Pelicans: Players (Contracts) Likely To Be Moved This Summer

As the New Orleans Pelicans look towards the future and building the team into a legit contender, some current players will become expendable. Below we’ll take a look at the likeliest candidates.

It would be unwise not to maximize the potential of having both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins on the roster. Therefore, the New Orleans Pelicans will undoubtedly want to make changes this offseason.

The first order of business for the Pelicans this offseason will be to figure out whether or not the team will retain head coach Alvin Gentry.

After that, the focus will turn to starting point guard Jrue Holiday.

The New Orleans Pelicans are expected to pull out all the stops and offer a near-max contract in an effort to resign Holiday.

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Once that’s (hopefully) complete, the next order of business will be to surround Davis and Cousins, along with Holiday, with established vets and players who can take the team to the next level.

But in doing so, the Pelicans will also have to move some of the players currently on the team.

In addition to Holiday, contracts for Donatas Motiejunas, Hollis Thompson and Reggie Williams are set to expire at the completion of the 2016-17 NBA season.

The remaining 11 contracts scheduled to be on the books for the 2017-18 season will account for a shade more than $89 million (assuming Dante Cunningham does not exercise his player option).

If Holiday is indeed retained, his current cap hold of close to $17 million for the 2017-18 season will come into play; which would increase the Pelicans cap number to a little more than $106 million — about $4 million above the projected NBA salary cap of $102 million.

To continue to build the roster, the Pelicans will have to open up some space and to do that players will have to be moved.

So with that on our minds, let’s take a look at a few players the New Orleans Pelicans may be inclined to move this summer.