On Friday, the New Orleans Pelicans trimmed their roster in a financially driven maneuver that moved them just $1.6 million over the luxury tax. The tax distribution to teams that don’t cross that threshold is a projected record high of $18.2M.
But despite waiving Matt Ryan at the start of last weekend while still satisfying the league minimum of having 14 players signed to standard contracts, New Orleans brought the six-foot-six sharpshooter back on board on Monday, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.
In 28 appearances with the Pelicans last regular season, including one start, Ryan averaged 5.4 points and knocked down 45.1 percent of his 3.3 attempts from three-point range.
That earned him a new three-year, $6.1 million contract in late April. However, while they guaranteed his $1.5 million deal for the 2023-24 campaign, his $2.2 million salary for 2024-25 wasn’t set to become guaranteed until the first day of the upcoming regular season.
Ryan now returns on a restructured one-year agreement.
The former Notre Dame Fighting Irish standout finished the 2021-22 season with the Celtics, appearing in one regular season game and getting into a playoff tilt during their Finals run that year.
The three-year veteran is a 41.1 percent three-point shooter, producing 4.4 points per contest for his career.
