Sports
With Anthony Davis Locked in Long Term, Pelicans Look to Build Title Contender
In this Nov. 25, 2013, file photo, New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis looks on during a break in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
(NOLA.com) – That didn’t take long. Merely seconds after 11 p.m. on Tuesday night, New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis was spreading the news on his Twitter account that’d he’d agreed to accept the team’s maximum-money contract extension and play here for at least the next six years.
The news coming out of Los Angeles, where Davis posted a picture with his agent, Thad Foucher, new coach Alvin Gentry and general manager Dell Demps, should certainly be welcomed by New Orleans basketball fans who can now spend their summer agonizing over whether the team can make any substantive moves in free agency over the coming days instead of worrying whether Davis would say yes before the Oct. 31 deadline.
From a financial standpoint, Davis’ acceptance of the five-year, max-money deal, that eventually could be worth in excess of $145 million, made the best business sense for the 22-year-old All-NBA player.
With the NBA’s new television contract set to kick in at the outset of the 2016-17 season, the league’s salary cap is also expected to jump from approximately $67 million next year to $90 million in 2016-17 to $108 million in 2017-18.
