The 2019-20 season of the New Orleans Pelicans was a bit of a roller coaster and ultimately ended in disappointment when they weren’t able to bridge the gap to earn a place in the play-in game during the reboot of the game. NBA in Orlando. But there was a lot to like from what is a very young team. Brandon Ingram has established himself as a top scorer by 20 points per game at just 22 years old. Lonzo Ball seemed to have found something like a sweater, although consistency still eludes him. Zion Williamson was Zion Williamson when he was on track before the season was postponed.
Front office executives didn’t think all of this was enough, however, for Alvin Gentry to keep his job. Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Saturday that the franchise had relieved Gentry of his duties after four seasons at the helm.
New Orleans fired coach Alvin Gentry, sources say @_andrew_lopez and I.
– Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 15, 2020
The Pelicans are now approaching a crossroads with almost everything hinging on the decision they make. They need to find their boyfriend, the coach who can both help shape the young talent on the roster and put together a successful product on the pitch. It’s not easy to find, but New Orleans knows they have to find it.
How the team chooses to manage Zion, both in terms of usage and load management types, will decide the team’s immediate and long-term future. Whichever coach they decide on will need to be creative enough to find the most effective and least stressful way to use their generational superstar. The Pelicans have a good blend of juvenile talent and quality vets right now, but if you don’t play winning basketball, things could fall apart pretty quickly.
They can’t screw it up. If they hire the wrong coach and travel with him for the next three years with little success, the situation will be dire. Zion will arrive on his rookie extension. Ingram will be nearing the end of the second deal and will most likely sign this offseason. Those two are the future of New Orleans basketball, and if they’re not happy with the way things are going, circumstances can go south quickly. The Pelicans certainly don’t need to remember this after their Anthony Davis debacle just last season.
Kenny Atkinson seems like the natural choice. He worked with current Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon in Brooklyn and has shown great skill in making the most of the talent he has. He appeared to have left the Nets because of his relationship with the team’s superstars, not because his coach was shoddy. He knows what he’s doing and the sky seems the limit if he’s given a clean slate of young New Orleans talent to work with. Atkinson is also the safe choice due to his development track record. Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie were virtually nobody before they went to work for Atkinson. They are now both legitimate holders in the NBA and have been rewarded as such. Imagine what he could do with someone like Zion after he turned G League cleanup projects into playoff teams in New York.
It didn’t look like Gentry had had a good jolt. Sion was injured for most of the season and they had to be careful with him even when he returned. The Pelicans were the most underwhelming team in the bubble, but I certainly wouldn’t be offended if we made the mark up to the grueling circumstances surrounding the restart in general. But the Pelicans have moved on, and what they do will change everything.
