New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Rockets Pursuing Hawks’ Kent Bazemore?

July 30th, 2018 at 8:51pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Rockets are interested in dealing for the Hawks’ Kent Bazemore, according to Kelly Iko of RocketsWire.

While the addition of Carmelo Anthony after he clears waivers seems like a foregone conclusion, the Rockets are in the market for a defensive-minded wing. Bazemore fits that bill but Houston would have come up with a package that would interest the Hawks.

Presumably, the Rockets would deal Ryan Anderson’s contract to make the numbers match up, but they’d have to attach a draft pick and/or young player to entice Atlanta’s front office. Anderson has two years and $41.7MM left on his deal with no options; Bazemore has two years and $37.3MM left on his contract but holds a player option for the final year.

A package of Anderson, Chinanu Onuaku and a 2019 first-rounder would be feasible financially but Atlanta doesn’t view Onuaku as a ‘move-the-needle’ player, according to Iko.

Bazemore averaged 12.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.5 APG and 1.5 SPG in 65 starts with Atlanta last season.

The Pelicans are also looking at Bazemore, according to Iko, but Atlanta doesn’t want Solomon Hill as part of the deal.

Anthony Davis Didn't Ask Pelicans To Keep DeMarcus Cousins

July 28th, 2018 at 8:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

Pelicans star Anthony Davis chose not to appeal to GM Dell Demps to keep free agent DeMarcus Cousins, tweets Andrew Doak of WWL-TV in New Orleans. An endorsement from Davis would have carried some weight, but he liked the way the team played — and the locker room atmosphere — better without Cousins, Doak adds.

Pelicans Sign Troy Williams

July 27th, 2018 at 10:07am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 27: The Pelicans have officially signed Williams, the team announced today in a press release.

JULY 25: Troy Williams has reached an agreement to sign with the Pelicans, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports.

Williams will get a two-year deal with a team option for the second season, according to Will Guillory of The Times-Picayune (Twitter link). He will have a small guarantee but no promise of a roster spot, adds Scott Kushner of The Advocate (Twitter link). It will be a minimum-salary contract, as New Orleans has used all its cap room and available exceptions.

New Orleans will be the fourth franchise for the third-year forward, who divided last season between the Rockets and Knicks. He showed promise in 17 games for New York, averaging 7.5 PPG and 3.5 RPG in 17 minutes per night, but the Knicks opted not to re-sign him.

Williams went undrafted out of Indiana in 2016 before signing with the Grizzlies. He was a part-time starter in Memphis, but was waived after 24 games. He spent brief parts of two seasons with the Rockets before landing in New York.

The addition of Williams, along with this week’s signings of Kenrich Williams and Garlon Green, brings New Orleans’ roster to 18 players, with 12 guaranteed NBA contracts.

Southwest Rumors: Davis, Jordan, Conley, Hartenstein

July 26th, 2018 at 8:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Anthony Davis learned that DeMarcus Cousins was joining the Warriors while watching TV and didn’t see it coming, Scott Kushner of the Baton Rouge Advocate relays. Davis’ comments were made during a CBS-TV interview.

The Pelicans‘ superstar big man understood why Cousins decided to take a one-year deal with Golden State after entering free agency with hopes of a max contract offer.

“I was a little shocked. But I know DeMarcus, and I know he made the best decision for him and his career at that time and for his family,” Davis said. “Of course, I definitely would’ve loved for that to keep going. But at that point, I wasn’t sure what was going on with his situation or what was going through his head. It’s a lot, coming from being traded and then feeling like you deserve a max contract, and then you tear your Achilles. It was a tough situation; it’s tough on him.”

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Mavericks center DeAndre Jordan isn’t expected to show up at the USA Basketball minicamp this week, Dwain Price of Mavs.com tweets. Jordan wasn’t at the camp on Thursday and is likely to remain absent on Friday, Price adds.
Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley is participating at the minicamp but will not compete in full scrimmages or contact drills, Michael Wallace of the Grizzlies’ website reports. Conley said his foot and heel are pain-free for the first time in two years after undergoing season-ending surgery in January.
Isaiah Hartenstein‘s three-year contract with the Rockets is fully guaranteed next season, has a partial guarantee the second year, and a non-guaranteed third year, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets. The 7-footer, a 2017 second-round selection, signed the contract on Wednesday after playing in the G League last season. He posted averages of 10.3 PPG, 8.0 RPG, and 2.3 BPG in four summer league games with Houston earlier this month.
Dirk Nowitzki‘s one-year contract with the Mavericks does not contain a no-trade clause because he has automatic veto rights over any trade as a One-Year Bird, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Nowitzki signed the $5MM deal this week.

Pelicans Sign Kenrich Williams

July 24th, 2018 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have signed undrafted free agent Kenrich Williams to a contract, a source confirms to Hoops Rumors. The deal, which features a partial guarantee for 2018/19, is listed in the NBA’s official transactions log as having been completed on Monday.

Williams, who played college ball at TCU after transferring from New Mexico Junior College in 2014, averaged 13.2 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 3.9 APG, and 1.8 SPG for the Horned Frogs in 2017/18. The 6’7″ guard/forward posted a shooting line of .477/.395/.688 during his senior year.

The No. 64 prospect on Jonathan Givony’s big board at ESPN.com heading into last month’s draft, Williams wasn’t selected on draft night, but caught on with Denver for Summer League action. He averaged 5.4 PPG and 5.6 RPG in five games in Las Vegas for the Nuggets.

As we noted when we discussed Garlon Green‘s agreement with the Pelicans on Monday, New Orleans doesn’t yet have a G League team. That means the Pelicans are unlikely to hand out Exhibit 10 contracts, which generally award a player a bonus if he spends 60 days with the club’s NBAGL affiliate after being waived. Neither Green’s nor Williams’ deal features that Exhibit 10 clause.

Rondo's Leadership Will Be Hard To Replace

July 23rd, 2018 at 6:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Rajon Rondo‘s leadership will likely be missed more by the Pelicans than his on-court contributions, according to Scott Kushner of the New Orleans Advocate. The Pelicans believe they can replace Rondo, who signed with the Lakers, at the point with a combination of Elfrid Payton, Jrue Holiday, Ian Clark and Frank Jackson. But Rondo’s innate ability to understand nuances of the game and translate them to teammates, his professionalism in film study and his role in team bonding experiences will be hard to replace, Kushner adds.

Pelicans Sign Garlon Green

July 23rd, 2018 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have signed forward Garlon Green to a multiyear contract, tweets Keith Smith of RealGM.com. According to Smith (via Twitter), Green’s deal will include a partial guarantee for 2018/19, with trigger dates in future seasons.

Green, who went undrafted out of TCU in 2013, has played with teams in Australia, Germany, Belgium, and Japan since beginning his professional career. Earlier this month, he participated in the Las Vegas Summer League with the Pelicans. In five games with New Orleans’ squad, he averaged 9.2 PPG on 63.0% shooting.

While it remains to be seen whether Green will be able to play his way onto the Pelicans’ regular-season roster, his showing in Summer League action appears to have impressed team management. New Orleans isn’t expected to have a G League team in 2018/19, so the Pelicans won’t be able to designate him as an affiliate player in the fall if he’s waived.

Green is the younger brother of Rockets swingman Gerald Green.

FA Rumors: Ferrell, Goodwin, Muhammad

July 20th, 2018 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

After having seemingly reached a two-year contract agreement with the Mavericks, Yogi Ferrell elected this morning to re-enter free agency. However, he doesn’t intend to drag out the process. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Ferrell plans to make a decision within the next day or so.

Ferrell has received some interest from a handful of teams, including the Cavaliers and Pelicans, Charania reports, though a source tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that Cleveland’s interest came early in free agency. The Cavs haven’t had contact with Ferrell’s agent during the last couple weeks, says MacMahon.

As for New Orleans, the Pelicans used their full mid-level exception on Julius Randle and spent most of their bi-annual exception on Elfrid Payton. As such, the club couldn’t offer Ferrell more than the minimum. An offer that modest seems unlikely to win out, though it’s worth noting that a fully guaranteed two-year minimum contract would feature more guaranteed money than the Mavs’ offer did.

As we wait to see where Ferrell lands, here are a few more notes and rumors on free agents:

Multiple NBA teams have expressed interest in former first-round pick Archie Goodwin, tweets Michael Scotto of The Athletic. However, Goodwin is seriously considering a lucrative contract offer from a Chinese team and is expected to head overseas unless an NBA team offers him a fully guaranteed salary for 2018/19, per Scotto.
In a conversation with Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype, free agent wing Shabazz Muhammad – another former first-round pick – says he’s in the best shape of his life. Muhammed, who remains on the lookout for a new NBA home, is also trying to improve his outside shooting, telling Kalbrosky that he’s shooting hundreds of corner threes every day.
Veteran NBA point guard Tyler Ennis, who was waived by the Lakers in June, has signed a two-year deal with Fenerbahce Istanbul, according to the EuroLeague’s official site. Before heading to Europe, Ennis appeared in 186 NBA games over the last four seasons, spending time with the Suns, Bucks, Rockets, and Lakers.

Pelicans Sign Trevon Bluiett To Two-Way Contract

July 17th, 2018 at 2:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 17: Bluiett officially signed his two-way contract today, according to a photo published on his Twitter account.

JULY 12: Trevon Bluiett has turned an impressive summer league performance into a two-way deal with New Orleans, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. Bluiett’s agent, Cervando Tejeda, confirmed the agreement to Charania.

Bluiett went undrafted out of Xavier after averaging 19.3 PPG during his senior season. He joined the Pelicans‘ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League and made an immediate impact, scoring 50 points in the team’s first two games while hitting 12 of 18 on 3-pointers. He was averaging 21.0 points per game heading into today’s contest.

The Pelicans will still have a two-way spot open once the deal with Bluiett is finalized. You can keep up with all the latest two-way deals in our 2018/19 NBA Two-Way Contract Tracker.

Pels Hope New Additions Help Them Maintain Fast Pace

July 15th, 2018 at 9:03pm CST by Austin Kent

The Pelicans added a pair of young building blocks in Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton this summer and the new personnel could lead to an even faster pace of play, William Guillory of The Times-Picayune writes.

The addition of two athletic young players – Randle is still just 23 years old while Payton is 24 – will serve the Pelicans well. Guillory writes that New Orleans led the league in pace after DeMarcus Cousins went down with an Achilles injury in January.

“We want to play fast, we want to defend, we want to get out in transition,” Pelicans general manager Dell Demps said. “The other thing is these two guys are very unselfish players, which would fit great with our group.”