Hawkins' $5.7M Exit Clears Mathurin
New Orleans cleared $5.7 million by sending Jordan Hawkins to Memphis, opening room for Bennedict Mathurin.
Photo: NBA.com / New Orleans Pelicans. headshot.
New Orleans traded Jordan Hawkins to Memphis and cleared $5.7 million in salary.
Hawkins, Micah Peavy, a future second-round pick, and a future second-round pick swap went to the Grizzlies for AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson, the sheet that unlocks Bennedict Mathurin's two-year, $16 million deal.
Watch the minutes collapse first. Hawkins played 23.6 minutes and scored 10.8 points a night in 2024-25. Last season that shrank to 13.6 minutes and 5.1 points across 51 games in a crowded Pelicans backcourt. A No. 14 pick from the 2023 draft is now gone before his fourth season, and the reason sits on the apron, not on a shooting contest.
Bobby Marks put the savings at $5.7 million. That is the exact number that makes Mathurin's two-year, $16 million signing with a player option fit under New Orleans' first-apron math. AJ Johnson, 21 and the No. 23 pick in 2024, arrives for a training-camp look. Taj Gibson, 41, is the other body in the deal and is expected to be waived. Memphis leaves with a shooter who can still stretch a floor, a second young wing in Peavy, and two draft chips while sitting over the 15-man guaranteed floor.
Across three seasons in New Orleans, Hawkins averaged 8.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 18 minutes with 34.8 percent shooting from three. The tape that got him drafted still flashes on catch-and-fire nights. The tape that got him traded is the empty minutes next to Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, and a guard pile that stopped needing another spacer at that price.
Memphis already had roster crunch after collecting assets all summer. Adding Hawkins and Peavy does not clear that crunch; it adds decisions before tip. For New Orleans the decision is cleaner. Mathurin is the wing they wanted. Hawkins is the salary they moved to pay him. The trade is a spreadsheet win dressed as a four-player deal.
Photo: NBA.com. Jordan Hawkins featured still on NBA.com trade report, Sep 8, 2026. Landscape.
The close is simple. New Orleans paid a lottery pick to keep Mathurin. Memphis paid roster noise to bank a shooter and picks. Cap sheets decided this one before the first possession in Memphis ever tips.
Sources
- ESPN: Pelicans trade Jordan Hawkins to Grizzlies in 4-player deal - Shams; Hawkins/Peavy/future 2nd/2nd swap for Johnson/Gibson; $5.7M savings (Bobby Marks); Mathurin $16M / 2 years; Hawkins 5.1 PPG / 13.6 MPG vs 10.8 / 23.6 prior; No. 14 in 2023
- NBA.com: Grizzlies, Pelicans agree to 4-player trade - full trade tree; career 8.0 PPG / 34.8% 3PT / 18 MPG; Johnson No. 23 in 2024
- NOLA.com / Times-Picayune - confirms deal; Mathurin player option year two; camp opens Sep 29
- Photos: NBA.com Hawkins headshot 1641722; NBA.com Hawkins featured still
Related Posts
Darius Acuff Jr. Ties the NBA Rookie Record With 9 Threes and Is the First Since Shaq With 150 Points in His First 6 Games
Darius Acuff Jr. made 9 of 14 threes and scored 38 at Memphis, and he is the first since Shaquille O'Neal with 150 points in his first 6 games.
68-63 in Game 7, 3 Thunder Starters Out and a Teenager's 9 Threes: The Basketball Week in Review, Oct. 26-Nov. 1
Gabby Williams scored 28 after halftime as the Valkyries won Game 7 68-63, Oklahoma City lost three starters, and two 19-year-olds hit the record book in Memphis.
71 Points Is the Valkyries' Finals High, So Game 7 Rides on Whether Atlanta Gets to 70
Golden State has scored between 64 and 71 in all six Finals games; Atlanta has won every game it reached 70 and lost every game it did not, by our count. Game 7 tips at 8 p.m. ET at Chase Center.