Pelicans agree to four-year contract with Jose Alvarado

Jose Alvarado has been a revelation for the New Orleans Pelicans.

The undrafted rookie guard’s defense and shooting off the bench has forced his way into the playing rotation.

To secure their find long-term, Shams Charania first reported Sunday that the Pelicans rewarded Alvarado with a new four-year contract worth $6.5 million.

Sources: The New Orleans Pelicans are signing two-way guard Jose Alvarado to a four-year, $6.5 million deal. Tremendous undrafted success story. Alvarado gets $3.4M guaranteed over next two years, including $1.5M for rest of this season on top of $800K he’s made so far.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 28, 2022

The Georgia Tech product signed a two-way deal with the Pelicans. The new contract makes him eligible for this year’s playoffs.

Alvarado is averaging 6.2 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists over 15.3 minutes per game.

JOSE DAY!!

Check out some highlights from this season 😎 pic.twitter.com/rMi4JjGurj

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 28, 2022

PELICANS RELEASE:
NEW ORLEANS –The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has signed guard Jose Alvarado to a multi-year contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Alvarado, 6-0, 179, has appeared in 47 games (one start) for the Pelicans this season, averaging 6.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals in 15.3 minutes per contest.

Undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native leads all rookies in assist/turnover ratio (3.88), steal/turnover ratio (1.79), and plus/minus (+163) while ranking second among all rookies with 1.3 steals per game.

Over his four-year career at Georgia Tech, Alvarado appeared in 106 career games (104 starts), averaging 13.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 2.1 steals in 34.9 minutes played. In his 2020-21 senior campaign, Alvarado was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and earned All-ACC Second Team honors after averaging 15.2 points, 4.1 assists, and 2.8 steals.

In a related move, the Pelicans have released Tyrone Wallace, who signed a second 10-day contract with the team on March 21, 2022.

Wallace, 6-5, 198, appeared in six games with the Pelicans, averaging 2.8 points and 1.3 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per contest.

New Orleans’s roster now stands at 16 players, including one two-way player.