New Orleans Pelicans: Mike D’Antoni Leading The Head Coach Race

New reports are suggesting that Mike D’Antoni Will Become the Head Coach of the New Orleans Pelicans

Here it comes! As soon as the Houston Rockets were eliminated at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference playoffs, NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski began reporting that head coach Mike D’Antoni is parting ways with the Rockets. Instantly after that report, the Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor started the speculation that D’Antoni is heading to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Now I will say, nothing is official yet but O’Connor is another plugged-in NBA Insider. If he’s hearing this speculation, he’s hearing it from people in the league. That doesn’t sit well with me because I don’t like the idea of the Pelicans hiring D’Antoni. In fact, at the start of the team’s coaching search, I wrote why I thought hiring D’Antoni is bad for the Pelicans, it’s still available if you want to check it out.

In the meantime, I’ll be objective about D’Antoni if he’s the coach the Pelicanshire. Outside of my personal feelings, I see why the Pelicans consider D’Antoni an attractive candidate.

Why Mike D’Antoni is drawing heavily speculation to the New Orleans Pelicans

The main reason the New Orleans Pelicans and D’Antoni are so tightly connected now has to do with D’Antoni’s relationship with team vice president David Griffin. For those of you who don’t know, Griffin worked in the Phoniex Suns organization when Mike D’Antoni was coaching there. A lot of people believe that connection is playing a factor.

Another piece of speculation is that the Pelicans haven’t been actively searching for their head coach when other organizations like the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers have. This is leading many people to speculate that the team was waiting for their target to finishing coaching in the NBA’s bubble.

Outside of speculation though, D’Antoni makes sense for the New Orleans Pelicans from a basketball standpoint. Last year, the Pelicans were running an uptempo offense and Mike D’Antoni is the father of today’s modern uptempo offense. His system relies on 3 point shots and pick-and-roll attacks which is perfect for the Pelicans’ roster.

Secondly, every successful coaching stop that Mike D’Antoni makes in his career gets highlighted by a lead guard he develops into a star. In Phoenix that was Steve Nash, for two weeks in New York it was Jeremy Lin, and recently in Houston D’Antoni worked with James Harden.

The New Orleans Pelicans have Lonzo Ball whose traits share lineage with those guards I mentioned above. If the New Orleans Pelicans want Lonzo Ball to continue to ignite the team’s offense and grow then hiring Mike D’Antoni makes sense.

The last main point to note is that Mike D’Antoni grew in Houston. In earlier coaching stops, D’Antoni ran the same offense and cared little for defense. In Houston, D’Antoni hired a staff to lift the Rocket’s defense and revamped the team’s offense on multiple occasions. This included the Rockets’ recent infatuation with small-ball.

My Verdict On the New Orleans Pelicans Potentially Pursuing Mike D’Antoni

If I’m being honest, I love Mike D’Antoni’s Suns teams and his Rockets team too. I just don’t believe he’s the coach that leads the New Orleans Pelicans to a championship. He’s aging out at 69 years old and there are still concerns about his playoff coaching.

On the flip side, the Pelicans under Mike D’Antoni is an interesting thought. A Fast pace offense, running teams out the gym, is something to see. Now it’s time to wait for what the New Orleans Pelicans organization decides to do and I’ll hold my judgments until then.