The New Orleans Pelicans Must Act Fast on New Coach and Get it Right

The New Orleans Pelicans are short on time.

This season has been like no other, culminating with the New Orleans Pelicans being eliminated from the playoffs and coach Alvin Gentry being fired.

Because of the hiatus, the entire season has been thrown into disarray, key dates have been pushed back, which will lead to one of the wildest offseasons in recent memory.

The Pelicans don’t have the luxury of time when it comes to their head coach search, as there are important dates approaching that the Pels will surely want their new coach to be a part of.

The NBA Draft Lottery will take place on August 20th and it’s highly unlikely the Pelicans will have a coach by then. It’s not crucial that they do, as this will only let us know the draft position, but as soon as they know where they will pick, the draft preparation starts in ernest.

They will want their new coach to have a voice in the draft pick and that person will need to get to work about five minutes after the lottery.

The NBA Draft isn’t until October 16th, but that will come quickly. What will come even quicker is training camp, which starts on November 10th and opening day which is currently set for December 1st.

That isn’t much time for a new coach to prepare, meet the team and start implementing an entirely new system with a roster that could have a lot of new faces.

The New Orleans Pelicans need to find the right head coach.

Even though the Pels are short on time, they need to do their due diligence and get it right.

This is the single most important decision VP David Griffin will have to make, as it could be the difference between building a consistent contender or losing some of their stars.

Make the wrong choice and Zion Williamson could be gone.

They have to make the right call, to find a person who can get the most out of the immense talent on this roster while also being someone the stars respect and like.

There is a lot at play in this hire, which is unfortunate because the New Orleans Pelicans don’t have a lot of time to make a decision.