The New Orleans Pelicans are facing an exciting summer. DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo become free agents. The general manager of the Pels, Dell Demps, now explained that he would like to keep both players in the Big Easy.
“In a perfect world, we’d like to keep cousins,” Demps said at a press conference. “We want to get him back, but sometimes things happen in the free agency you can’t control. In a perfect world we want to have boogie and extend it with Rondo.”
Cousins missed the complete playoffs because of an Achilles tendon rupture and may not be fit at the beginning of the season. It is correspondingly difficult to assess the value of boogie on the free market.
Demps was optimistic, however, that Boogie could return in good shape. “He’s a hard worker and we’ve seen other players recover from such an injury. Of course things have changed a little, but I’m betting on DeMarcus.”
Rondo, on the other hand, was fit and performed well in the playoffs. The Guard played for just $3.3 million last season. A tariff that can pass as an absolute bargain. “He did an excellent job as a leader,” praised Coach Alvin Gentry. “He knows so much about the game and has such a high basketball IQ. He was fantastic for us and of course we want to keep him.”
However, this would have a price. For the Pels, there are already 92 million dollars in guaranteed salaries in the books without the two free agents. Should New Orleans hold both players, the franchise slides into the luxury tax, which actually every team from a small market wants to prevent.