“The Pelicans will now be $36 million under the cap, or $25 million if they retain
Josh Hart and sign him for his $10.5 million cap hold or more. That gives the Pelicans two basic outs in free agency. For one, they can re-sign
Lonzo Ball, let Hart leave, and use the leftover cap room (probably $15-20 million) to target another veteran wing player such as
Evan Fournier or
Danny Green.
However, the speculation is the Pels have the opposite plan in mind: That they want to pursue Toronto guard
Kyle Lowry in free agency, and now have the ammunition to outbid anybody if need be. (Sources also tell
The Athletic the
Dallas Mavericksand
Miami Heat will be major suitors for Lowry, with Dallas trying to clear more room to give itself a leg up).
A cynic could point out New Orleans had a means of generating almost the same amount of cap space by simply using the stretch provision on Bledsoe. Doing that and keeping Adams, who makes $3 million more than Valanciunas, and allowing for the higher cap hold for pick No. 10 versus pick No. 17, the Pelicans would have had $26 million in room for a Lowry chase. And of course, if the Pels end up keeping Ball and Hart, cap room will end up being irrelevant since they can re-sign both with Bird rights.
One interesting side note: The Pelicans now have picks No. 35, 43, 51 and 53 on Thursday, and I don’t think they’re planning on selecting four players for the roster. I’d expect them to sell or trade at least one of the picks and take a stash pick with at least one of the others.
Bigger picture, you can see the sense of rushed urgency in New Orleans. Even with two young All-Star forwards, the Pelicans disappointed the past two seasons and changed coaches twice. They seem determined to make a move forward this season, even if it hurts their ultimate chances of having a meaningful contender while Williamson and
Brandon Ingram are in their prime. This deal opens the door for lots of possibilities in 2021-22, but many of those avenues foreclose other options in the years beyond.
For Memphis, meanwhile, this signals another year of patient building. The Grizzlies get a couple more shots at finding the third leg in the triangle next to Morant and Jackson, without materially damaging their short-term interests. The main opportunity cost is using cap space, which would have likely resulted in an overpay for short-term help in this market. Instead, the Pelicans will be the ones pursuing that strategy.”
- John Hollinger
