The New Orleans Pelicans, organizational unrest and the future

The New Orleans Pelicans find themselves in a volatile situation, and this is true off the court as well as on.

The New Orleans Pelicans may be a mess on the court; pull back the curtain, though, and things look even worse. For those not aware, the Benson family has been embroiled in a battle of secession for the last year ever since the elder statesmen and current owner, Tom Benson, made a move to cut his children and grandchildren out of his will.

In particular, Tom wishes for ownership of his two sports teams, the New Orleans Pelicans and Saints, to transfer to his third wife, Gayle Benson, instead of his daughter and grandchildren. Within months of the bombshell, the heirs, led by Rita Benson Leblanc, filed a suit claiming Tom Benson was incompetent to administrate his empire, insinuating he was being manipulated by Gayle. In June of 2015, Orleans Civil District Judge Kern Reese found Tom to be competent, per nola.com.

With such a complex web of assets, though, Tom cutting his heirs out is not as simple as it seems despite the ruling in favor of his competence. The trustees are forcing a trial in 2016 to determine if Tom can legally remove them, according to nola.com. It has been reported that both sides would like to settle the matter outside of court, but Renee Benson, his daughter, refuses to meet with a representative, understandably. If the family is going to handle matters like a family, she wants to see her father face to face, as reported by the New Orleans Advocate.

In the meantime, calls for Tom Benson to sell the beloved sports franchises have begun to ring out. The most poignant of which was put forth by Jeff Duncan of Nola.com. The crux of the argument put forth by Duncan is that, while Benson owns both teams, they belong to the city of New Orleans and its people. The sale of both franchises could give them longterm stability with a messy secession proceeding looming in the future. Saving the franchises from the possibility of being relocated, Duncan argues a sale could preserve Benson’s legacy.

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On Sunday, Tom Benson issued a strong statement reiterating he has absolutely no intention to sell the franchises, his dedication to the city and the economic benefits of the teams on the greater New Orleans area. The situation is a tangled mess, and a solution to the whole ordeal does not seem to be on the horizon.

In the same statement issued by Tom, Benson doubled down on his dedication to winning championships with a sense of urgency in regards to both franchises. For fans of the New Orleans Pelicans as well as the New Orleans Saints, this statement should be cause for grave concern. Both franchises have been focused on winning as quickly as possible since Benson took ownership, in the case of the Pelicans, and since the Super Bowl season, in the case of the Saints.

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This “win now” mentality can be credited with multiple moves that have provided immediate benefit to the franchises but have crippled the teams’ longterm flexibility. The Saints have consistently been handing free agents massive contracts with little to show for it, and the Pelicans have been making a habit of trading away valuable draft picks for proven talent.

By reasserting his dedication to winning now, fans are now left wondering if either franchise will be righting the ship anytime soon. The Saints could benefit greatly from a full-blown rebuild, while the Pelicans may be fine with just a dramatic retooling. In both cases, though, neither team will be competing for a title while they rebuild or retool, making the probability of either franchise undergoing the ugly process of rebuilding unlikely. Unfortunately, the more likely scenario is for both franchises to continue to make similar moves to attempt to secure a championship as soon as possible.

As the trial to remove the heirs from the will looms in 2016, it is unclear what the future holds for both the New Orleans Pelicans and Saints. The legal battle will most likely carry on for quite some time, and it may be years before the situation is resolved. With an ownership structure facing massive internal legal challenges and dedicated to winning as soon as possible, the future is only getting cloudier.