarded as the best player in the draft since early in his lone college season at Duke. He’s the most highly touted prospect to enter the league in several years and with good reason. Williamson often looking like a man against boys with the Blue Devils, averaging 22.6 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 2.1 APG, 2.1 SPG and 1.8 BPG in 30.0 MPG over 33 games.

He had a minor setback late in the season when his shoe infamously came apart against arch-rival North Carolina on February 20. He suffered a knee injury but returned to action in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

With the impending trade of franchise player Anthony Davis to the Lakers, Williamson will immediately become the face of the New Orleans franchise. He’ll join a mostly young core that includes Jrue Holiday and three players in the agreed-upon deal with the Lakers, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram.

Under the rookie scale wage, Williamson can earn a max of $9,744,840 in his first year, according to RealGM. The base salary for the top pick is $8.12MM but players can receive up to 120% of the scale salary.

Williamson is the first Blue Devil selected with the top pick since Kyrie Irving in 2011. Prior to that, a Duke player hadn’t been taken with the No. 1 pick since Elton Brand in 1999.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Williamson, Morant, Barrett Will Go 1-2-3

June 20th, 2019 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

There won’t be any suspense regarding the first few picks on the draft this evening, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. Duke freshman sensation Zion Williamson, who emerged early in the college season as the top talent in this year’s draft will be selected No. 1 overall by the Pelicans.

The Grizzlies will select Murray State point guard Ja Morant with the No. 2 pick. Memphis’ interest in Morant became public shortly after the draft lottery. They opened up the starting point guard spot by agreeing to trade their all-time leading scorer, Mike Conley, to the Jazz.

The Knicks have settled on R.J. Barrett, according to Charania. The Duke swingman was regarded as the likely No. 1 pick before his teammate seized that distinction.

With the Pelicans agreeing to deal the No. 4 pick to the Hawks today, the first four selections seem set in stone. Atlanta reportedly moved up to snag Virginia forward De’Andre Hunter. Duke forward Cam Reddish might be in play for the No. 4 pick but the Hawks are leaning toward Hunter, Charania reports in a separate tweet.

Things will get a little cloudier once the Cavaliers, who hold the No. 5 pick, go on the clock.

Pelicans Exercise Team Option On Jahlil Okafor

June 20th, 2019 at 3:27pm CST by Arthur Hill

3:27pm: The Pelicans have officially exercised Okafor’s team option, the team announced today in a press release.

11:24am: New Orleans will pick up its $1.7MM option on center Jahlil Okafor for next season, tweets Malika Andrews of ESPN.

The third overall pick in 2015, Okafor revived his career after signing with the Pelicans as a free agent last summer. He appeared in 59 games, starting 24, and averaged 8.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per night. He impressed the coaching staff with his improved fitness and a commitment to defense, Andrews adds.

Okafor only has a $54K guarantee on next year’s contract, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). He’ll have to remain on the roster through January 7 for it to become fully guaranteed.

Okafor is one of a handful of players with team options for 2019/20. The complete list is available here.

Western Notes: Rockets, No. 4, Davis, Holiday

June 20th, 2019 at 2:49pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Houston intends to aggressively pursue Jimmy Butler in free agency and Kelly Iko of The Athletic hears that the Rockets will be just as determined to land Butler now as they were in prior to Minnesota dealing him to the Sixers. GM Daryl Morey reportedly offered four first-round picks in exchange for Butler during the season.

It’s no secret that the Rockets are looking to shake up their roster this offseason. They continue to discuss trades involving Clint Capela, and Iko hears that they’ve discussed sending him to the Pelicans for the No. 4 overall pick. In that scenario, Houston would look to insert that pick into a package in order to land another player.

Here’s more from Houston and rest of the Western Conference:

The Rockets had interested in trading for Anthony Davis and reached out to the Pelicans prior to New Orleans making the deal with the Lakers. Houston was aware that it wasn’t high on Davis’ preferences and that a trade was not likely to happen.
The Lakers could have asked Davis if he’d waive his trade bonus of roughly $4.1MM in order to make salary-matching easier, but they never broached it during negotiations, league sources tell Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck. Los Angeles is still attempting to maximize its cap room for an additional star after agreeing to the Davis deal.
Several NBA executives are skeptical that the Lakers can build a title-winning team around Davis and LeBron James after the haul they just gave up, Beck relays in the same piece. “[The] Lakers overpaid by a significant margin, given the conditions,” one executive said, adding, “Never let your GM be in a spot where he needs to make a trade to save his job.”
The Suns are not interested in Aaron Holiday, Phoenix-based radio host John Gambadoro tweets. J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star identified the Suns as one of a handful of teams that has interest in acquiring the Pacers point guard, mentioning the Timberwolves, Bulls, and Hawks as well.