- Appearing on the HoopsHype podcast with Alex Kennedy, Pelicans guard E’Twaun Moore admitted that he wasn’t shocked by DeMarcus Cousins‘ departure this offseason, though he was caught off guard when Rajon Rondo signed elsewhere. “I thought he was going to stay for sure,” Moore said of Rondo, per Ashish Mathur of AmicoHoops.
A bigger issue with the Pelicans this upcoming season may be the absence of a reliable player on the wing rather than the loss of Rajon Rondo or DeMarcus Cousins, as newcomers Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton are capable of replicating their production, at least in part, writes Scott Kushner of The Advocate.
Kushner opines that nobody on the Pelicans’ roster is capable of being a solid “3-and-D” player, as Solomon Hill has struggled to recover from a torn hamstring and E’Twaun Moore, limited by his 6’4” frame, has been asked to play against players much taller than him and seemingly taken out of his comfort zone as a result.
“If it was up to me — it doesn’t really matter as long as I stay on the floor and help my team win — but I would like to say that maybe I hopefully could be playing a little bit more guard (this season),” Moore said. “Last year, I was more of a wing, but it worked out well for the team because we played so fast. But it would be kind of cool to be going back to being a guard again.”
So, the Pelicans will now hold a three-man competition between Troy Williams, Garlon Green, and Kenrich Williams in order to find someone who may be able to crack the team’s wing rotation this season.
The Pelicans could also be active around midseason, as they were when they acquired Cousins in 2017 and Nikola Mirotic last season. But for now, they’ll rely on MVP-candidate Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Randle and Mirotic, which should be enough to keep them in the Western Conference playoff race.
- Only $50K of Jahlil Okafor‘s two-year contract with the Pelicans is guaranteed, Pincus reveals in another tweet. The second year is a team option but just a little over $54K is guaranteed even if it’s exercised, Pincus adds. The signing became official on Thursday.
The signing of big man Jahlil Okafor is a low-risk, high-reward proposition for the Pelicans, Scott Kushner of The New Orleans Advocate opines. The former No. 3 overall pick was signed this week to a partially guaranteed two-year, $3.27MM contract, which includes a team option for the second year. That means Okafor can easily be cut loose if he doesn’t impress in training camp, Kushner notes. If he sticks, Okafor’s scoring ability could allow him to carve out a niche role off the bench behind starters Anthony Davis and Nikola Mirotic, Kushner adds.
- Before James Nunnally signed with Minnesota, he drew “great” interest from the Pelicans, as well as some interest from the Rockets, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN (Twitter link).
The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $101.869MM threshold once that room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax limit as well, with clubs like the Warriors, Thunder, Rockets, Trail Blazers, Raptors, and Wizards going well beyond that tax line this year.
The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows those clubs to build significant payrolls without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped.
When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion ($5.337MM) of the mid-level exception, that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.
When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron is set at a point approximately $6MM above the luxury tax line. For the 2018/19 league year, the tax apron – and hard cap for certain clubs – is set at $129.817MM.
So far this year, nine teams have imposed a hard cap on themselves by using the bi-annual exception, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, or acquiring a player via sign-and-trade. Listed below are those nine teams, along with how they created a hard cap.
Charlotte Hornets
- Used approximately $6MM of mid-level exception to sign Tony Parker and Devonte’ Graham.
Detroit Pistons
- Used approximately $5.75MM of mid-level exception to sign Glenn Robinson, Khyri Thomas, and Bruce Brown.
Los Angeles Clippers
- Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Luc Mbah a Moute and Mike Scott.
Memphis Grizzlies
- Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Kyle Anderson.
Milwaukee Bucks
- Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Ersan Ilyasova and Pat Connaughton.
- Used bi-annual exception to sign Brook Lopez.
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Used approximately $6.59MM of mid-level exception to sign Anthony Tolliver and Keita Bates-Diop.
New Orleans Pelicans
- Used full mid-level exception ($8.641MM) to sign Julius Randle.
- Used bi-annual exception to sign Elfrid Payton.
New York Knicks
- Used approximately $8MM of mid-level exception to sign Mario Hezonja and Mitchell Robinson.
San Antonio Spurs
- Used approximately $6.99MM of mid-level exception to sign Marco Belinelli and Chimezie Metu.
- Used bi-annual exception to sign Dante Cunningham.
Currently, none of the hard-capped teams listed above have team salaries within $5MM of the tax apron, so that hard cap shouldn’t be a real issue for most of these clubs during the 2018/19 league year. However, that could change if any of these teams – particularly the Hornets or Pistons – makes additional free agent signings or takes on extra money in a trade at some point.
AUGUST 9: The Pelicans have officially signed Okafor, according to the NBA’s official transactions log.
AUGUST 8: The Pelicans have agreed to sign free agent center Jahlil Okafor, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). A source tells Wojnarowski that Okafor will sign a two-year contract with a partial guarantee in the first year and a team option for year two.
Scott Kushner of The Advocate first reported on Tuesday that the Pelicans and Okafor were engaged in discussions about a possible deal. As we noted at the time, the 22-year-old could be a good fit on a Pelicans roster that is short on traditional centers. Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotic, and Julius Randle are expected to see the majority of the frontcourt minutes for the club, but none of those players is a natural five.
While Emeka Okafor, Alexis Ajinca, and Cheick Diallo are also options at center for the Pelicans, Okafor’s salary is still non-guaranteed, Ajinca missed the entire 2017/18 season with a knee injury, and Diallo has played primarily at the four since arriving in New Orleans.
The Pelicans currently have 12 players on fully guaranteed salaries for 2018/19, with Emeka Okafor, DeAndre Liggins, Troy Williams, and now Jahlil Okafor among the players with non-guaranteed deals or partial guarantees. That should open the door for the former Sixer to potentially earn a spot on New Orleans’ 15-man regular season roster.
Okafor, drafted by the 76ers with the third overall pick in 2015, averaged 17.5 PPG and 7.0 RPG during his rookie year, but has seen his playing time and production decline since then. After being traded to Brooklyn this past season, he posted 6.4 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 26 contests (12.6 MPG) with the Nets.
Because Okafor isn’t a strong rim protector or outside shooter, he has had trouble carving out a consistent role over the course of his NBA career. However, there shouldn’t be much pressure on him to make an impact in New Orleans — the team has already used its mid-level exception on Randle and its bi-annual exception on Elfrid Payton, meaning Okafor’s new partially guaranteed contract will only be worth the minimum.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Nets, Mavericks, and Pelicans are among the teams that have shown some interest in unrestricted free agent point guard Mario Chalmers, a source tells Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link).
Chalmers, 32, suffered a torn Achilles in 2016 and sat out the entire 2016/17 season, but appeared in 66 games for the Grizzlies in 2017/18. His numbers (7.7 PPG, 3.0 APG) were modest and his shooting rates (.379 FG%, .277 3PT%) were well below his career averages, as he gradually made his way back to full speed. However, Spears says that Chalmers is “completely healthy” now.
Addressing his free agency a couple weeks ago, Chalmers said he believed it was “just a matter of time” until he secured an NBA contract. “They [NBA teams] are getting all the young guys, all the big free agents out of the way now,” Chalmers said at the time. “I’m just waiting my turn.”
While Chalmers’ assessment of the market may be accurate, 15-man roster spots around the NBA are drying up, so the veteran isn’t necessarily a lock to receive a guaranteed contract, even at the minimum. He has shown in the past that he’s willing to roll the dice on the right opportunity though — when Chalmers signed with Memphis last July, his contract only featured a partial guarantee of $25K. He earned his full guarantee by making the team’s regular season roster in October.
The Pelicans are in discussions with free agent center Jahlil Okafor on a possible deal that would see him come to training camp with the club, according to Scott Kushner of The Advocate (Twitter link). New Orleans has used its mid-level and bi-annual exceptions, but could offer Okafor a minimum-salary contract.
Okafor, drafted by the Sixers with the third overall pick in 2015, averaged 17.5 PPG and 7.0 RPG during his rookie season, but has seen his playing time and production decline since then. After being traded to Brooklyn this past season, he posted 6.4 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 26 contests (12.6 MPG) with the Nets.
While Okafor hasn’t generated a ton of interest this offseason, he reportedly worked out for four teams in Las Vegas in July. At the time, the 22-year-old was said to be “hopeful” about finding an NBA deal before training camps opened in September. The former lottery pick has also allegedly received interest from teams in China.
Okafor would be an interesting addition for a Pelicans roster that is short on traditional centers. With Nikola Mirotic and Julius Randle expected to serve as New Orleans’ primary power forwards, Anthony Davis figures to see plenty of time at the five, even if it’s not necessarily his natural position.
Emeka Okafor, Alexis Ajinca, and Cheick Diallo are also options at center for the Pelicans, but Okafor’s salary is still non-guaranteed, Ajinca missed the entire 2017/18 season with a knee injury, and Diallo has played primarily at the four since arriving in New Orleans.
- While Anthony Davis figures to remain friendly with DeMarcus Cousins off the court, Davis is looking forward to trying to beat his former Pelicans teammate on the court, as he tells Angel Diaz of Complex Sports. “I wish the best of luck to him and we’ll see him three – maybe four – times this year, and try to beat him,” Davis said of Cousins. “Now he’s the enemy. Anybody who’s not on the Pelicans is an enemy to me. He went from a teammate to an enemy.”