Can the New Orleans Pelicans Afford to Keep Josh Hart?

Can the New Orleans Pelicans Afford to Keep Josh Hart?

If you looked up “value” in the dictionary, you might find a picture of Josh Hart.

Hart is making just $1.93 million this season and puts up 10.2 points and 6.5 boards off the bench, which makes him one of the best value contracts in the NBA.

Just for reference, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Nicolo Melli, Jaxson Hayes, Darius Miller and E’Twaun Moore all made significantly more than Josh Hart this season and played far lesser roles with the team or none at all.

Hart will make $3.49 million next season, which is still great value for a guy who contributes like he does.

His qualifying offer for the 2021-22 season will be $5.23 million, but it’s extremely unlikely that the Pelicans would be able to retain Josh Hart for that little.

Like Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart can negotiate an extension this summer and it would probably be in the Pels’ best interest to do so considering the salary cap will be lower and they might be able to get Hart at a discount.

As a bench player coming off his rookie deal, Hart will not get the maximum extension, but some team might decide that he could be more than a role player off the bench and they are probably right.

Hart is obviously not getting 25% of the Pelicans’ cap, but is also definitely getting more than the qualifying offer, so the real number probably lies somewhere in between.

To get an idea of what Josh Hart might command in the open market, we have to look at his peers and what they are making.