NBA free agency 2013: Tyreke Evans headed to the Pelicans

After signing a four-year, $48 million contract with New Orleans this offseason, Evans will obviously have a significant role with the team in some form. Evans told Deveney he still hasn’t spoken to Pelicans coaches about how that will work, though he’s heard the rumors of coming off the bench:

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Back to those questions. Do the Pelicans play with a trio of hybrid guards, who all have a good deal of athleticism and passing ability? Does that lineup neutralize each players’ capabilities because all three like having the ball in their hands?

Offense isn’t the worry for Williams.

Whoa boy. There’s a lot to digest here.

FOR THE PELICANS: I’m trying to figure out what just happened here.

USA Today’s Sam Amick and The Sacramento Bee’s Ailene Voisin were first to report the trade.

The trade cannot go official until July 10 because that’s the first day Evans can sign a new deal before being traded.

Rohan Cruyff of SB Nation’s Pelicans blog is excited about the new possibilities:

On the flip side, Cruyff notes that New Orleans is primed to lose two players who started a combined 160 games for the team last season. That price feels a bit high if the Kings truly did not intend to match the offer sheet, but by securing a trade New Orleans is able to eliminate any risk of losing Evans with a last-minute change of heart in Sacramento. In essence, the Pelicans are buying out the Kings’ right to match the offer sheet that Evans would have otherwise signed on July 10.

The Pelicans made Evans their priority from the start, meeting with the 23-year-old at the outset of free agency. New Orleans presented Evans with the offer sheet at the meeting, and after a few days of deliberation, the 23-year-old has verbally agreed to sign.

Evans reportedly has said that he hopes the Kings don’t match the offer, although his representatives have denied that rumor.

Update: People close to Evans are refuting the report.

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The 2009-2010 Rookie of the Year still hasn’t had a season like his first in the league, recording career-lows in minutes as well as average points, rebounds and assists this past season. He’s still an eminently-talented scorer with the capability to create for other, though, and has a rare skillset for a player of his size.

Redick is the more dependable player, stroking the ball at a high rate while developing ball-handling and passing skills with Orlando before a disappointing half-season in Milwaukee. Budinger’s three-point percentage dropped precipitously from 40.5 percent in his final year in Houston to a career-low 32.1 percent last year, his first in Minnesota, but he’s still hypothetically a nice offensive bench option.

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