Category: Features

  • A View from the Outside — Truehoop

    ((In order to give some perspective on the franchise from the outside, I had a short discussion with Eric Goldwein of Hoop 76. Eric is Hoop76’s founder and editor-in-chief. You can follow him on Twitter @ericgoldwein. His work has been featured on TrueHoop, the Slate/Deadspin NFL roundtable and Yahoo’s ThePostGame.)) Jason: Eric, our teams have […]

  • Transitioning into the new NBA Salary Cap Environment

    This week, the Pelicans have verbally agreed to extend three of their four most important big men to long-term deals: Anthony Davis, Omer Asik, and Alexis Ajinca. From a financial perspective, each player’s average annual salary is in line with what most of us here at Bourbon Street Shots expected them to get: $29 million for Davis, $11 […]

  • Pelicans Scoop: Davis, Ajinca, Asik, and Free Agency

    With big Pelicans news coming out in the first 24 hours of free agency, BSS writers give their opinions on five pressing questions.  1. What was your reaction when you saw AD had signed his extension? Michael McNamara: Instant relief. I knew that AD would sign it at some point this summer, but having him […]

  • New Orleans Pelicans Reportedly Bringing Back Omer Asik

    The New Orleans Pelicans have reportedly agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent center, Omer Asik. The contract is for 5 years with an aggregate total value of around $58,000,000, along with incentives throughout and some non-guaranteed money in the final year. General Notes Asik was acquired by the Pelicans for a first round pick […]

  • Anthony Davis And The New Orleans Pelicans Agree To Contract Extension

    As the clock struck 11:01pm CST General Manager of the New Orleans Pelicans, Dell Demps, promptly offered Anthony Davis and his agency a 5-year/$145 million contract extension. The terms we’re accepted almost immediately as Davis formally becomes the centrepiece for the Pelicans for the next six years. The move solidifies an assumption many have felt […]

  • New Orleans Pelicans Likely Will Operate Over the Salary Cap

    For the first time in a number of year, the New Orleans Pelicans will likely operate above the salary cap for the entire season. I know what you are saying: The Pelicans have been above the cap. You guys just got finished telling me how much Benson spent last season, and it was well over […]

  • The cap situations of the Western Conference playoff teams

    The other day Michael McNamara analysed the Pelicans options for the mid-level exception for this years’ NBA Free Agency. However, one of the most important things to remember is that not only will the Pelicans be wanting the services of these players, so too will other teams. Today I’ll have a look at each of […]

  • Players the Pelicans Can Pursue With the Mid-Level Exception

    Not surprisingly, the 2015 NBA Draft was rather anti-climatic for the Pelicans. Dell Demps sold his 2nd round pick again, and we all should have seen that coming, as he has told us time and time again he prefers young veterans on this team. The last time Dell sold a 2nd rounder, he used that […]

  • Not Yet a Succession Success

    Yesterday, an important ruling was handed down in a legal case with enormous implications for the New Orleans Pelicans, New Orleans Saints, and the rest of Tom Benson’s Empire. The ruling denied the attempt to declare Tom Benson incapable of running his various business entities. This denial, however, does nothing but keep the succession battle […]

  • Eric Gordon Exercises $15.5 Million Player Option for 2015-16 NBA Season

    The New Orleans Pelicans have announced that Eric Gordon has opted into the final year of his 4-year, $58 million contract that he signed three years ago. The 26 year old shooting guard will make just over $15.5 million in the 2015-16 season, all of which is guaranteed. Gordon is coming off of the best shooting […]

  • Top Targets if the Pelicans were in the Draft

    It’s been a little painful for me the last couple years when Draft time has rolled around.  I’m a HUGE draft fan.  When the Pelicans have something better than the 56th pick of the draft to use, I live for draft articles and spend more time with DraftExpress.com than I do playing Star Wars games.  That’s […]

  • How to Prematurely Evaluate a Head Coach Hiring

    With about two and half weeks now passed since the Pelicans announced that Alvin Gentry, the lead assistant coach for the newly crowned NBA champion Golden State Warriors, would be the team’s next head coach, there has been sufficient time to gauge the reaction to the hire from the fan base. Overall, the response has been a relatively calm one, […]

  • Making the Kevin Durant to the Pelicans Dream a Reality

    The idea of pairing Anthony Davis with another superstar is something that every Pelicans fan has contemplated from time to time, and no superstar would be more deadly with Anthony Davis than Kevin Durant. Rumors have been out there for months that Durant is eyeing Washington or LA if he decides to leave Oklahoma City […]

  • The Pelicans’ Roster Under Gentry – What to Expect Next

    First, Alvin Gentry. Soon after, Darren Erman & Robert Pack. The core of an excellent new Pelicans coaching staff is now in place, and with that being the case, the natural next question is how the upcoming free agency period will be affected by these changes. Below is a player-by-player look at what the Gentry hire could mean for the […]

  • New Orleans Pelicans Season In Review: Dante Cunningham

    On December 4th, 2014, an opportunity presented itself to Dell Demps and he took advantage of it. Due to a bogus charge, Dante Cunningham was just sitting there on the open market, waiting to be scooped up, and Demps did just that. Within a week, Cunningham was regularly getting 25-30 minutes a night and within […]

  • Season in Review: Eric Gordon

    Fair or not, Eric Gordon’s tenure in New Orleans will always be connected to the expectations that came with the Chris Paul trade in 2011. It is easy to understand why. He was, in many ways, the centerpiece of a trade that saw New Orleans’ most decorated player leave the team. Expectations for Gordon were […]

  • New Orleans Pelicans Season in Review: Jimmer Fredette

    Allow me to start out Jimmer Fredette’s season review with this player comparison table. Time to play a little game I like to call “guess that player”! If you guessed “the same guy”, you’re right! Player X is Jimmer Fredette in his most recent season before coming to New Orleans. Jimmer finished the 2013-14 NBA season doing […]

  • Season In Review: Norris Cole

    A two time NBA champion, Norris Cole was brought in from the Miami heat in a three-team trade that sent out John Salmons. The idea was that the Pelicans desperately needed backup point guard help. Jrue Holiday had been battling injuries, so too Tyreke Evans. New Orleans needed a guy to fill the “void” left by […]

  • Season in Review: Jrue Holiday

    It’s disheartening to once again give Jrue Holiday an “Incomplete,” as he missed more games than he played this year for the second season in a row. Next year, the third year in his four year deal, Holiday won’t be graded as an “Incomplete”. Playing or not, he is what he is, next year. Offense […]

  • New Orleans Pelicans Season in Review: Jeff Withey

    Sometimes things just don’t break your way–and for Jeff Withey, the offseason addition of Omer Asik all but promised that he would not see many minutes.  It’s not that Withey doesn’t have NBA talent–he does–but he’s not as good as Davis, Anderson, Asik, or Ajinca, and this year, he struggled to get any minutes on the floor. […]