New Orleans Pelicans: Front Office Grades for All 2019-20 Transactions

New Orleans Pelicans: Grade for the Alvin Gentry firing

August 15, 2020

Pelicans fired Alvin Gentry as head coach

Grade: C

Alvin Gentry’s clock started ticking the second Griffin took over, and it is not surprising that the Pels’ VP wanted his own coach. Gentry did a good job as a caretaker this season, which was a tough one. I give Gentry credit for keeping the team competitive after starting 6-22 and helping to guide them through a difficult season.

The “C” grade does not come from the firing itself but how it was done. It seems that Gentry and possibly the whole team knew that he was going to be fired prior to heading to Orlando.

If so, can we blame them for playing terribly? Not only were they dealing with the pandemic, being away from their families etc., but also their coach was on his way out the door.

The Pels’ front office can redeem themselves by making the right coaching hire, but the Gentry firing wasn’t handled particularly well.

David Griffin has gotten a whole lot of runway because of the Anthony Davis trade, but other than that, the first year of transactions was not great.

Hopefully Griffin and Langdon will be able to put their stamp on the team in year two ,but so far the results have been very mixed.