Power forward Julius Randle has signed with the New Orleans Pelicans on a two-year deal worth $18 million, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Free agent Julius Randle has agreed to a two-year, $18M deal with New Orleans, league sources tell ESPN. Player option second year.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2018
The Pelicans’ franchise cornerstone and Randle’s fellow Kentucky alum Anthony Davis played a big part in recruiting Randle, per Wojnarowski:
Anthony Davis' tenacious recruiting helped close the deal on Randle, league source tells ESPN. https://t.co/8BzHoVYnT5
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2018
Randle joins a Pelicans big-man rotation that includes Nikola Mirotic and Davis. With those three bigs (Mirotic could also play at small forward), this signing may play a role in precluding unrestricted free agent DeMarcus Cousins from re-signing in New Orleans.
