At this point in the NBA offseason, finding free agents worth signing is a difficult task.
Most of the players worthy of a guaranteed NBA contract were drafted and signed a few weeks ago. A few players are stuck in limbo — Isaac Okoro stands out as one of those playing chicken as a restricted free agent — but for the most part, teams with an open roster spot don’t have a plethora of options.
That’s what makes Friday’s news so interesting. The New Orleans Pelicans released forward Matt Ryan before his contract became guaranteed, putting him on waivers and potentially allowing another team to pick him up.
Not to be confused with the NFL’s MVP-winning quarterback, basketball player Matt Ryan was a longtime college player who eventually entered the NBA draft pool after spending his final season in Chattanooga. He went undrafted in 2020 and bounced around the G League while having a cup of coffee with the Celtics, Timberwolves and Lakers.
He burst onto the NBA scene early last season, when the Pelicans picked him up off waivers on a two-way contract and immediately inserted him into the team as a three-point shooter. Ryan shot 45.1 percent from three-point range on 8.4 attempts per 36 minutes, a whopping 80.5 percent of his shots.
That diet has allowed him to shoot a 63.8 percent field goal percentage, which ranks in the league’s top 40 and seventh among non-bigs. He’s a pure shooting specialist in a league that needs shooting more than ever.
Why did the Pelicans let him go? It wasn’t for basketball reasons; they didn’t cut him to sign a clearly better player. They currently have 14 guaranteed contracts and it’s unclear if they could sign someone to take his place.
The reason the Pelicans gave him up was purely financial. As an organization, the Pelicans are absolutely unwilling to pay the luxury tax for any team, no matter how competitive it is. At the end of the day, an NBA team is a business, and the Pelicans’ owners want to maximize the profits from that business by never crossing that line. It’s a de facto ceiling for the team.
The Pelicans are a few million dollars over the tax limit, and Matt Ryan’s $2.2 million contract was supposed to be guaranteed on the first day of the season. New Orleans’ first goal is to get out of the luxury tax, then build the best team possible. That meant Ryan had to go.
Ryan is now on waivers, which allows NBA teams to claim him on his current contract. If multiple teams file a claim, the team with the highest “priority” will be awarded his contract, which, during the offseason, is ranked in reverse order from the previous year.
That means only a handful of teams are ahead of the Raptors in waiver priority, giving them a great chance to get him if they want it.
Should they pick? The Raptors needed to improve their shooting this summer, and while they did so in a few areas, they could certainly use more. Also, Ryan is only 6’2” but he plays bigger than his height, which is why he played 70% of his minutes as a forward last season. He could be an option to come in off the bench behind or next to RJ Barrett.
Gradey Dick is a high-level, if not elite, shooter. Immanuel Quickley is a great shooter. Kelly Olynyk is a great asset at his position. But elite shooters don’t grow on trees, and Ryan is unconscious from deep. He could play a valuable role this season as their young group of wings and guards develops.
The cost would be virtually zero. Plus, if there is a development between now and the start of the regular season in two months, they can always let him go or include him in a trade. If they let him go, he might be willing to come back on a two-way contract.
By trading Ryan, they could make an incredibly low offer for a player who could really help them, and it was all made possible by the Pelicans saving money. These smart, marginal moves are what help franchises build a team worth rooting for.
Next. Note the trade: Raptors sell high on RJ Barrett to get Jokic 2.0. Note the trade: Raptors sell high on RJ Barrett to get Jokic 2.0.
