Bird Reserves: New Orleans Pelicans Should Target Darrell Arthur
The New Orleans Pelicans have a cap status that solidified itself this week ahead of the NBA Free Agency Moratorium. Here at Pelican Debrief, we’ll be coming at you with some more subtle moves that could round out the Pelicans’ bench for the 2016-17 season. Today’s headliner is veteran forward Darrell Arthur.
It’s important first to outline what the New Orleans Pelicans face in regards to their cap situation heading into July. This week, the team made decisions on late-season acquisitions and restricted free agents Tim Frazier and James Ennis, extending a qualifying offer to the former and declining to do so for the latter. That means Frazier’s cap hold will stay on the books as free agency ramps up but Ennis’s will not.
Along with Frazier’s cap hold, the Pelicans have to deal with around $36 million dollars in holds for Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, even though both appear eager to test the market and perhaps leave New Orleans. With Alonzo Gee opting out of the second year of his deal, the Pelicans cap tie-ups end at the $6 million hold attached to Norris Cole. Teams can unburden themselves from their cap holds by renouncing a player, giving up any rights they had to go over the cap to re-sign that player.
Most teams will wait until the free agency picture has solidified to make decisions on their own players, even forfeiting official deal-inking until a few days into free agency with players they have agreed with in hopes of maximizing their financial flexibility. The Pelicans will likely do the same with almost every incumbent free agent until their targets make their decisions. Anderson and Gordon especially will likely hear pitches from at least a couple teams before making a decision, which will put the Pelicans in a bind if they have any intention of retaining either player.
The team also has guarantee decisions to make on Luke Babbitt (partially guaranteed) and Toney Douglas (unguaranteed) by July 12th. They will count against the cap until a decision is made.
Nevertheless, the team is looking at a maximum of around $26.8 million if they renounce all of their cap holds. That means they can fit any max player, and the opportunity for more, especially with the provided versatility of so few high-paid players on the roster. With all of the being said, say goodbye to your high hopes and big dreams for just a moment. I’m here to talk to you about Darrell Arthur.
After declining his player option with the Nuggets for 2016-17, he appears ready to cash in this summer, likely to make at least three times the $3.3 million option he just declined. With all apologies to Alexis Ajinca, the Pelicans still need a third big; someone capable of playing both the four and the five, agile enough to defend up and down on well-orchestrated switches, and knock down a jump shot. Oh my, would you look at that? I just named a candidate and created a checklist entirely based on what I already knew he could do!
Arthur can become at least some of what Perkins was off the court for the young team, and provide actual production on it. At age 28, he could still handle upwards of 20 minutes per game handling bigger guys next to Anthony Davis and rangier ones next to Ajinca or Omer Asik. He’s not a particularly great passer (1.6 assists per 36 and 7.0 assist % over his career, per Basketball-Reference), but he is a hard worker on offense, rebounds serviceably, and can shoot from midrange (45% from between 15-19 feet, per NBA.com). He has also toyed with a serviceable three-point shot the past two seasons, improving to 39% last year on only two attempts per game.
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His true value though, especially for the Pelicans, will come on defense. He’s racked up 9.4 defensive win shares over his seven seasons, and maintained most of his efficiency on that end next to the likes of Timofey Mosgov, Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic in Denver as he did next to the Grit n’ Grinders in Memphis. He’s going to cause some turnovers, stick with his man, rotate well, and get in the way. A team defender, through and through. If you had forgotten, the Pelicans don’t have very many of those.
He fits next well in almost any lineup one can imagine the coaching staff throwing out there; as a small-ball five, a backup for Anthony Davis at the four, and anything in between. At his best, he can prop up the likes of Ajinca and Asik, making them look a lot better than they did last year as the team’s depth crumbled around them. Perhaps most importantly, he makes it easier for Gentry to avoid the sorts of offense-defense tradeoffs that were his pitfall for much of last year.
By replacing the majority of Ryan Anderson’s minutes with a guy so malleable, the team will be more balanced, and probably better overall on both sides of the ball over long stretches. In his first season in Denver, he joined a team in the same stage of the rebuilding process as the Pelicans now find themselves; a new coach, a young roster, trying to build on a lightning-in-a-bottle playoff appearance. In a rotation with Kenneth Faried, Timofey Mosgov and J.J. Hickson, Arthur posted a +12 net rating per 100 possessions.
When I look at Darrell Arthur, I see the perfect veteran for a building team, the kind of guy teams should be looking at when they want #Vets instead of rehashing high-downside players like Derek Fisher or Kendrick Perkins.
As for a contract, the team should be looking on the shorter side for a player heading toward age 30. He can make the players better while he’s here, but he doesn’t quite fit the trajectory of the roster. Besides, the hope would be that guys like Asik, Ajinca and new rookie Cheick Diallo could step in and fill more of those minutes after Arthur’s eventual departure. As an initial guess, let’s stick with that cautious conjecture from earlier and say that perhaps a two year deal at an average annual value of $18 million could get it done for a solid third/fourth big role.
The Pelicans would still have $18 million to play with for the remainder of the summer, which would likely be enough to retain Tim Frazier and lock up either one big fish or a few other lesser pieces like Arthur, depending on their preferred route. It is also a tradeable deal, if that becomes necessary/valuable next summer with another cap spike.
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Get it done, Pelicans.