New Orleans Pelicans: Possible Landing Spots for Derrick Favors
The New Orleans Pelicans will be one of several teams who might want to sign Derrick Favors, but what are the chances of retaining their center?
The New Orleans Pelicans have a tough decision to make about Derrick Favors and they probably won’t be alone.
Favors is a key defensive cog for the Pelicans and part of their best lineups, but he made $17.65 million this season and with extensions coming for Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and eventually Zion Williamson, it may be tough to retain Favors without making a trade.
Jrue Holiday would be the most likely candidate for a trade, but do the New Orleans Pelicans really want to give up the leader of their team just so they can keep Derrick Favors?
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It’s also possible the the Pels will just soar over the salary cap, pay the luxury tax and keep their entire team intact, a move most fans would love, but it’s unclear how deep into her pockets owner Gayle Benson is willing to go.
Even if the Pelicans didn’t re-sign Favors, they are likely to be well over the cap, so they are going to have to come up with a plan to allocate money efficiently.
The other problem is that there are five other teams with cap space that may try to pry Favors away.
The Hawks, Pistons, Knicks, Hornets and Heat are the five teams guaranteed to have more than the mid-level exception and only Atlanta and Detroit will have max cap space.
The New Orleans Pelicans may have to renounce Favor’s Bird Rights in order to extend Ingram and have some cap space, which makes things even trickier.
If the New Orleans Pelicans want to keep their squad intact, they will likely have some competition, so let’s take a look at what could happen with free agent Derrick Favors.