New Orleans Pelicans: 2016 Offseason Grades

Odds And Ends

Remember after his 2012-13 season in Cleveland when it felt like Alonzo Gee was the next 3-and-D wing on the rise in this league? Three years and three teams later, it still hasn’t happened, with Gee having to watch from afar as the Cavs made two Finals appearances while he labored to simply carve out a role for himself.

Despite averaging a paltry 4.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game on 28.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc for NOLA last year, Gee was re-signed to a one-year, $1.4 million contract — the exact same figure as the player option he turned down to become an unrestricted free agent.

Gee helps tighten up the edge of the roster and provides the 29-year-old wing with one more chance to prove himself, but New Orleans’ influx of younger players will make that difficult for him.

The Pelicans also re-signed Tim Frazier to a two-year, $4 million contract, bringing back a quality third-string point guard who can help hold down the fort in the event of another injury bug outbreak.

Last season, Frazier averaged 5.1 points and 3.2 assists in 14.5 minutes per game, shooting 41.9 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from three-point range. But in the 16 games he played for New Orleans, he put up promising numbers, averaging 13.1 points, 7.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game on .450/.419/.763 shooting splits.

At 25 years old, re-signing a player who stepped in for an injury-ravaged backcourt is a smart move.

The Pelicans also agreed to make-good training camp deals with Robert Sacre — formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers — and Chris Copeland — formerly of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Sacre averaged 4.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 14.5 minutes per game over his four years with the Lakers, while Copeland is coming off the most disappointing season of his career, averaging 2.1 points in just 6.5 minutes per game and shooting 33.3 percent from the field as a complete non-factor for the Bucks.

Finally, the Pelicans added Shawn Dawson, a 6’6″ wing from Israel who went undrafted in 2015 and has spent the last four years playing in the Israeli Basketball Premier League.

Dawson helped lead his team to the Israeli championship last season and during his time playing for the Washington Wizards’ Summer League team this offseason, he averaged 4.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the floor.

Apparently that was enough to land him a two-year, partially guaranteed contract. Frazier and Gee are decent enough additions considering their low price tags, but nothing New Orleans did here improves their playoff odds for 2016-17.

Grade: C

Next: Overall