Veteran center DeAndre Jordan agreed to a deal with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Jordan’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, told ESPN’s Shams Charania his client will sign a one-year, $3.6 million contract to join the Pelicans.
The Pelicans entered the day with $4.2 million under the $187.9 million tax line. They were also $5.9 million under the first apron, so they still have some wiggle room even with Jordan’s deal to operate before facing potential restrictions.
Updated 2025-26 Pelicans Depth Chart
PG: Jordan Poole, Jeremiah Fears
SG: Herb Jones, Jordan Hawkins, Jose Alvarado
SF: Trey Murphy III, Saddiq Bey
PF: Zion Williamson, Kevon Looney, Karlo Matković
C: Yves Missi, Derik Queen, Hunter Dickinson, DeAndre Jordan
The Pelicans are adding Jordan one day after announcing Jaden Springer had been waived.
Jordan found a comfort zone on the Denver Nuggets after accepting a role well below how he had been utilized to that point. Starting with the 2022-23 campaign, he signed three successive one-year contracts with them. For its part, Denver determined he offered value that didn’t necessarily show up in the box score.
The 36-year-old was once again a bit-part player for the Nuggets in 2024-25. He averaged 3.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.5 blocks in 12.3 minutes per contest over 56 appearances.
Jordan rolled back the clock a bit in mid-March while replacing an injured Nikola Jokić in the starting lineup. He had 11 points and 15 rebounds in a 116-111 victory over the Houston Rockets and posted 10 boards, 17 rebounds and seven assists in a 129-119 loss to the Chicago Bulls the following night.
The challenge of building out a roster goes beyond figuring out how the pieces fit on the court. All of the personalities need to mesh in the locker room to withstand the mental grind of an 82-game regular season and then the playoffs.
While Jordan provided some depth behind Jokić at center, his more intangible contributions are why he kept finding a job with the Nuggets.
“He’s always talking, he’s super vocal, encouraging, [and is] always keeping guys in good spirits,” guard Jamal Murray told reporters after the Rockets win in March. “I just think he does a great job of staying involved. As a player, you want to play, you want to play, you want to give back to the team in that way, but he does such a good job of just adapting to his role on the team and being a team guy.”
Sooner or later, that wasn’t going to be enough to justify a roster spot in the Mile High City. Now, Jordan is off to help add some positive vibes to New Orleans.
Head coach Willie Green will likely be relying on Jordan as the Pelicans’ third center behind Yves Missi and rookie Derik Queen. He could take on the role Hunter Dickinson played in the opener against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Dickinson was only on the floor for five minutes in the game, all in the first quarter, but he was minus-12 in that short burst. It was the second-worst mark for any Pelicans player after Saddiq Bey (minus-13), who played 30 minutes.
