New Orleans Pelicans: A Brief Look At The Cap Sheet

The summer is a strange time for an NBA fan. After coming off of the euphoric high of the postseason — more specifically The Finals — fans are still able to get their NBA cravings satisfied by way of the draft and then the joy ride that is free agency; a land where banana boats and emoji fights on Twitter reign supreme.

It is a must to walk around your living area with a charging cable in hand due to the amount of time you will check Twitter. My girlfriend would never admit this, but I think our relationship was almost compromised because of this practice. My head was constantly buried in my little iPhone 5.

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But once the first week of July comes and goes, things go dormant. Fast. Fans are left in what I like to refer to as a “daze.” I find that this is the time when fans take part in never-ending, potentially eye-gouging arguments pertaining to who is in fact the GOAT. Usually these arguments go on for days (pun intended) and continue to take you in a series of circles.

The answer to that question is and always will be: nobody knows. It is a subjective question, and with subjective questions come subjective answers. And I for one think that that fact needs to be embraced more. Comparing eras is not an apples-to-apples process.

Let’s just embrace and enjoy each generational superstar as their own and not pin them up to the standard that their predecessors set before them. Because before you know it, their career will be over, and instead of relishing in their bionic display of excellence, you sat their critiquing their “legacy.”

Two hundred words in and I already seem to have taken this post off the rails. Feel free to take a few seconds to recover from that tangent. Here is a YouTube video of Anthony Davis highlights to boost your recovery.

Back to the summer being a dead period for NBA fans. While the casual fan chooses to spend their summer months in the “daze” and combatting wits with their peers, I elected to transcribe the salary cap sheets of nearly every team on my Macbook (I used the program Numbers instead of Excel because I refuse to dish out $100 for Microsoft Office).

Here is what the New Orleans Pelicans cap sheet looks like through the 2019-20 season. All salaries are provided by basketballinsiders.com.

Some things to keep in mind in regards to the cap sheet moving forward:

Eric Gordon accepted his player option after some initial hesitation, netting him a cool $15.5 million and some change. Not a bad decision. That $15.5 expiring deal is potentially a nice, movable asset come February if the Pelicans want to shake things up. The ironic thing is that after being described as the “worst contract in the NBA” for the past couple of years, the cap increase and thirst for shooting around the league makes that $15 million mark probably what Gordon will receive per season when he hits the market next summer.
Along those lines, Ryan Anderson could be a sneaky trade chip given his modest salary, the crowded front court landscape within the roster and aforementioned thirst for shooting/spacing across the league.
Dell Demps chose to use his mid-level exception by bringing back Dante Cunningham, and then signing Alonzo Gee, Bryce Dejean-Jones and Corey Webster. I respect the idea of throwing darts out there and seeing if one or two stick, but you have to think that maybe there was a better way to make use of that ultra valuable exception. Brandan Wright perhaps?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Quincy Pondexter is a bargain!
Alexis Ajinca will also be quite a bargain once he gets free reign to play 20-25 minutes a night. This will probably require Anderson to either be traded or get injured.
This is the last season that the Pelicans will be allowed to grossly underpay Davis for his services.
Check that, Davis will still be grossly underpaid for his services in the future.
I still have trouble evaluating the much maligned Omer Asik contract. On one hand, he is a useful player to have to pair with Davis. He gives you the Andrew Bogut factor that Golden State needed last year to get by Memphis and their two behemoths. BUT, are we sure he is actually worth that kind of dough? Can he do anything else well other than rebound the hell out of the rock? I am interested to watch how that contract ages.
After a summer-long staredown with the front office, Norris Cole signed his qualifying offer and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. I believe that is a win for both parties.
Shield your eyes, we have a Kendrick Perkins sighting!!! Line drive jump hooks, hard fouls and mean scowls will soon be coming to a city near you!
Lastly, the big elephant in the room is that New Orleans is going to have some money to play with next summer. I have read speculation that they are all of the sudden going to be major players in the Durant extravaganza, but I’m not sure if I buy into that hype. I wouldn’t be surprised if they obtain a meeting because who wouldn’t want to play with Davis at this point. I just don’t envision Durant going anywhere else besides Washington, Golden State (good God) or Miami if he were to leave OKC. I am sorry to be a buzzkill Pelicans nation.
However, they still are projected to have around $25 million in cap space that they can use to resign their own guys (Gordon and Anderson) or chase other free agents not named Kevin Durant. Players such as Chandler Parsons (it’s possible) and Demar DeRozan (more likely) may opt out of their respective deals. Nicolas Batum could be a GREAT fit as a Swiss army knife that plugs some of the holes within the starting lineup.
Next summer figures to be a swing summer for the franchise. They could be right on the cusp of making THE LEAP if they make the correct moves. This upcoming season will have a lot with what the front office does next summer.

I apologize if I have bored you with my nerd salary cap sheet talk. I’ll leave you with another video, as well as my condolences.

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