I think that puts a nice bow on the year.  A complete cluster of a season that saw the Pelicans never once be able to field more than 3 of their projected starters at a time – and then never for more than a couple games – resulted in 30 wins and Anthony Davis losing $24 Million.

The reason, of course, is the oft mentioned clause in his contract known as the “Rose Rule”.  If a player is named to an All-NBA team twice or MVP, or voted in as an All-Star starter, then the first contract they sign can be up to 30% of the salary cap, instead of 25% of the salary cap.  The Pelicans offered everything they could the day they could, and that included maxing his salary out if he qualified for the Rose Rule.

And he didn’t qualify.  He was only a reserve for the All-Star game – and he joined James Harden and Paul Millsap as just missing out on landing on the All-NBA third team.

I find the whole thing pretty ridiculous.  Look at the three guys on the All-NBA third team that Davis was really eligible to replace:  Andre Drummond, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Paul George.

Now ask yourself:  Are any of those guys better than Anthony Davis?  Seriously?  DeAndre Jordon got first team.  How quickly would Doc Rivers say yes if the Pelicans offered Davis for Jordan?

Whatever.

The Good, I Guess

5% more salary cap room.  So, yeah, as the salary cap rockets up to about 100 million, Anthony Davis’ yearly salary will be less over the next 5 years, giving the Pelicans about $5-7 million more per year to spend on other guys.(and possibly more if the revenue keeps jumping due to ads on Jerseys and other TV deals)  That helps with flexability, and maybe finding the room to fit in another max guy – or get lucky on a lower tier signing or two that blow up.  Possibly.

The Bad

I said this on the Podcast.  This has to leave a bad taste in Davis’ mouth, because it’s not a stretch to blame the franchise for what happened this last season.   People can say winning will cure everything, but it’s all just a set of scales when a player decides whether to stay or go.

Losing out on 20% of your income because of something that can easily be classified as out of your control?  That would go in the “go” side of the scales.

And that sucks.

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