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The Oklahoma City Thunder signed guard Norris Cole, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti.
Cole (6-2, 175), a two-time NBA Champion, owns career averages 7.1 points, 2.8 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 22.7 minutes in 347 games (60 starts) over five seasons with Miami and New Orleans. The 28th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, he most recently played with the Shandong Golden Stars of the Chinese Basketball Association.
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The New Orleans Pelicans announced today the team has re-signed restricted free agent guard Norris Cole.
Cole, 6-2, 175, was acquired on Feb. 19, 2015, from Miami in a three-way trade involving Phoenix. In 28 regular season games with the Pelicans last season, Cole averaged 9.9 points and 3.2 assists per contest. Cole appeared in 75 total games during the 2014-15 season between New Orleans and Miami, averaging 7.6 points and 3.4 assists per game. Cole appeared in all four of New Orleans’ playoff games against Golden State in the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs, averaging 8.8 points and 1.8 assists.
Originally selected 28th overall out of Cleveland State in the 2011 NBA Draft by Chicago, Cole has appeared in 302 career regular season games, with averages of 6.6 points and 2.6 assists per game. Additionally, Cole has appeared in 64 career playoff games, holding averages of 4.5 points and 1.5 assists, winning championships with Miami in 2012 and 2013.
Norris Cole is a good backup guard. And he has a cool haircut. Here’s the New Orleans Times Picayune reporting on the Pelicans, who hope to keep Cole on their squad. Last season in 28 games for New Orleans, Cole averaged 9.9 points and 3.2 assists in 24.4 minutes per outing:
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The Pelicans declined last week to withdraw their qualifying offer of $3 million to Cole. The chances for New Orleans to retain Cole improves as he remains unsigned. Most of the teams in the NBA have already made their most important deals in free agency.
At this point, the Pelicans’ qualifying could end up as the most money Cole may be offered on the open market in free agency. Although the Philadelphis 76ers have been one of the teams that have expressed interest, according to sources, the Pelicans can also match any offer Cole receives.
”Of course, I would love to see Norris back,” Pelicans forward Quincy Pondexter said earlier this week. ”I know that he’s trying to figure what’s best for himself and family. Norris is such a huge part of our team, a huge part of our success last year. I don’t think we make the run without him and so to have him back and have Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson healthy, I think it’s going to be a great year for our team.”
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The Miami HEAT announced today that they have exercised their team option on guard Norris Cole for the 2014-15 season.
Cole has appeared in 145 career games (six starts) and averaged 6.1 points, 2.0 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 19.7 minutes while shooting 40.7 percent from the field. Last season, he led the Miami reserves in assists 37 times, steals on 29 occasions, points 12 times and in rebounds and minutes six times each. In his two seasons with the HEAT, Cole has helped Miami capture back-to-back NBA championships, appearing in 40 postseason games while averaging 4.1 points, 1.4 assists and 1.2 rebounds in 14.7 minutes of action.
Cole was originally drafted by Minnesota in the first round (28th overall) of the 2011 NBA Draft before his draft rights were acquired by the HEAT in a draft night trade.
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Miami Heat guard Norris Cole will leave the speculation to the media.
His only focus is on becoming a better player as he enters his third NBA season. The chatter about him possibly being on the trading block is secondary.
“I can’t control that,” Cole said. “The only thing I can do is control what I can control and that’s to make sure I’m in the best shape, make sure I’m ready to perform and make sure when I get out there I show what I can do. Anything else, I can’t control that, so I don’t worry my mind about that.”
Cole said he heard of the recent Fox Sports report the Heat may have dangled his name in trade offers. He will leave those decisions to management, but he remains comfortable in Miami.
Reported by Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun Sentinel