New Orleans Pelicans Rumors: Dante Cunningham to Decline Player Option
Dante Cunningham did what he was supposed to do during his tenure with the New Orleans Pelicans. He was always a solid defender who has a decent mid-range jumper. And surprisingly, he extended his range beyond the three-point line when Alvin Gentry became the team's head coach.
The Pelicans would love to keep him for another year, but Cunningham has decided that it's time to test the open market and see if he could earn himself a big contract.
ESPN's Chris Haynes has reported that Cunningham is planning to decline his $3.1 million player option for the upcoming season.
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Cunningham's numbers may not look impressive, but he actually contributes more than that. He's a glue guy who brings a lot of intangibles to the table. He can guard multiple positions and he can also fill a number of roles if he's asked to do it. Need someone to start at power forward or small forward? Cunningham can do that. Need someone to guard the opposing team's best wing or post player? He's still the man for the job.
Cunningham is willing to do all the dirty work to help out his team and every franchise in the league needs someone like him on their roster. A lot of contenders will probably give him a long look during the offseason, but some observers believe there's actually a good chance that he will end up re-signing with the Pelicans.
"I still expect Cunningham to return to the Pelicans as they'll seek to use part of their MLE to re-sign him or use his Bird Rights if the team stays over the cap. He may agree to slightly below market value too as he decides to show loyalty to a franchise that signed him despite the legal troubles three years ago," Oleh Kosel of The Bird Writes said in his piece.
"However, if New Orleans winds up making a big splash during the offseason through trade or Jrue Holiday outright leaves in free agency, then all bets would be off," he continued.
