Derrick Favors, Unrestricted Free Agent
2019-2020 Salary Figure: $17.7 million
Coming over in a deal with the Utah Jazz, in fact, one he requested his former employer to make, Derrick Favors hits free agency after just one partial year with the Pelicans.
Favors acted as the team’s biggest interior difference-maker on the defensive end this season and New Orleans lacked identity without their starting center, who missed games due to injury and the untimely passing of his mother early in the season.
Averaging nearly a double-double at 9.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per contest, Favors provided the team with a really solid interior force when available, helping the team correct course from their dreadful start to the 2019-2020 season.
The Pelicans will likely want Favors to split more time with Jaxson Hayes than they have this season, as the rookie center is certainly viewed as a big part of the team’s future.
Additionally, if the Pelicans focus their attention on a turn towards a primarily small-ball look, with Zion Williamson taking the reigns at the center position (where he only spent 9% of his minutes this season), they could opt to let Nicolò Melli and Hayes play as their interior substitutes.
However, Favors is likely to be affordable for the organization and a one-to-two year deal to keep his veteran presence around the team’s young locker room makes him a logical new-contract candidate.
Likelihood of re-signing with the New Orleans Pelicans: 65% chance
Brandon Ingram, Restricted Free Agent
2019-2020 Salary Figure: $7.3 million
There isn’t a heck of a lot to say on this one, as Brandon Ingram is all but guaranteed to be back in the big easy next season and for a long time to come, something that should excite Pelicans fans.
It’s been an awesome year for Ingram, who averaged 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists while stroking 38.7% of his 6.3 three-point attempts per contest en route to his first appearance as a member of the NBA All-Star Team.
Acting as one of the biggest tickets among players hitting free agency this summer, Ingram has been one of the most improved players in the league during his first season with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Still just 22-years-old, Ingram has his best basketball ahead of him, which is a great thing to say considering this time a year ago, it seemed his career could be in jeopardy due to blood clots in his shoulder.
Beloved by his teammates and receiving high praise from the organization, Brandon Ingram is going to be a star in New Orleans for a long time to come, as the team will apparently match any offer sheet from other teams if they don’t end up inking him to a likely max-deal.
Likelihood of re-signing with the New Orleans Pelicans: 100% chance