Takeaways as New Orleans Pelicans core praised by NBA GMs in new survey
By Willie Lutz
After spending an offseason reloading their roster, league executives are taking a liking to what’s going on with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Hiring David Griffin to be the team’s Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations in April, it seems the New Orleans Pelicans are striking favor among other league decision-makers. Earlier this week, the NBA released the results of its annual GM Survey, which yielded a lot of love for the Big Easy Birds.
Given these results, Griffin is giving the Pelicans’ hiring staff a lot of reasons to feel pretty great about his joining of the organization.
The early returns, at least, show an executive moving a team back into contention. They Won’t Bow Down this season, their young nucleus is giving other teams a reason to in the future.
Among league executives, the New Orleans Pelicans have been named the team with the most promising young core by 28% voters. The highest tally in the category, the team is probably boosted most-heavily by their first overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Zion Williamson.
Seemingly, front office League Pass users will be saying “let’s dance” before tuning into Pelicans games for the duration of the season. They’re feeling the Zion hype and just about everyone should, considering the rookie’s performance in the preseason.
Named the second-most fun team to watch behind the Denver Nuggets, who received 31% of votes to the Pelicans’ 21%, executives are excited to catch New Orleans games this season.
Even assistant coach Chris Finch received praise, joining David Vanterpool of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dan Burke of the Indiana Pacers, who all tied with 11% of the vote for the best assistant coach in the NBA.
However, Griffin’s moves as a general manager weren’t the only praises sung of the New Orleans Pelicans. A few of the players stood out to front office personnel in this year’s rendition of the survey, especially a few key rookies.