Hoops Rumors checks into the 2026 offseason for all 30 NBA teamsrounding up the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s moves in the offseason and take a look at what else could happen before the regular season begins. Today we focus on New Orleans Pelicans.
Signing free agents
- Benedict Maturin: Two years, $15,375,000. Second year player option. Signed using the mid-level non-taxpayer exemption.
- DeAndre Jordan: Two years, minimum wage. Full warranty. Rewritten using the minimum wage exemption.
- Trendon Watford: Year, minimum wage. Partially guaranteed ($250K). Signed using the minimum wage exemption.
- Kobe Bufkin: Year, minimum wage. Unguaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using the minimum wage exemption.
- Caleb Houston: Year, minimum wage. Unguaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using the minimum wage exemption.
- Christian Koloko: Year, minimum wage. Unguaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using the minimum wage exemption.
- Aziz Bandaogo: Year, minimum wage. Not guaranteed (app. 9/10). Signed using the minimum wage exemption.
- Dominique Daniels Jr: Year, minimum wage. Not guaranteed (app. 9/10). Signed using the minimum wage exemption.
- Marquis Nowell: Year, minimum wage. Not guaranteed (app. 9/10). Signed using the minimum wage exemption.
- Johnny O’Neill: Year, minimum wage. Not guaranteed (app. 9/10). Signed using the minimum wage exemption.
- Christian Shumate: Year, minimum wage. Not guaranteed (app. 9/10). Signed using the minimum wage exemption.
- Solomon Washington: Year, minimum wage. Not guaranteed (app. 9/10). Signed using the minimum wage exemption.
Note: Bandaogo, Daniels, Nowell, O’Neil, Shumate and Washington have since been canceled.
Trades
Drafts
Two-sided signatures
- Malik He
- One year, $91,000 partial warranty.
- Jaron Pierre Jr
- One year, $91,000 partially guaranteed (will increase to $339,441 at the start of the regular season).
Abandoned/Unsigned Free Agents
Other moves are listed
- Signed Sadik Bay to a three-year, $55,500,000 veteran contract extension that begins in 2027/2028. Full warranty. Trade kicker (less than $1 million or 15%).
- Executed command option on Karla Matkovich ($2,296,271).
- They refused That Gibson ($148,828 partial warranty).
- Resigned Hunter Dickinson on a one-year two-way contract and subsequently waived it.
Salary cap situation
Note: Numbers are rounded to one decimal place.
- Operating above the cap ($165 million) and below the first tax bracket ($209 million).
- A hard hat on the first apron.
- Team salary: $196.4 million (tax); $203.3 million (apron).
- Below the luxury tax line by $4.1 million; below the hard cap of $5.7 million.
- A partial exemption is available for mid-level non-taxpayers ($7.5 million) and a full biennial exemption ($5.5 million).
- Two tradeable player exceptions are available (the largest is $7 million).
Offseason yet
Until they made three notable trades in September, the offseason for the Pelicans was very quiet, in large part due to the actions of the executive vice president of basketball Joe Dumars and senior vice president of basketball operations Troy Weaver made a year earlier, during the first few months on the job.
In the midst of the 2025 NBA Finals, the Pelicans traded the Pacers’ protected 2026 first-round pick to Indiana for the No. 23 pick in the 2025 draft. On draft night, they flipped that No. 23 pick and their own 2026 first-rounder to Atlanta to draft Derrick Quinn 13th overall. As a result, instead of two first-round picks in 2026, New Orleans had none, forcing the team to sit out the opening night of this year’s draft after winning just 26 games last season.
The Pelicans’ decision to give up a valuable 2026 first-rounder (the most favorable of their picks and the Bucks’ pick) to move up from No. 23 to No. 13 for Quinn drew widespread criticism, but the trade for the Pacers’ first-rounder came just days before. Tyrese Halliburton suffered an Achilles tear, missing the entire 2026/27 season, may have proved even more unfortunate. Indiana’s pick ended up going No. 5 overall, while New Orleans went No. 8, but the Pelicans weren’t in control either.
In addition to overwhelmingly giving up the 2026 draft (they used pick #58 on Jaron Pierre Jrwho signed a two-way contract), the Pelicans didn’t have the opportunity to be a major player in free agency due to their proximity to the luxury tax line. Their cap situation was due in part to a trade in the 2025 offseason that sent CJ McCollum and Kelly Olynyk to Washington in exchange for Jordan Poole and Sadik Bay.
Both McCollum and Olynyk were on expiring contracts at the time, while Poole and Bey were on multi-year deals that included more than $40 million in guaranteed money through 2026/27. Without that salary on their books, the Pelicans would have much more flexibility to be active in free agency or on the trade market this summer.
Poole had a disappointing first season in New Orleans and looks like a potential trade or buyout candidate this season, but Bay has been a nice addition from the front office. The veteran forward bounced back from missing the entire 2024/25 season with a torn ACL to have a career year with the Pelicans, averaging 17.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 72 contests, with a respectable .451/.367/.841 shooting percentage.
That performance earned Bey a three-year, $55.5 million contract extension earlier this month. This deal, which also includes a small trade kicker, may be a bit higher than what he could fetch on the free agent market, but it includes a downward structure that will make it more team-friendly in the years to come.
The extension for Bay was one of three major moves the Pelicans completed this month. The other two were tied to each other when the team traded 2023 lottery picks Jordan Hawkins and 2025 second round Micah Peavy to Memphis along with a future second-round pick and a second-round trade to cut costs to sign the former sixth overall pick Benedict Maturin without going over the luxury tax line.
I had questions about Maturin’s value as a restricted free agent this summer due to his up-and-down shooting speed, poor pass-to-turnover ratio and inconsistent defense, which landed him at No. 35 on our list Top 50 free agents of the offseason. But his offensive potential makes him a worthwhile investment at the price the Pelicans paid. They signed Maturin to a two-year, $15.4 million contract and didn’t even have to compensate the Clippers, who withdrew their qualifying offer to make the 24-year-old an unrestricted free agent.
While it remains to be seen how Maturin will fit in New Orleans, this contract won’t hurt the Pelicans at all. It could actually turn into a bargain if the Canadian swingman takes a step forward in his fifth NBA season, though the second-year player option could make it difficult for New Orleans to keep him next year if he proves himself worthy of an upgrade.
Until September, the Pelicans’ only real deal of note was a two-year, minimum-salary contract for the veteran center DeAndre Jordan. The decision to give Jordan two years raised some eyebrows around the league, as it would require New Orleans to pay the big man his full salary ($3.9 million in the first year and $4.1 million in the second). Conversely, a team that signs a veteran for a one-year minimum salary contract is compensated by the league and pays the player only $2.45 million of his total salary.
Picking up that extra $1.45 million before Jordan’s 2026-27 cap hit wasn’t exactly ideal for a team navigating the tax line and first apron, but the Pelicans privately insisted that the 18-year veteran, who is highly respected for his leadership in the locker room, would have signed elsewhere had New Orleans not offered a second year. According to the front office, Jordan’s impact on the team’s younger players is valuable enough to make this second year and the increased number of hits worth it.
Next
The Pelicans currently have 14 players under guaranteed contracts with an addition in the offseason Trendon Watford on a partially guaranteed minimum wage and three young veterans – Guardsmen Kobe Bufkina great man Christian Kolokoand forward Caleb Houston – on non-guaranteed pacts Exhibit 9.
The easiest way to build a 15-man roster for the regular season is to enter opening night with those 14 players on guaranteed deals along with Watford, but the Pelicans don’t have to go that route. They have enough flexibility below the tax line to drop Watford or the newly acquired keeper AJ Johnson (a 2024 first-round pick who has yet to show much at the NBA level) and eat up some guaranteed money if they want to hang onto Bufkin, Calaco or Houston.
New Orleans also has a two-way slot to fill with Pierre and an undrafted rookie forward Malik He is currently negotiating two-way deals for the team. It remains to be seen if the Pelicans will fill that spot in the next few days before camp or if they will wait until the end of the preseason to see if an intriguing option from another NBA roster emerges.
Following Bay’s extension, the Pelicans still have several veterans eligible for an extension on their roster, including Zion Williamson, Dejounte MurrayPool and Karla Matkovichbut I can’t imagine there’s a particular need to make a deal with either of them before the season starts.
Williamson still has two years left on his contract and is a risky investment due to his injury history; Murray was limited to just 14 games last season after returning from an Achilles tear, making his value hard to gauge right now; and Poole is coming off his worst year as a professional.
Matkovich, who has been a fairly regular presence in the Pelicans’ frontcourt since joining the NBA two years ago, may be the best candidate for a new deal at this point, but he will be eligible for limited free agency next summer unless he signs a contract before then.
