Pelicans Are Twiddling Their Thumbs As Free Agent Centers Sign New Deals Elsewhere

The New Orleans Pelicans desperately need to upgrade their roster for next season, but Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver have been frustratingly inactive in the first two days of free agency. Besides re-signing DeAndre Jordan, the Pelicans have been quiet so far. In fact, other than their 58th-overall pick in the NBA Draft, Jaron Pierre Jr., the Pelicans haven't added anyone new to their roster this summer.

While the Pelicans are refusing to add to their roster, the free agent class is shrinking by the hour. New Orleans has a massive hole at center, and the free agent options were already limited. Over the first 18 hours of free agency, these limited options dwindled even further.

Pelicans Are Asleep While the Rest of the League Reloads at Center

Mark Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Al Horford, and Day'ron Sharpe were off the market even before free agency began, as they signed new deals with their current teams. Among the remaining options, Mitchell Robinson, Jusuf Nurkic, Moritz Wagner, Jock Landale, and Nikola Vucevic signed new deals since the start of free agency.

Nurkic landed a two-year, $22 million deal with Utah, Wagner signed with Brooklyn for a two-year, $19 million contract, Landale signed a one-year, $14 million deal with Atlanta, and Vucevic returned to the Orlando Magic on a one-year veteran minimum deal. Just when it was looking like Robinson would be the only viable option for the Pelicans on the market, he signed a three-year, $47 million contract with the Boston Celtics.

Other than Robinson, who got a bigger offer than was initially expected, every other center was in the Pelicans' price range. New Orleans has around $10 million in cap space, but can create more by making small moves. They could have created enough for the full nontaxpayer mid-level exception by moving on from Jordan Hawkins,

Instead, the Pelicans are now left without a rotation-caliber FA center on the market. The best remaining big men are Andre Drummond, Nick Richards, Jaxson Hayes, and Sandro Mamukelashvili.

Hayes is expected to return to the Lakers, and Mamukelashvili has a ton of suitors on the market. Drummond and Richards are third-string centers at best at this stage of their careers.

Quinten Post of the Golden State Warriors could be an intriguing option as a restricted free agent. The Pels could try to sign him to an offer sheet, but whether that would be enough to lure him away is unclear. Plus, it's not like he would solve any of the Pelicans' defensive concerns.

New Orleans may have no choice but to turn to the trade market to acquire a starting center. They missed the boat on Nic Claxton and Isaiah Stewart earlier in the offseason, but Myles Turner and Daniel Gafford could be solid targets. New Orleans would have to give up assets to acquire either center, but they may have no choice but to go after them aggressively as they are quickly running out of options.

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