The New Orleans Pelicans made a somewhat surprising move in the lead-up to the NBA’s free agency period opening up. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Pelicans decided to decline the team option on one of their most promising young players: defensive ace Herbert Jones, who has turned himself into one of the league’s most menacing defenders. As a result, Jones would hit the restricted free agent market.
The New Orleans Pelicans are declining forward Herb Jones’ $1.8 million team option for the 2023-24 season, which clears way for Jones to be a restricted free agent and for the sides to work toward a long-term extension, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 29, 2023
While another team could have theoretically come in, blown Jones away, and given him a deal that would have been too rich for the Pelicans’ blood, that did not happen. Instead, New Orleans rewarded Jones’ strong play since being drafted with a 4-year, $54 million deal to remain with the Pelicans long-term, per Adrian Wojnarowski and Andrew Lopez.
ESPN Reporting with @_andrew_lopez: Free agent F Herb Jones has agreed on a new four-year, $54M deal to stay with the Pelicans, his agents Mark Bartelstein and Kieran Piller of @PrioritySports tell ESPN. Pels declined his option on a minimum salary to secure him long-term. pic.twitter.com/Yy35PsuVUR
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2023
Jones went in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft to New Orleans, which took him with the 35th overall pick. Almost immediately he became a crucial piece of the team’s rotation, as he is among the most destructive defensive players in the league and he’s given the team enough juice on offense to keep him from being labeled as just a defensive specialist. Last season, Jones started all 66 games in which he appeared and averaged 9.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.6 blocks in 29.6 minutes per game.
