The New Orleans Pelicans will hand backup center Alexis Ajinca a four-year, $20.2 million contract, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein. Ajinca’s agency, Priority Sports, confirmed the news, as did Ajinca himself.
Alexis Ajinca agrees to 4-year, $20 million deal with Pelicans
The backup center will be staying with the Pelicans for a while.
The Pelicans will re-sign Ajinca using Early Bird rights. This allows the Pelicans to pay Ajinca a maximum of either 175 percent of his previous year’s salary or 104.5 percent of the average salary, whichever is greater. Ajinca’s cap hold is tiny, so if New Orleans wants to go after a free agent with their $10 million or so in cap space, they can wait to finalize this move until later. However, they would need to release Omer Asik’s much larger cap hold to use that space.
Ajinca quietly had a productive year playing off New Orleans’ bench. He averaged 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds in just over 14 minutes per game, which translates to nearly 18 points and 12 rebounds if he played 36 minutes. Foul trouble and defense remains a problem, but he’s still a quality backup if he can sustain that production next year. He has a nice mid-range jumper and solid passing skills, which could be activated even more in new coach Alvin Gentry’s system.
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