Pelicans' Brian Roberts will become unrestricted free agent

In a race to secure needed salary cap room, the New Orleans Pelicans are not going to extend backup point guard Brian Roberts a qualifying offer and he will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

The Pelicans still need to secure enough cap space to make last Wednesday's trade work to acquire center Omer Asik from the Houston Rockets and extending an offer to Roberts would have made it even more difficult.

It's likely now Roberts will seek a franchise in free agency that's willing to offer him a key role as a starter or backup.