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Anthony Morrow To Opt Out

June 19th, 2014 at 7:40pm CST by Ryan Raroque

The Pelicans confirmed today that Anthony Morrow will opt out of his contract on July 1st and is set to enter unrestricted free agency this summer, reports John Reid of NOLA.com. The 6’5 shooting guard earned a little over $1MM in 2013/14 and had a player option worth about $1.1MM for 2014/15. We heard in late May that Morrow was expected to decline his player option; however, he was reportedly still undecided earlier this month.

The two sides have mutual interest in negotiating a new contract, but just how much the Pelicans are willing to offer to keep Morrow remains to be seen. Reid notes that the Pelicans are entering the summer with at least $7MM in cap space and are aggressively looking to improve their roster.

This past season, Morrow posted 8.4 PPG in 18.8 MPG, playing in 76 games and making nine starts. The 28-year-old guard shot 45.8% from the field and 45.1% from long distance, making him the league’s fourth-best three point shooter in 2014/15. With that type of shooting performance, plenty of teams could come calling for Morrow this summer; Reid opines that Morrow could garner an offer that exceeds $3MM annually for up to three seasons.

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Anthony Morrow Still Mulling Player Option

June 4th, 2014 at 9:40pm CST by Chuck Myron

9:40pm: While Reid doesn’t foresee Morrow agreeing to the minimum salary, he does believe that the free agent will give the Pelicans the first shot at signing him. (Twitter link)

JUNE 4TH 4:05pm: Morrow has yet to decide what to do about his player option, as his agent, Wallace Prather, tells John Reid of The Times Picayune. The Pelicans likely would attempt to retain Morrow with a more lucrative deal than his existing minimum-salary arrangement, Reid writes.

”We haven’t specifically sat down and discussed it with (Pelicans GM) Dell Demps yet, so we don’t have anything to say about it right now,” Prather said.

MAY 29TH: Sharpshooter Anthony Morrow will turn down his player option with the Pelicans and become a free agent this summer, a source tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype. The 28-year-old was set to earn nearly $1.146MM next season, but a bounce-back year behind the arc apparently has him confident he can earn more.

The six-year veteran hit 45.1% of his three-point looks this past season, more in line with the 44.7% accuracy from behind the arc that he displayed over his first three seasons. He only hit 37.1% of his long-range attempts in 2011/12 and 2012/13, leading the Perennial Sports & Entertainment client to sign two-year a minimum-salary contract with New Orleans last summer. The deal included clauses that would have made part of his salary non-guaranteed if he missed time because of back and hip injuries, but he played in a career-high 76 games this past season.

The Pelicans have about $54MM in commitments for next season, so Morrow’s decision preserves the team’s full flexibility beneath a projected $63.2MM salary cap. They can attempt to re-sign him using Non-Bird rights that would allow for a starting salary worth 120% of what he made this past season. I’d be surprised if Morrow doesn’t have his eyes on a larger raise than that, one which would force New Orleans to use cap space or another exception.

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Pelicans GM On Jackson, Smith, Morrow

April 18th, 2014 at 9:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans endured a nightmare season, losing Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson and a host of others for significant time because of injury. They finished 34-48, far outside the playoff race but with little chance of moving up in the lottery to keep their first-round pick from going to the Sixers. GM Dell Demps said this week that he likes the team’s core and wants to see more of it at full health. He had plenty more to say in his season-ending press conference, and John Reid of The Times Picayune transcribes his remarks. His entire piece is worth a look, especially for Pelicans fans, but we’ll pass along Demps’ most relevant quotes here:

On Jason Smith, an unrestricted free agent this summer:

”It hurt when we lost Jason [to a knee injury]. But obviously we want to continue getting better. [We] like what he brings to the core, like his ability to shoot, his energy and he’s a good guy in the locker room. [But] you also look at how you improve your roster. We’ll look at that, but we can do both.”

On Pierre Jackson:

”He’s an interesting one. He played really good in the D-League. I think he was the leading scorer. We’ve followed him and been in contact with him. When we made the trade last year, we knew we were giving up our draft pick and we kind of looked at him as our draft pick for this year. So we have his draft rights and he’s going to be experienced, a little bit older. Can I promise Pierre Jackson is going to be on our team next year? I can’t say that right now. But he’s definitely an asset. I want to make sure I say that. He’s done everything and exceeded expectations.”

On whether Anthony Morrow will exercise his roughly $1.15MM player option for 2014/15:

”You’ll have to talk to Anthony about that. Obviously, Anthony has a player option at the end of this season. I think he had a very good year for us. I think he’s helped us win some games. We like Anthony and there are some things we can’t talk about right now because of certain rules. But we do love Anthony.”

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Pelicans Shop Morrow, Bobcats Interested

February 19th, 2014 at 4:44pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:44pm: Morrow is the most likely trade candidate among the Pelicans guards rumored to be on the block, Deveney tweets.

WEDNESDAY, 2:07pm: The Bobcats are eyeing Morrow, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, who seconds an earlier report that Charlotte is also in on Arron Afflalo. Deveney adds that Morrow is expected to opt out of his deal this summer.

TUESDAY, 8:56am: The Pelicans are looking to unload Anthony Morrow for a draft pick, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). New Orleans has been busy in trade chatter of the last week or two, as reports have indicated the team is looking for upgrades and wants to find a big man, while Eric Gordon, Austin Rivers and Pierre Jackson appear to be the block.

Morrow is on the fringe of the Pelicans’ rotation, averaging 15.6 minutes per game, but the career 42.9% three-point shooter is exceeding even that impressive mark this season, knocking down 48% of his long-range attempts. He signed a two-year minimum-salary deal this past summer that includes a player option for next season.

Pelicans coach Monty Williams insists the team isn’t looking to trade either Gordon or Tyreke Evans, as he told reporters yesterday. John Reid of The Times Picayune shares Williams’ remarks.

”I don’t know where all that stuff comes from man,’’ Williams said. ”It’s silly to me to put guys names out there like that. I don’t know how to answer that. I’m focused on tomorrow’s practice. As far as I know, those guys are going to be here. All the trade stuff, I guess there is nothing else to talk about. It’s not something we put a lot of stock into as coaches.’’

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New Contracts With Player Options

August 18th, 2013 at 11:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Player options are by far the most common type of option in contracts handed out to NBA veterans. Every rookie-scale contract contains a pair of team options, but the collective bargaining agreement requires that those options be part of the deal. When teams and players can freely negotiate the terms of their contracts, clubs almost always eschew team options in favor of non-guaranteed seasons.

When players hold leverage, they sometimes have an alternative to player options, too. Five-year deals may contain an early-termination option, which functions slightly differently from a player option. Perhaps the primary incentive for a player to obtain an ETO rather than a player option is tied to trade kickers. The money in the ETO season of a contract is counted toward the bonus a player may be paid if he’s traded, while the salary in a player option year is not.

Chris Paul is the lone player to have received an ETO so far this summer. Details on Nikola Pekovic‘s five-year contract are still emerging, so perhaps he’ll have one, too. Paul and Pekovic are the only players to sign five-year contracts this year, so no one else is eligible for an ETO.

By contrast, 23 of this summer’s deals include a player option, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few more, as a team’s willingness to include a player option can enhance even a minimum-salary offer. It’s a tool that teams may use to woo unsigned veterans with credible track records who are reluctant to settle for the minimum. For instance, Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors recently speculated that Antawn Jamison could wind up with a two-year minimum-salary deal with a player option in the second season.

It’s clear that some front offices embrace player options more readily than others. The Bobcats, Nets and Timberwolves have each handed out three contracts with player options, while the Rockets, Knicks and Clippers gave out two new deals with player options. That leaves 16 teams that didn’t sign anyone to a deal with a player option.

Here’s the complete list of this summer’s contracts that include player options, along with the amount of the option and the season it’s for:

*—The money in Morrow’s player option is only 50% guaranteed, according to ShamSports. It’s fully guaranteed as long as any of a specific set of injuries doesn’t cause him to miss 30 or more games this season or, providing Morrow opts in, 15 of the first 30 games in 2014/15.

ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.

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Odds & Ends: Pacers, Billups, Mavs, Reinsdorf

July 27th, 2013 at 10:53pm CST by Spencer Lund

The Mavs have had a busy offseason, since there was so much turnaround after loading up on expiring contracts last season with a chance to nab Dwight Howard or Josh Smith in free agency this summer. Since they failed to land any of the upper-tier free agents, they decided to surround 35-year-old Dirk Nowitzki with mid-tier acquisitions in an attempt to get Dirk a second title, but without spending their way out of contending for the free agents next summer when Dirk, Shawn Marion and others have their contract's expire.

Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram listed all the Mavericks from last season who will be playing on different rosters next season (Twitter): O.J. Mayo is on the Bucks, Elton Brand and Jared Cunningham joined the Hawks, Darren Collison signed with the Clippers, Chris Kaman joined the Lakers after they failed to re-sign Howard, and Anthony Morrow joined an improved Pelicans team. Two former Mavs are still unsigned, though, as Price tweets: Rodrigue Beaubois and Mike James. 

Here are a few more tidbits as the NBA comes up on the end of the free agency period…

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Anthony Morrow Signs With Pelicans

July 18th, 2013 at 5:27pm CST by Michael Pina

JULY 18TH: The Pelicans officially announced Morrow's signing in a press release.

JULY 9TH: Free agent guard Anthony Morrow is close to agreeing in principle on a contract with the Pelicans, according to a tweet from RealGM's Shams Charania. According to Yahoo! NBA reporter Marc J. Spears, the deal will be for two years at the league minimum, with a player option on year two.

A career 42.4% shooter from behind the arc, Morrow spent the first half of last season with the Hawks before being traded to the Mavericks. He found himself out of the rotation in both destinations, playing only a combined 383 minutes last year.

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Odds & Ends: Bell, Billups, Datome, Grizzlies

July 8th, 2013 at 10:32pm CST by Zachary Links

Knicks coach Mike Woodson is trying to convince Chauncey Billups to rejoin the club, sources tell Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (on Twitter).  However, the veteran is unlikely to accept a minimum deal.  The Knicks saw another one-guard target come off the board tonight when the Pistons agreed to a deal with Will Bynum.  Here's tonight's look around the Association..

  • Raja Bell worked out for the Knicks today and stood out to the point where he could receive consideration for a roster spot, a league source told Shams Charania of RealGM.  Bell, who sat out all of last year, shot well and outplayed New York’s incoming rookies in one-on-one drills.
  • Although an overseas report over the weekend suggested that the Grizzlies had made Italian forward Gigi Datome a contract offer, Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal says the two sides aren't close to a deal. Datome doesn't seem inclined to accept a one-year offer with his potential playing time in question, according to Tillery, who adds that he expects the Grizz to sign someone like Anthony Morrow (Twitter links).
  • After checking in with the T'Wolves, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter) gets the sense that Metta World Peace isn't a fit in Minnesota.  There's one caveat, however – Rick Adelman has yet to chime in and could conceivably fight for him.  But right now, there's no interest there.
  • The representatives for free agent center Jason Collins have only had preliminary discussions with teams, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).  It's still early for the reserve center market and Collins probably has to wait for the bigger fish to sign before he can.
  • C.J. Leslie's deal with the Knicks will be partially guaranteed until January 7th, even if he is cut or waived before that date and will be fully guaranteed after that date, tweets Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com.  New York signed the N.C. State product as an undrafted free agent.  He was widely regarded as a mid-second round talent prior to draft night.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

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Odds & Ends: Morrow, Ellis, Rivers, Collison

July 7th, 2013 at 9:20pm CST by Zachary Links

Here's tonight's look around the Association..

  • The Grizzlies, Warriors, and Bobcats are the latest teams to show interest in Anthony Morrow, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.  The Lakers, Spurs, Suns, Rockets, and Knicks have all reached out as well.
  • Nothing is imminent at this point between the Hawks and Monta Ellis, but the two sides are engaged in talks, Kennedy tweets.
  • Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck took a shot at former coach Doc Rivers, telling Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald that "Doc left us, period." Still, Grousbeck is confident his team can rebuild, as Bulpett observes in a separate piece.
  • Many around the league are surprised that the Clippers were able to snag Darren Collison for a starting salary of just $1.9MM, Grantland's Zach Lowe tweets.
  • The Spurs called 6'8" sharpshooter James Southerland to see if he would consider playing overseas next season if they took him with the 58th pick in last month's draft. Southerland turned down the offer and went undrafted, and is trying to prove himself with the Sixers and Warriors in summer league, as Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
  • Josh Smith's agreement with the Pistons shatters the notion that marquee free agents won't come to Detroit, observes MLive's David Mayo, who examines how Smith fits on the team and what moves might be next for Joe Dumars and company.
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Odds & Ends: Blazers, Iguodala, Knicks, Morrow

July 4th, 2013 at 4:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Now that the Trail Blazers have struck a deal to acquire a big man (Robin Lopez), the team figures to move on to address other needs. As Jason Quick of the Oregonian tweets, Portland's focus could shift to a wing player next, with Francisco Garcia, Matt Barnes, and Corey Brewer representing possible targets.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the Association:

  • Andre Iguodala will likely make a decision on a team early next week, according to Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter).
  • The Knicks are likely out of the running for Matt Barnes and Nate Robinson now that the team no longer has its full mini mid-level exception, tweets Zwerling.
  • Before they agreed to sign C.J. Watson, the Pacers expressed interest in Robinson, says Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Twitter).
  • Kennedy also tweets that free agent shooter Anthony Morrow has been in contact with the Lakers, Spurs, Suns, Rockets, and Knicks.
  • A source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link) that the Mavericks weren't willing to commit $8MM a year to J.R. Smith, let alone $10MM. The market for Smith was fairly modest, according to Berman.
  • Jared Dudley wasn't looking to be traded out of Phoenix, and is open to returning to the Suns at some point down the road. But as he tells Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, if the Suns were going to move him, Dudley couldn't have asked for a much better fit than the Clippers.
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