The Pelicans have exercised their team options for 2027/28 on Jeremiah Fears ($8.27MM), Derik Queen ($5.67MM) and Yves Missi ($5.6MM), Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports (Twitter link). Additionally, they will decline their team option on AJ Johnson ($5.49MM) for the 2027/28 season, which will make him an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Fears, the No. 7 overall pick of the 2025 draft, averaged 14.3 points and 3.4 assists while appearing in all 82 games last season, including 49 starts. He shot just 33% from three-point range and enters the season as the team’s probable sixth man with Dejounte Murray starting at the point.
Queen was part of a controversial draft-night trade in 2025 in which the Pelicans gave up an unprotected 2026 pick to move into the 13th spot to select him. The former Maryland forward/center showed some flashes of dominance in his rookie campaign, averaging 11.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists while appearing in all but one game. He, too, might have to come off the bench at the start of this season.
Missi is coming off a second season in which he saw his playing time cut back after he made 67 starts as a rookie. The big man averaged just 5.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 19.7 minutes per game while playing in 66 contests (14 starts). However, he still projects as a rotation player and potential starter at center, which made it an easier decision to pick up his option as well.
Johnson, who was acquired from the Grizzlies last month in a four-player deal, was the 23rd overall pick in the 2024 draft, but he played for three teams in his first two NBA seasons and hasn’t established himself as a reliable role player. In 2025/26, he averaged 3.3 PPG and 1.1 RPG in 9.5 MPG across 48 appearances for Washington and Dallas. He was part of a six-team deal earlier in the summer.
Assuming Johnson plays out the final year of his contract, his team will be prohibited from offering him a starting salary that exceeds the value of his declined option ($5.49MM). However, rival suitors would be able to go above that figure.
