Corey Webster
Reply With QuoteBreaking Down Corey Webster’s Shot at the Big Time
Yesterday it was revealed that Tall Blacks star Corey Webster had reached an agreement with the New Orleans Pelicans to attend their training camp on a three year, non-guaranteed deal.
The move was understandably applauded in New Zealand – Webster will be one of only 600 possible players invited to a NBA training camp – but before we all prepare to purchase Pelicans jerseys plastered with Websters name, we first must take a look at what the contract entitles him to.
The Boring Stuff
Understanding the every nuance of the NBA salary cap is mammoth task for even the most avid fan of the league, so I will look to be as straightforward as possible with my explanations.
Webster’s deal is termed as a “summer contract”, which means that he is not guaranteed any money unless he makes the final roster announced on the 26th of October. This summer contract allows the team to pay him “food money” of roughly $127 per day as well as footing the bill for any hotel and travel expenses incurred.
Because he has made the training camp roster, Webster is also eligible to receive up to $2000 per week for roughly a month, though this compensation is deducted from his first paycheck if he does make the final roster.
Because he has signed a three year deal as opposed to the standard one year version of a summer contract, Webster is also fully insured by the Pelicans against injury.
Making The Roster
The NBA mandates that teams must make their final cuts by 5PM on October the 24th. If Webster makes it past this deadline, he will be guaranteed at least one day’s pay.
Teams are allowed to carry a maximum of 15 players on their roster for the NBA season, though some teams decide to dip below this maximum in order to leave a roster spot open for any number of reasons.
The Pelicans currently have 13 players with fully-guaranteed contracts for the upcoming season, meaning that there are two open roster spots that Webster will be competing for.
The Pelicans have also submitted a “qualifying offer” to veteran guard Norris Cole and as such it is almost certain that he will be on the roster come the start of next season, narrowing the possible spots for Webster down to one.
Who Is His Competition?
To my knowledge, there are two players who also currently have agreements with the Pelicans to attend their training camp – Bryce Dejean-Jones and Sean Kilpatrick.
Kilpatrick is a 6’4″ guard who played his college ball at the University of Cincinnati before going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft. He bounced around the D-League for a few months before he famously signed a 10-day contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves, chosen specially because he was “within a train ride away”.
Kilpatrick is on a non-guaranteed deal similar to Webster in the sense that if he is cut before the final rosters are announced, he does not see a cent of his contracted money.
Dejean-Jones is a 6’6″ swingman who was undrafted out Iowa State University. Playing for the Pelicans in Summer League, Dejean-Jones was able to ride some hot shooting to a solid rate of scoring and, more importantly, parlayed this into a $50,000 guarantee for the upcoming season.
This guarantee makes Dejean-Jones the frontrunner for the final roster spot, as even if the Pelicans decide that another player is worthy of making the roster, they will still have to pay Dejean-Jones $50,000 on top of the salary that they will be paying the player on the roster.
Other players rumoured to potentially be attending the camp are veteran wings Rasual Butler and Chris Douglas-Roberts.
Can Webster Make It?
Despite this incentive for the Pelicans to take Dejean-Jones, the competition for the final roster spot is certainly still wide open. In the grand scheme of things, $50,000 is a pittance to an NBA team and if they think Webster is the best player they will definitely take him.
Teams don’t give out guarantees for nothing though, and the Pelicans brass certainly saw something in Dejean-Jones where they offered guaranteed money to ensure that it was their training camp that he attended as opposed to someone else’s.
What Happens if Webster Makes the Roster?
Should the Tall Black guard win out in the competition for the final roster spot, there is a genuine path to playing time.
Guards Jrue Holliday and Quincy Pondexter are coming off of major injuries while other perimeter options such as Alonzo Gee and Luke Babbitt haven’t proven to be worthy of minutes in prior seasons.
While it is likely that Webster would begin the season outside of the rotation, injuries or ineptitude could see him get real minutes for the Pelicans.
The equation therefore seems relatively simple. Beat out Dejean-Jones, Kilpatrick, and any other bodies that the Pelicans decide to bring to camp and their exhibition season and it’s likely that Webster will realise his dream of becoming a fully-fledged NBA player.
