While they won’t have too many dramatic free agents hitting the unrestricted market, the New Orleans Pelicans have choices to make on their roster.
The New Orleans Pelicans have an interesting summer ahead of them, one way or the other, with six players on their roster hitting free agency in some capacity.
Last summer, in addition to a few franchise-changing trades, the Pelicans made the move to bring veteran shooter J.J. Redick to New Orleans on a two-year, $26.5 million contract, signaling the team’s aggression on the open market.
In all likelihood, it doesn’t seem like the Pelicans will have the resources to make a significant splash with this year’s class of free agents, that is unless they make some surprising moves to allow for greater cap flexibility on the roster.
The Pelicans should have a strong chance of retaining any of their own players this summer, should they choose to make moves in that direction.
Due to the potential of a declining salary cap heading due to the league’s suspension in reaction to the breakout of COVID-19, in addition to a bevy of teams lacking the salary cap space to make big splashes, it’s unlikely that we’ll see non-stars sign any ultra-lucrative contracts.
While they’re projected to have roughly $26 million in cap room available this summer, it seems more likely that the team will use a big chunk of that money to retain key players, plus allow for room to ink extension with others in the organization in the not-too-distant future.
In reality, this roster won’t stay the same forever and there’s bound to be some turnover this summer, but in many cases, it’s a matter of who the team thinks will make their team stronger next season.