The New Orleans Pelicans ensured that one of their top players remains in a Pelicans jersey for the next several years after coming to an agreement on a contract extension with Herb Jones during the onset of NBA Summer League.
Herb Jones’ contract extension with the Pelicans is for three years and worth around $68 million, as per Shams Charania of ESPN. Jones has played his entire NBA career to this point with the Pelicans after they selected him with the No. 35 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
Jones has developed into one of the NBA’s premier defensive players, and in 2023-24, he finished fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting and was named to the All-Defensive First Team. However, the 2024-25 season was cut short for Jones after he suffered a shoulder injury and undergoing subsequent season-ending surgery. He was limited to only 20 games.
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But during his last healthy season the year before, he appeared in 76 games for the Pelicans at a little over 30 minutes per game. He averaged a career-high 11.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals with splits of 49.8 percent shooting from the field, 41.8 percent shooing from the three-point line and 86.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
During the Pelicans’ opening round playoff loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder that year, Jones averaged 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 39 percent shooting from the field, 33.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 100 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
It’s been a busy offseason so far for the Pelicans beginning with the firing of David Griffin and the hiring of Joe Dumars as executive vice president of basketball operations. The team acquired Jordan Poole in a trade with the Washington Wizards involving CJ McCollum and Kelly Olynyk, and they drafted two intriguing young players in Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen.
a]:text-link [&_>a]:underline">David Yapkowitz is a basketball journalist for ClutchPoints, writing news on the NBA, WNBA, and NCAA Basketball for both men and women. The Los Angeles native has bylines with Basketball Insiders, SB Nation, and The Next Hoops.