Davis, Asik, and Jrue Holiday are all above average defenders. Any time you can have a PF/C combo of Davis and Asik, and be in the bottom 3rd defensively in the league, I think says something about the scheme they're running there. Seems like a decent guy, but don't think he's a great head coach.
Coaching in the west, that's a tougher job than the eastern conference. Pelicans would have competed if they weren't in the west.
Incorrect. You are thinking of George Shin the previous owner who was a cheapskate. The current owner also owns the NFL Saints and has plenty of money. He is old as dirt, very impatient, wants to win now, and doesn't mind spending money to do it.
They also traded away this years draft pick for the one year rental of Asik. They've been so obsessed with the idea of urgently competing for the playoffs instead of building a talented core for a decade. Davis is still learning and hasn't reached his peak; but the team has lost a number of young assets for the result of a first round exit. They should have followed the Thunders model of building around Durant with youth while not rushing to compete until the core was ready.
Yeah, I know Shinn sold the team to Tom Benson, and one of the main reasons he's as rich as he is is the tax subsidies the Saints have received over the last 30 years, as well as the $400 million in subsidies they will receive over the next 10. So, he has money, mostly thanks to the tax payers of the state of Louisiana, but the Pelicans situation is a little murky right now. Technically, he only owns 5% of the Pelicans, but that's 100% of the voting shares. The other 95% (all non-voting) are held in a trust for his daughter and two grandchildren. However, they're in the middle of a big legal fight over that now. He wants to cut out his heirs and give both teams to his 3rd wife. The heirs are trying to have him declared incompetent so they can take over the teams now. Very messy, and it will take years to straighten out - probably not until long after he's dead. Still, since he currently controls 100% of the voting shares in the team, I suspect he can hire whoever he wants to coach the team and pay them whatever he wants. Still, I wander what big names are available, and of those, which ones would actually seriously consider the job. Yep, they have Anthony Davis to build around, but that's not exactly a franchise with a history of making smart player personnel moves (other than drafting Davis - the obvious choice). And, if they don't start improving, or worse, regress, there is a strong chance AD could pull a CP3 and force his way out of the Big Easy, which would probably get Monty's replacement fired, too. BNM
I was going to write that this thread lazily assumes that the Pelicans' coaching search will look only at "big guns." I looked for a post to quote and found too many to quote--at least 6 posts are from lazy posters who assume it must be a "big gun." The smallest NBA market is the least likely to find a big gun. Their last Head Coach hire was an assistant...Monty Williams.
This writer thinks that the VP wants a big name to attract fans, but that the GM is into modern stats, playing the inside-outside game. http://www.bourbonstreetshots.com/2...ms/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
