Addressing The New Orleans Pelicans’ Offseason Priorities
The Pelicans rocked the NBA by acquiring DeMarcus Cousins, but have a lot of work to do to convince the elite center to stay in New Orleans after his contract expires next season.
In my first post for 16 Wins A Ring, I discussed how the Sacramento Kings have benefited from the DeMarcus Cousins trade, despite seemingly trying as hard as they possibly could not to. Now, we’re going to explore the other side of that trade — the New Orleans Pelicans.
For those of you who are not up to speed: this February, Cousins and Omri Casspi were traded from Sacramento to New Orleans for Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, Buddy Hield and two draft picks. The move was widely considered a failure around the NBA for the Kings, and a resounding win for the Pelicans.
But, as I pointed out in that prior piece, Sacramento has somehow, almost without trying, found value in the group of misfits they traded for, and opened up opportunities for others. New Orleans, however, did not make the playoffs (as they had intended), after combining Cousins and fellow physical freak Anthony Davis.
That’s fine. The lack of playoffs for the Pelicans this year does not signal the end of any upside the trade entailed. Having arrived at the offseason, New Orleans now has the chance to build their own super team to compete with the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference.
If done correctly, the Pelicans could go from stage left to Larry O’Brien Trophy contenders overnight. But, in order to get there, they have a long, unprecedented climb ahead — a fun one at that.
The one talking point that will linger over New Orleans all of this offseason and the 2017–18 campaign will be whether they can convince their new, unrestricted free agent big man to re-sign at the end of next season. Ultimately, Cousins’ future decision will govern all that the Pelicans do in the next nine months.
Looking For A Replacement At Head Coach
Let’s start the voyage of exploration at the Head Coach’s office — currently occupied by Alvin Gentry, who is in his 15th year as a head coach in the league. In those 15 seasons (one spent as an interim with the Miami Heat), Gentry’s teams have made the playoffs twice, resulting in a first round loss with the Detroit Pistons in 1999, and a Conference Finals trip with the Phoenix Suns in 2010.
Gentry’s record as a head coach is not exactly pretty. His playoffs record is not great, nor is a 45.9 percent win rate, including a 34–48 record with New Orleans last season (11–14 with both Cousins and Davis).
You may be able to gather where I’m going with this. The Pelicans may need to move on from the 62-year-old.
In two seasons with the Pelicans, he has amassed a 39 percent win rate, has no history coaching a successful team, and at this stage, is not really the recruiting chip for other superstars that New Orleans would like him to be.
By trading away the Holiday-Hield-Evans-Davis blueprint the Pelicans had originally envisioned, they also traded away Gentry’s future. The only reason they’d want him around is if potential New Orleans returnee Chris Paul liked him in their one season together when Gentry was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers. But there are no reports confirming or denying that to my knowledge.
The problem here is there are very few head coaches on the market that would also act as a “recruiter,” in the John Calipari style. Scott Brooks, Mike D’Antoni and Tom Thibodeau were all snapped up this time last year.
Let’s take a look at a few possible candidates.
Jeff Van Gundy
Jeff Van Gundy is one name that has been thrown around recently by, yes, the Pelicans. He was linked to the gig the last time there was an opening, but many point to the fact that he may simply be looking for the right opportunity. If a big man tandem of Davis and Cousins is not the right opening, I don’t know what is.
Van Gundy would be almost the perfect hire. He is often pointed to as the most knowledgeable NBA broadcaster in the business, and has not spent a moment away from the league since being fired by the Houston Rockets in 2007.
The 55-year-old has been dissecting the best NBA offenses and defenses for years as part of a three-man broadcast team with Mike Breen and Mark Jackson. And guess what — he has dealt with other notable big men combinations before, such as the Larry Johnson-Patrick Ewing tandem for the 1999 Eastern Conference Champion New York Knicks.
As of the writing of this article, there are no indications that Van Gundy will be actively looking to make a return to coaching in the 2017–18 NBA season. But, as far as candidates go, he would be ideal. He’s also just about the only man on the market who properly fits the bill New Orleans would be looking for in a head coach.
Mark Jackson
Another name the Pelicans could potentially consider is Van Gundy’s running mate Mark Jackson. However, this one comes with caveats. Jackson, a former point guard for seven different teams, inherited Golden State as a talented perennial loser, and set them on the path Steve Kerr completed as two-time NBA champions.
While Jackson has been attributed a good deal of credit for getting Golden State to where they are today, he was fired for a reason. One reason is the way he managed his assistant coaches.
After highly-rated Assistant Coach Michael Malone left the Warriors organization following multiple disagreements with Jackson, management compelled the St. John’s alum to hire another assistant of equal repute. Instead, Jackson promoted Peter Myers, one of his incumbent assistants.
The following season, a breakdown in relations with two more of Jackson’s assistant coaches further drove the idea that he was letting dysfunction reign in his locker room. After assigning the popular Brian Scalabrine to the team’s D-League affiliate for “differences in philosophies,” Jackson fired Darren Erman for reportedly recording sensitive team information. Not the sort of regime that fosters a strong leadership reputation.
These are two of the main names New Orleans may look to in the offseason if they fire incumbent Alvin Gentry. They can of course hire an assistant coach from around the league — a direction that many teams have enjoyed success with lately — but whether a former assistant would be enough to lure the free agents they need, is unknown.
Free Agents To Target This Summer
With that, let’s explore who the Pelicans may be looking to sign this offseason. I have already mentioned the elephant in the room once in this article, so let’s bring him out of the closet. Welcome, Chris Paul!
Remember how Paul used to play for this team back when it was named the Hornets? Well, General Manager Dell Demps dealt him before the commencement of the 2011–12 season, fearing his star point guard would leave in free agency for nothing at the expiration of his contract.
During Paul’s tenure in New Orleans, the team was largely unable to provide the support required for the former Wake Forest point guard to make any decent headway into the playoffs. In his six seasons as a then-New Orleans Hornet, Paul enjoyed just one trip to the Western Conference Semifinals, and was knocked out in the first round twice.
Now, the times have changed — massively. If Paul is looking to leave the endless futility he has built with the Los Angeles Clippers, there are very few situations that he could slip into as seamlessly and as comfortably as the one in New Orleans.
Competition New Orleans Faces For Chris Paul
Besides the Pelicans, there are three main names being brought up in conjunction with the 32-year-old: the Denver Nuggets, the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs.
Denver and Houston present interesting situations, but also have a raft of problems. It is San Antonio that perhaps poses the biggest threat to New Orleans if Paul decides to leave Los Angeles. Working in their favor is arguably the greatest recruitment chip of all time — Head Coach Gregg Popovich.
The Spurs have been doing this for years: adding veterans to their roster to retool for another consecutive postseason appearance; another shot at the championship. If they make the playoffs again next year, this would be their 21st in a row. Paul would just be another cog in the San Antonio machine to help them consistently churn out championships. He would have to take a pay cut to do so, but it would undoubtedly give him the best shot he has to win a title before his time is up.
However, for the Spurs to sign Paul, they would need to move a handful of contracts — perhaps LaMarcus Aldridge and Tony Parker — to fit his expected maximum contract under the salary cap. The Pelicans would not have to go through this.
Reportedly, there is mutual interest between San Antonio and Paul. Why wouldn’t there be? It offers the man the best chance he has to achieve what he hasn’t yet in his glittering NBA career.
But even if New Orleans are (optimistically) second in line to sign Paul if he chooses to leave, it will take the guard foregoing about $45 million and one year on his contract, which he could earn with the Clippers thanks to the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s over 38 rule, which, by the way, Paul fought tooth and nail to get during negotiating. It now becomes clear how slim a chance the Pelicans have to sign the little maestro.
Other Options For The Pelicans In Free Agency
Sadly for New Orleans, Kentucky alum and Washington Wizards point guard John Wall, who was teammates with DeMarcus Cousins on the Wildcats in 2009–10, does not come off contract until the end of the 2018–19 season. Wall and Cousins and have repeatedly expressed desire to play with each other in the league, and with another former John Calipari man in Anthony Davis roaming the paint for the Pelicans, it would’ve been the ideal situation. However, the fact that Wall’s contract is one year longer than Cousins’ increases the possibility that they link up at another time.
So, is there anyone left out there that New Orleans could consider adding to the super core in hopes of convincing Cousins to stick around? Well, there’s Gordon Hayward, who is reportedly being chased from pillar to post by the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat.
Hayward’s scoring skyrocketed into the upper echelons for his position this past season. He averaged 21.9 points per game on 47.1 percent shooting from the field and 39.8 percent from 3. Whether he’s a good enough playmaker to help the Pelicans realize their vision for the team is another story. 3.5 assists are probably not quite what you’re after from a franchise swingman who’ll be aiming for a max deal.
Kyle Lowry is another option. He would replace unrestricted free agent point guard Jrue Holiday well. After all, he has better scoring and rebounding numbers, and almost identical assist numbers (22.4, 7 and 4.8 vs. 15.4, 7.3 and 3.9).
However, Lowry came up short again in the playoffs this year, which is becoming a running theme for the 31-year-old. His postseason numbers were a meager 15.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, with his 3-point percentage down from 41.2 percent in the regular season to 34.2 percent in the playoffs.
At the end of the day, these are all just a handful of things for New Orleans to consider in order to help them set the foundation to unleash the scariest big man combination in NBA history. Yep, I said it.
It’s clear the Pelicans have to come up with something. What that will be, though, is anyone’s guess.
