Pelica Debrief
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Two Veteran Free Agents that Could Get the New Orleans Pelicans to a Title

By Aaron Kellerstrass

BEIJING, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 15: Marc Gasol could be the final piece for the New Orleans Pelicans (Photo by Di Yin/Getty Images)
BEIJING, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 15: Marc Gasol could be the final piece for the New Orleans Pelicans (Photo by Di Yin/Getty Images) /
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In our latest free agent profiles, we look at two veterans who could be instrumental in helping the young New Orleans Pelicans win a title.

If you missed this week’s free agent profiles, we took a look at two shooting guards and a couple of wing projects that might fit on the New Orleans Pelicans.

Every championship team has a veteran or two who joined the team as a free agent and ended up being very important.

With little cap space to use, the New Orleans Pelicans will need to identify veteran players who can produce and might come on cheap contracts.

Related Story. Mock Draft 2.0: Pelicans jump into the top-four. light

This is a tough proposition, as most players look to get paid the maximum amount they can, with few willing to take a pay cut just to join a good team.

Things will get even tougher this offseason, as the hiatus and possible cancellation of the season will give teams even less time to evaluate potential free agents and draft picks.

There is also no telling what will happen with the salary cap, as the NBA is certain to lose a hefty amount of revenue due to the suspension of play, even if the season resumes at some point.

This might make teams like the New Orleans Pelicans look harder at known commodities, veterans who are in the twilight of their careers but still able to contribute.

With so much up in the air, it is almost impossible to guess what the New Orleans Pelicans will do when and if the NBA resumes its normal operations.

Here are a loose set of guidelines that we’ll be following for our free agent series:

  1. Unrestricted free agents only. There are too many moving parts to know how any of this will play out, but restricted free agency is always tricky.
  2. I’ll try to choose one free agent from the “premium” crop and one from a lower tier. This won’t always be the case, but we’ll try to mix it up.
  3. Money is not an object at this point. The New Orleans Pelicans will likely be capped out if they extend Brandon Ingram and don’t make a trade, but for these purposes, money will be more of an abstract concept.

The New Orleans Pelicans won’t have much money to spend if they extend Ingram, so they would probably have to make a trade to snag one of these two free agent veterans.

It might take some convincing to keep them from retirement or simply staying with their current teams on lesser contracts.

But these two wily veterans could be both mentors and contributors for the New Orleans Pelicans if they can find a way to get it done.