The Pelicans have had a quiet offseason thus far, with their only move in free agency or on the trade market being re-signing veteran center DeAndre Jordan.
The terms of that agreement are surprising, according to NBA inside Jake Fischer, who reports (via Twitter) that Jordan received two fully guaranteed years from New Orleans. He’ll earn about $7.9MM over the next two seasons, Fischer adds, which means it’s a minimum-salary contract.
Because the NBA doesn’t want teams to avoid signing veteran players in favor of cheaper, younger players, the league reimburses clubs who sign veterans with three or more years of experience to one-year, minimum-salary contracts. Those deals only count against the cap – and against a team’s bank balance – for $2.45MM, the minimum salary for a player with two years of experience.
However, that doesn’t apply to multiyear agreements. The Pelicans will carry a $3.88MM cap hit for Jordan next season, followed by a $4.07MM charge for 2027/28.
Jordan, who turns 38 years old later this month, has signed one-year, minimum-salary deals each of the past five seasons. The fact that he got two guaranteed years to return to the Pelicans is pretty stunning, given his modest on-court contributions in 2025/26.
The 6’11” big man made a career-low 12 appearances in his first season in New Orleans, averaging 4.4 points and 6.3 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game. Jordan has played a part-time role over the last five seasons, averaging 4.2 PPG and 5.1 RPG in 13.1 MPG across 191 outings.
Still, Jordan was widely lauded for his off-court impact, including serving as a mentor to Derik Queen and Zion Williamson. He was named the NBA’s Teammate of the Year at the end of April.
Jordan has spoken in the past about wanting to make it to 20 years in the NBA and his new deal will make that possible. He’s entering his 19th season and 2027/28 will be year 20.
A former second-round pick, Jordan is the league’s all-time leader in field goal percentage (.673). He won a championship as a role player with Denver in 2023 and made three All-NBA teams, two All-Defensive squads, claimed two rebounding titles and was named to one All-Star team during his prime with the Clippers.
