Dante Cunningham will decline his player option with the New Orleans Pelicans for the 17-18 season to become a free agent.

Cunningham's player option for 17-18 was worth $3.1 million.

Cunningham averaged 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in 25.0 minutes over 66 games this season with the Pelicans.

The New Orleans Pelicans will sign Axel Toupane from Raptors 905 of the D-League.

Toupane previously played for the Milwaukee Bucks this season and appeared in 21 games during the 15-16 season with the Denver Nuggets.

Toupane was averaging 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists this season in the D-League.

The New Orleans Pelicans will sign Quinn Cook to a two-year deal.

Cook has been on two 10-day contracts with the Pelicans.

Cook has averaged 2.7 points in 6.1 minutes over six games with the Pelicans.

Cook also played for the Dallas Mavericks this season after going undrafted out of Duke.

The New Orleans Pelicans are tied for fifth in the NBA in net rating since March 1st as they've worked in DeMarcus Cousins.

The question for the Pelicans is no longer getting Anthony Davis another star player.

“I look at AD and the way he’s played -- he’s played like a top-five player the whole season,” Alvin Gentry said. “And not only that, he’s done it for over 70 games. That’s a real positive in itself, right there.

“And you can see he and DeMarcus are going to be fine together. You put them in a training camp and you’re able to really hone in on what you want to do and how they can play together. They can be very, very effective. I think we have a chance to move forward.”

The Pelicans have been eliminated from the playoffs but they're ending the season with optimism. 

“This past two-and-a-half, three weeks, we’ve really been jelling well together, figuring out how we want to play,” Davis said. “We definitely got something out of it, and now we have four games left to continue to build on it.”

The Pelicans have a plus-2.8 net rating when Cousins and Davis share the court in their almost 400 minutes together, and that number jumps to plus-5.2 since March 1 and plus-12.8 over their past 10 games.

Jrue Holiday will be a free agent for the first time in his career this offseason.

"I haven't thought about it, not even a little bit," said Holiday about his free agent plans.

Holiday was asked if he's optimistic about the future of the New Orleans Pelicans and their future.

"Yeah, I think so. It's been fun to play," Holiday said when asked if he fits into the Pelicans' new offense. "Obviously, we've been winning more frequently, put some streaks together. It's been really good. Obviously, we added a big piece and we want to win more frequently, or whatever, but it's been fun."

The Pelicans can offer Holiday a five-year contract.