Micah Peavy’s NBA career is officially ready to begin. He’ll take the summer league floor in Las Vegas later this week, matching up against the Timberwolves on Thursday. And if the Pelicans are not already your favorite NBA squad, they might have to be. Peavy will be coached, at summer league and throughout the year, by beloved Hoya big, Greg Monroe, a player development coach for New Orleans.

It’s an exciting time to be a Hoya fan! It’s an even better time to be Micah Peavy. Before taking the floor on Thursday, he inked his first NBA contract – a four-year deal worth $8.7 million. His deal guarantees him $3.4 million for the first two years. Years three and four include a trigger and a team option (basically two chances for New Orleans to either keep him on the current deal or get out of his contract). That’s a typical second round deal for guys who get them. Essentially the same deal that Bronny James signed, though he got a bit more guaranteed…I wonder why.

While Peavy’s contract is a fairly standard one for a first round pick, it was not necessarily a sure thing. He’s right at the cutoff in the draft order (Pick 40) where you start to see more two-way contracts or no contracts. If you’re a fan of reading tea leaves, they’re saying that Joe Dumars and the New Orleans Pelicans are confident that Peavy is going to be at least an end of bench guy in their NBA rotation. All before he’s played a minute of NBA ball.

As we’ve discussed, the Pelicans may not be the…uh…most respected NBA franchise, but it’s potentially a good situation for Peavy. Maybe not to win a lot, but he will get an opportunity on a team that is looking for an identity and has a history of not being afraid to play guys like Micah early in their careers.

Best case scenario? Over the next year and a half or so Micah plays his way into a desired trade piece for a contender.

For his part, Micah knows who he is and his path to success. Responding to reporter questions after practice about what he wants to show as a Pelican, Micah said,

“That I’m a dog. That I make winning plays. I want to guard the best player on the court and show what I can do.”

The hits kept rolling…

“A lot of guys don’t like playing defense. I love it.” Said with a very cheeky grin on his face.

He also shouted out Trey Murphy as a guy he was looking up to and hoping to learn from. Trey Murphy is one of the Pelican archetypes that should give Peavy confidence. A guy that came in with a great defensive reputation and saw his offensive game expand. Peavy isn’t ever going to be the offensive player that Murphy is, but he recognizes the path forward. 

Look, we were all in before. I said, somewhat jokingly, that Peavy, along with Tommy Sorber, was going to make the NBA All-Rookie Team. I am now clearing out space on Peavy Island and buying up all the property I can. Peavy is GOING to finish on the All-Rookie team and make the All Star Rising Stars game (if they still have that). 

PSA: You have until Thursday to grab real estate over here on Peavy Island, because after he takes the court at summer league, the train is leaving the station.

Here is Peavy’s schedule for summer league action along with where you can watch.

You can bet your beignets the WAG will have coverage of Micah’s rise to glory.

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