Sources close to the situation confirmed the franchise came to an agreement with reserve forward Luke Babbitt on a two year, $2.5 million contract late Thursday night.
“Continuity is the ability of guys to get to know one another and be on the court together and get to know where you want the ball,” coach Alvin Gentry said on Thursday. “You know passes and the tendencies and start to pick on those things when you get the chance to play with them over a long period of time. I think it becomes where everyone is almost as one and you start to know the other guys’ thought processes.”
Although Babbitt wasn’t a significant contributor down the stretch, he played an important role in helping the franchise snap a four-year postseason drought. He started 19 games, mostly early in the season, and shot exceptionally well during his limited minutes during the rest of the year.
His 51.3 percent 3-point shooting was the most accurate in the NBA last season, despite averaging just 13.2 minutes and 4.2 points per game. It was a welcome addition to the Pelicans, who first acquired Babbitt on Feb. 4, 2014 from Russian team Nizhiny Novgorad.
The former Nevada standout played in 27 games on an injury-depleted Pelicans’ squad that season, and was retained for the veteran minimum last offseason.
Babbitt is the fourth unrestricted free agent retained by General Manager Dell Demps this offseason, joining centers Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca along with forward Dante Cunningham. Those three officially signed on Wednesday night.
Only restricted free agent point guard Norris Cole remains unsigned from the team’s top 11 scorers. The franchise extended Cole a $3.1 million qualifying offer in June, but he can still sign a more lucrative offer sheet which the Pelicans can choose to match.
“We like having these guys all back,” Gentry said. “They laid the foundation last year by going to the playoffs and can take the next step this season.”
Via- Scott Kushner, the advocate