New Orleans Pelicans: Finding Their Own Brad Stevens

If Alvin Gentry gets fired then the New Orleans Pelicans need to find a coach like Brad Stevens.

The New Orleans Pelicans are trying to build their franchise up around a young core. There are many ways to do this in the NBA but almost all of them require good coaching.

Right now it is early in a new era of Pelicans’ basketball that is led by a core of young players. Strangely, this New Orleans Pelicans team has a similar feel to another young team who has recently built themselves into contenders. That team is the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics turned the page to a new era of their own back in 2013 when Celtics executive Danny Ainge traded away team superstar

s Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets. In return, the Celtics received a boatload of future picks and young players.

This is how team executive David Griffin is building the New Orleans Pelicans. After trading franchise cornerstone Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers for a young core of players and draft picks, the New Orleans Pelicans are following Boston’s model.

By following the Boston Celtics’ approach, there’s one last step that the New Orleans Pelicans need to make. That step is finding the next head coach for the team, one who will be right for the Pelicans’ future.

When taking on the New Orleans Pelicans job last year, David Griffin gave Gentry all his support, but after his first season with the young Pelicans, he showed he’s not the coach for the future.

With a core of young players like Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Zion Williamson, Jaxson Hayes, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker it’s clear that this New Orleans Pelicans team needs a teacher at the head coaching position, something Gentry was not.

This is reminiscent of the Boston Celtics after they traded Pierce and Garnett because the team still had a good coach in Doc Rivers, but he wasn’t the coach for the team’s incoming young players. The Pierce-Garnett trade caused the Celtics to transition to Brad Stevens and the Pelicans should do the same with Alvin Gentry.

What Could A Coach Like Brad Stevens Bring?

Looking at how the Pelicans performed this year, it is clear that Alvin Gentry failed to support his team’s talent. Gentry took a team that many predicted to make the playoffs and led them to a poor 30-41 record.

Gentry’s problems coaching the Pelicans were on both ends of the floor. Starting with the team’s defense, a team with so much defensive talent was one of the worst in the league under Gentry, allowing the 3rd most points in the league.

The New Orleans Pelicans’ offense did perform well under Gentry, ranking top-5 in both points per game and assists per game, but most of that production came from fast break basketball. Alvin Gentry did not draw up any stellar offensive scheme.

Hiring a head coach in a Brad Stevens-mold could fix a lot of these problems. It would start with having a head coach who is a teacher. The New Orleans Pelicans have one of the youngest rosters in the NBA and they could use a teacher in the coaching position to help them learn real system basketball.

Teaching system basketball has been a big part of Brad Steven’s tenure in Boston. Through teaching, Brad Stevens took the Celtics from 25 wins to a perennial playoff threat. Stevens allowed young players to grow in a playbook which is a technique important to development.

When it comes to the actual system, the Pelicans would also be best served to hire a Brad Stevens-type so they can integrate more modern basketball on the court. That will start with the team’s defense.

Under Alvin Gentry, the Pelicans were terrible at defending some of the most efficient shots in the NBA. The New Orleans Pelicans were one of the worst teams in defending against corner threes and scores in the paint.

In Boston, Brad Stevens has innovated defensive schemes repeatedly during his time with the Celtics. Utilizing switches, help defense, and zone packages have made the Celtics a consistent top-10 defense in the NBA.

When hiring their next head coach, the New Orleans Pelicans should look for a coach who could do the same with the team’s young defenders.

Offensively, rather than a pure focus on transition offense, Brad Stevens has shown that the best modern NBA offenses rely on using diverse sets. There’s a lot of motion in the Boston offense, rather than just standard pick-and-roll the team uses more actions like handoffs and cuts.

If the New Orleans Pelicans look for a new head coach, it would be great to find a coach who also could diversify the team’s offense to make them even more dangerous than they were before.

The impact a new head coach could have on the young trio of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson could be the key to the team jumping into contention.

Where Will The New Orleans Pelicans Find Their Guy?

Brad Stevens came to the Celtics from coaching in the NCAA, but the New Orleans Pelicans can find their guy at both the college or professional level. It’s all about picking the coach that fits the mold.

The Pelicans should be looking for a younger first-time head coach who teaches the game from an Xs and Os standpoint. This type of coach seems perfect for a roster with a core of players under-25.

With that type of coach leading this young roster, there’s the hope that the Pelicans will see more growth and creativity from their extremely talented roster.

Right now the Pelicans head coaching situation is still up in the air, but in time we might just see David Griffin and the rest of the team’s front office searching for their version of Boston’s Brad Stevens.