The Pelicans and guard Josh Hart have officially agreed to a new contract, per the NBA transactions log.
Agents Aaron Mintz, Steven Heumann and Dave Spahn told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN that the deal is for three years and $38 million.
Hart was a restricted free agent and had been linked to the Cavaliers, Kings and several others as a sign-and-trade candidate. But in the end, he is sticking with New Orleans.
Hart, 26, is 6-foot-5 and averaged 9.2 points and a career-high 8.0 rebounds in 47 games last season.
He was selected with the No. 30 pick out of Villanova in 2017, and spent his first two seasons with the Lakers. Along with Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, Hart was part of LA’s trade package to land star forward/center Anthony Davis from New Orleans.
“New Orleans had Hart’s Bird rights, so no cap room maneuvering or exceptions are necessary to make the deal work,” wrote Alex Kirschenbaum of Hoops Rumors.
“… Hart will be the Pelicans’ 15th player on a guaranteed contract, which means that power forward Wenyen Gabriel, currently on a non-guaranteed $1,762,796 contract for the 2021/22 season, looks like the odd man out.”
Hart will now be part of a backcourt that also includes the likes of Devonte’ Graham, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kira Lewis Jr., Trey Murphy III, Tomas Satoransky and Garrett Temple. He will also spend plenty of time backing up Ingram.
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