New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans Sign Rajon Rondo

July 19th, 2017 at 6:21pm CST by marksuleymanov

JULY 19: Rondo’s one-year deal with the Pelicans will be for $3.3MM, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). The signing is now official.

JULY 15: The Pelicans have agreed to a one-year deal with veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Charania’s report adds that the four-time All-Star met with the Pelicans twice (Thursday and Saturday) before reaching an agreement with New Orleans.

After he was waived by the Bulls last month, Rondo drew interest from several teams including the Lakers and Knicks. A late-season surge — that was cut short by an injury in the playoffs — helped Rondo rebuild some of the value he lost in the beginning of last season.

Rondo, 31, spent last season in Chicago where he posted totals of 7.8 PPG, 6.7 APG, and 5.1 RPG in 69 games (42 starts). However, Rondo’s tumultuous stint in Chicago included losing his starting role, a social media feud with former teammates Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, and a seemingly abrupt parting of ways. Rondo originally signed a two-year, $28MM deal with the Bulls but the second year was only partially guaranteed. The Bulls saved $10MM by severing ties with Rondo.

In joining New Orleans, Rondo reunites with DeMarcus Cousins, the Pelicans’ prized acquisition from last season, with whom he teamed in Sacramento during the 2015/16 campaign. In a Christmas Day feature in 2015, James Jones of the Sacramento Bee detailed how strong the bond between the veteran Rondo and emotional-yet-talented center Cousins developed.

“He’s a misunderstood kid,” Rondo said. “I think that’s why I gravitate toward him so much. I love what he’s doing.”

Trading Tim Frazier to the Wizards for a second-round pick left a vacancy that Rondo now fills. It’s likely that Rondo will mostly reprise his role as a reserve for the Pelicans in 2017/18. The team agreed to a five-year, $126MM deal with Jrue Holiday to be the team’s long-term point guard.

Rondo, a former NBA champion with the 2008 Celtics, will give Holiday opportunities to play off the ball and form a potent triumvirate with Cousins and Anthony Davis. Rondo holds the reputation of one of the NBA’s best passers and gives New Orleans strong depth in case of an injury.

Terms of the deal aren’t yet known, but the Pelicans still have most of their mid-level exception available.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pelicans Plan To Start Both Holiday And Rondo

July 19th, 2017 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Having reached an agreement to sign Rajon Rondo after signing Jrue Holiday to a lucrative new contract earlier in the month, the Pelicans envision the two guards playing side by side. As William Guillory of The Times-Picayune details, New Orleans head coach Alvin Gentry said during a radio appearance this week that his plan for now is to start Rondo at point guard with Holiday at the two. Rondo’s deal with the Pelicans is expected to be finalized soon.

Celtics Expected To Push For Davis If Pelicans' Season Goes South

July 18th, 2017 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Within the Vertical piece linked above, Chris Mannix notes that it’s “widely believed” the Celtics will make a run at Anthony Davis if the Pelicans‘ season goes south. New Orleans has been vehemently opposed to considering Davis deals, and while it’s possible that will change if the team struggles this season, DeMarcus Cousins would almost certainly land on the trading block first.

Loomis Expects To Win Now

July 17th, 2017 at 7:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pelicans executive VP of basketball operations Mickey Loomis says the team is “due” for success and Rajon Rondo will provide veteran leadership, as he told New Orleans Times-Picayune columnists Jeff Duncan and Larry Holder during a radio interview. Loomis affirmed that the team was at a crossroads in terms of its development after trading for DeMarcus Cousins last season, retaining free agent point guard Jrue Holiday and reaching an agreement with Rondo. “I think we’re due and it’s time to have some success,” he said in the interview. “I think we’re all expecting that.” Though Rondo has yet to officially signed with New Orleans, Loomis said Rondo’s experience made him a good fit. “We’re talking about a veteran player that has some leadership qualities that’s been on winning teams, that understands how to win in the NBA,” Loomis said.

Pacific Notes: Rondo, Clark, Caldwell-Pope, Perry

July 16th, 2017 at 12:08pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers will have to find another option at point guard now that Rajon Rondo has signed with the Pelicans, writes Mark Medina of The Orange County Register. L.A. had talked to Rondo about serving as a mentor to a young roster and especially to rookie Lonzo Ball. Attention may now turn to re-signing 22-year-old Tyler Ennis, who was obtained from Houston in a February trade. Ennis averaged 7.7 points and shot 45% from the field in 22 games with the Lakers.

Other options include Rodney Stuckey and Ian Clark, although L.A. has only the $4.3MM room exception to offer apart from veterans minimum deals. The Lakers currently have 12 players under contract for the upcoming season, along with Alex Caruso signed to a two-way deal.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

After struggling to make a roster in the early part of his NBA career, Clark is in position for a big payday, writes Joe Rexrode of The USA Today Network. The Lakers and Bucks are among the teams that have expressed interest in the free agent shooting guard, whose chance to return to the Warriors likely ended when Golden State signed Nick Young. “I can’t worry about this, I just have to let it fall into place,” Clark said. “At some point you stop worrying about surviving in this league and get determined to make your mark in it.”
The one-year, $18MM deal that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope signed with the Lakers includes a 15% trade kicker and a 50% advance, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN.com.
Marcelo Huertas, who spent parts of the past two seasons with the Lakers, has signed with EuroCup champions Unicaja Malaga in Spain, tweets international basketball writer David Pick.
Scott Perry had a strong influence on the Kings during his three months as vice president of basketball operations, according to Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee. Perry left this week to become GM of the Knicks, with Sacramento receiving a 2019 second-round pick and cash considerations in return. During Perry’s time with the Kings, Voison says he pushed for the free agency additions of veterans Zach Randolph, Vince Carter and George Hill and was a “strong advocate” for drafting De’Aaron Fox with the No. 5 pick. “This is a great opportunity for Scott professionally,” said GM Vlade Divac, “and it gets him back east, closer to his daughter. I was not going to stop him. The only thing I feel bad about is that we had everything in place in our front office. Our front office is strong. Now I have to find someone who can come in and do the things Scott did for us.”
The injury that forced Kings center Georgios Papagiannis to leave Friday’s summer league game has been diagnosed as just a bruise, according to a post on the team’s website.

Southwest Notes: Anthony, Simmons, Mavericks, Rondo

July 16th, 2017 at 9:07am CST by Arthur Hill

Houston continues to be the preferred destination for Carmelo Anthony, but former Rockets coach and ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy doesn’t see the high-scoring forward as a “natural fit” for the team, relays Marc Berman of The New York Post. Van Gundy, who still lives in Houston, believes the Rockets need to focus on defense in any future transactions. “I think they have a lot on their plate integrating [Chris] Paul and [James] Harden,” Van Gundy said. “They’re not going to be better offensively than they were last year. They were the second-best team in the league offensively. I thought they had defined roles everyone knew.”

Efforts to work out a four-team trade that would send Anthony to Houston are currently on hold as new Knicks GM Scott Perry hopes for a face-to-face meeting with his star player before proceeding. New York officials would like Anthony, who can block any deal with a no-trade clause, to expand the list of teams he is willing to join, which reportedly now just includes the Rockets and Cavaliers.

There’s more this morning from the Southwest Division:

The Spurs never made a serious attempt to keep Jonathon Simmons, tweets Casey Keirnan of News 4 San Antonio. Simmons agreed to a three-year, $20MM deal with the Magic on Friday after the Spurs pulled his qualifying offer and made him an unrestricted free agent. Despite reports that San Antonio was trying to retain Simmons, the team never made him an offer apart from the QO, sources tell Keirnan.
The Mavericks are taking an international approach to rebuilding their roster, notes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. This week’s signing of German star Maxi Kleber could give them as many as seven international players at training camp. Joining roster holdovers Dirk Nowitzki, J.J. Barea, Dwight Powell and Salah Mejri will be Kleber, Nico Brussino and Ding Yanyuhang. However, Brussino’s $1,312,611 salary for next season won’t be guaranteed until Thursday, so he may be somewhere else when camp opens. “You want good players, and it doesn’t matter where you find them,” said president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson. “There are players all over the world. It’s our job to know where they are.”
After reaching an agreement Saturday with Rajon Rondo, the Pelicans plan to use him and fellow point guard Jrue Holiday as their backcourt starters, according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Rondo’s friendship with former Kings teammate DeMarcus Cousins was a factor in choosing New Orleans, Spears indicates.

Pelicans Meeting With Rajon Rondo

July 13th, 2017 at 12:09pm CST by Luke Adams

12:09pm: The Pelicans envision Rondo and Holiday being able to play alongside one another, and there’s “real traction” on a possible deal, sources tell Lowe and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

12:04pm: Free agent point guard Rajon Rondo is meeting with Pelicans officials today in Louisville, reports ESPN’s Zach Lowe. According to Lowe (via Twitter), the two sides are discussing a possible one-year deal for Rondo.

After signing Jrue Holiday to a lucrative new five-year contract, the Pelicans are in the market for a backup for Holiday, and perhaps one that could occasionally share the backcourt with him. According to Scott Kushner of The Advocate (Twitter link), Rondo is at the top of the team’s free agent point guard board, but a trade remains a possibility as well. New Orleans reportedly had discussions with the Pistons about Reggie Jackson.

Rondo, 31, had an up-and-down season in Chicago in 2016/17, averaging 7.8 PPG, 6.7 APG, and 5.1 RPG in 69 regular season games for the Bulls. He played a crucial role in leading the team to a 2-0 series lead over the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, but missed the rest of the series – and watched his team blow that 2-0 lead – due to a hand injury. The rebuilding Bulls opted not to bring Rondo back, waiving him rather than guaranteeing his $13MM salary for 2017/18.

While Rondo has been linked to a number of teams since becoming a free agent, many of his potential suitors – such as the Lakers and the Knicks – no longer have any cap room available to make a lucrative offer. Meanwhile, the Pelicans used a small portion of their mid-level exception to sign second-round pick Frank Jackson, but should still have about $7.5MM available to sign Rondo or another free agent.

Pelicans Still Seeking Shooting, Backcourt Help

July 13th, 2017 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans remain in the market for an impact guard and an outside shooter, but would likely need to shed salary to add both, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate. As Kushner notes, it will be complicated for New Orleans to accomplish all three goals.

Kyle Korver Re-Signs With Cavaliers

July 12th, 2017 at 7:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 12, 8:28pm: The signing is official, the Cavaliers announced on their website.

JULY 2, 3:09pm: Kyle Korver has agreed to a new three-year, $22MM contract with the Cavaliers, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. The final season is only partially guaranteed, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

The 36-year-old came to Cleveland in a January deal and provided a needed outside threat. He averaged 10.7 points in 35 games and shot .485 from 3-point range.

The Cavs acquired Korver’s Bird rights when they brought him over from Atlanta, which is fortunate because they don’t have any available cap room to use to re-sign him. The 14-year veteran will get a nice raise from the little more than $5.2MM he made this season.

Several other teams expressed an interest in Korver, including the Pelicans and Bucks, but he decided to remain with the Eastern Conference champions and take another shot at a ring.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pelicans May Help Facilitate Carmelo Anthony Trade

July 12th, 2017 at 6:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

Earlier today, we told you the Rockets and Knicks were looking for a fourth team to help finalize a trade involving Carmelo Anthony. The Pelicans have expressed interest in becoming that fourth team, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.

It’s not clear whether New Orleans would take on the three years and more than $61MM left on Ryan Anderson‘s contract or if he would go to another team. Anderson spent four years with the Pelicans franchise before signing with Houston last summer. The Rockets need to move his salary to make room for Anthony, while the Knicks have no need for Anderson because he plays the same position as Kristaps Porzingis and he goes against their new philosophy of avoiding older players on long-term deals.

Representatives for Anthony would like to see the deal get done this week, Berman adds. Houston has scheduled a press conference for Friday to officially welcome Chris Paul, but Berman sees little chance that the trade will be complete in time for Anthony to make a surprise appearance. Multiple sources tell Berman that no deal will happen until “well after” Friday. He states that the sides are getting closer to an agreement and are still “motivated,” but much work still remains. A proposed three-team trade reportedly “stalled” over the weekend, forcing the Rockets and Knicks to start the process over.

Sources tell Berman that Knicks acting president Steve Mills is so focused on the Anthony negotiations that it has prevented the team from finding a veteran point guard. There is speculation that New York may try to fill the position through the Anthony deal.

Houston’s first attempts to acquire Anthony were unsuccessful, Berman adds, because the Knicks were restructuring their front office after former president Phil Jackson was fired. However, owner James Dolan has now signed off on moving Anthony and plans to make Mills the new team president.

Insiders tell Berman that Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni initially wasn’t on board with acquiring Anthony because of their past differences in New York. However, with Paul, James Harden and Nene all pushing for the move, D’Antoni has been left with no choice.