The Pelicans had a chance to grab one of the cleanest fits on the board, and they watched him land elsewhere.
Luke Kennard agreed to a two-year, $13 million deal with the Phoenix Suns, leaving New Orleans empty-handed on a player many fans had already pegged as a natural match. For a Pelicans team that has long needed more spacing around Zion Williamson, Kennard checked just about every box: elite catch-and-shoot ability, value in transition, and comfort working from the corner. He also showed a little more on the ball late in the Lakers’ regular season, when Luka Doncic went down and Kennard took on more self-creation and playmaking duties.
That’s what makes the price so hard to ignore. At $6.5 million annually, Kennard is one of the best bargains in the league for a shooter of his caliber.
He ranks second all-time in three-point percentage behind only Steve Kerr, and his career mark sits at 44.2 percent. Even if New Orleans had to go a little higher - maybe around $8 million - that still feels like the kind of move a team with obvious shooting problems should make without blinking.
Instead, Joe Dumars opened free agency by using one of the Pelicans’ two open roster spots to re-sign 37-year-old DeAndre Jordan, who played 12 games last season.
That’s the larger frustration here. New Orleans finished 11th in the Western Conference and won 26 games this past season, after winning 21 the year before.
The roster’s needs are plain: more three-point shooting, more size, and a real attempt to fix the issues that keep showing up. Yet Dumars keeps talking like this group can compete in the West as currently built, and after two straight seasons of coming up short, that message rings hollow.
Kennard wasn’t going to solve everything by himself. But he would have been the kind of move fans could point to and say the Pelicans were at least attacking one of their biggest weaknesses. Instead, they’re left waiting for Dumars to make his next move, with the expectation that it may be another veteran minimum signing no one else is chasing.
In Other News...
Pelicans Fans Already Have One Big Reason To Watch Vegas
The Pelicans have started to sketch out their summer league plans, and there is already enough intrigue to make Las Vegas worth watching. Eight players are on the roster so far, giving New Orleans an early look at a group that includes some new faces and a second-round pick, while the opener against Minnesota on July 9 is quickly approaching.
What makes this especially interesting for the Pelicans is how unfinished the picture still looks. The frontcourt remains thin, with only Solomon Washington and Shawn Phillips standing out as natural big-man options at the moment, and it is still unclear how much last seasons rookies will take part, if they appear at all. Even before the first tip, this is the kind of summer setup that can tell you a lot about where the roster stands and what kind of help New Orleans still needs. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans May Be Eyeing The Exact Wing This Roster Still Lacks
After adding DeAndre Jordan, the Pelicans still have a roster that feels short on the kind of wing defense every contender needs, and that has left them looking at outside options while they sort through their cap situation. One name surfacing is Matisse Thybulle, the former Trail Blazers forward whose value has always started with disrupting opponents on the perimeter and has recently been getting a little more shape as a shooter.
Thybulle would make sense as a shorter-term swing for a team that does not have a lot of room to spend, especially if New Orleans is trying to find a cheaper answer than the pricier wings on the market. The hesitation is obvious, though, because his recent injury history has kept him on the floor for only 45 games over the past couple of years, so the Pelicans would be betting on fit and upside rather than certainty. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Lose A Key Frontcourt Target As Pressure Builds Fast
Mitchell Robinson is off the board, and that narrows the margin for error for a Pelicans front office still sorting through its frontcourt options. New Orleans had viewed Robinson as a possible offseason target, but instead of landing a rim protector with a proven NBA profile, the team now has to keep moving through the market while the center pool keeps shrinking.
The remaining names are less certain fits and, in some cases, less finished products, which only raises the stakes for how the Pelicans handle the rest of the summer. Andre Drummond and Moussa Cisse are among the possibilities still being floated, but with one clear target gone and pressure building fast, New Orleans has to decide quickly whether it wants a short-term stopgap or a bigger swing. [Read more 🡒]