New Orleans Pelicans: The 76ers will make the team’s coaching hire

The Philadelphia 76ers might end up making the New Orleans Pelicans coaching hire for them

Are your heads spinning yet? I’m half-joking but we can all admit that this NBA offseason is going crazy with the coaching carousel. We have it all, veteran teams looking for a coach to take them over the top and young teams like the New Orleans Pelicans looking for a leader.

Attached to that comes former head coaches looking for another opportunity and fresh faces looking to get their start. So far, fans are plugging every coach into each opening like toddlers working on a puzzle. I’m starting to develop a theory though about what might be happening with the New Orleans Pelicans opening.

The team officially parted ways with Alvin Gentry back in August, and since then there hasn’t been a peep from the organization about what happens next. Instead, we’re getting a lot of speculation and two names jumping out the most.

Those two names are Mike D’Antoni and Tyronn Lue. We’ve covered the speculation on both men recently, writing about how D’Antoni is leading the way according to some NBA insiders and noting how David Griffin met with Tyronn Lue in the NBA Bubble.

My theory now is that Griffin and the Pelicans might not make their decision between the two coaches, instead, they’ll let the Philadelphia 76ers make it for them.

Why the Philadelphia 76ers might pick the New Orleans Pelicans next head coach

Here’s my thinking. Both D’Antoni and Lue have an extensive history with David Griffin. D’Antoni coached the Phoenix Suns when Griffin began his front office career, and Lue was his hand-picked coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016. Griffin knows pretty well what both men bring to the table and I think he’s fine with either option.

The Philadelphia 76ers however, are not as familiar with either of these coaches but are extremely interested in both. Some reports even suggest that the two coaches are the final two for the 76ers.

That means why would David Griffin start a bidding war with the large-market 76ers when he’d easily loose because the Pelicans won’t offer the same amount of money. If we’re going from Griffin’s end of season press conference, he preached patience and I think he’s doing just that.

It only makes sense that Griffin and the Pelicans are being so quiet because he’s letting Philadelphia make the decision for him. The coach that’s left is welcomed with open arms by the Pelicans and happy to accept because it’s a coveted head coaching position with a ton of young talent. Not a terrible strategy.

If you don’t think that is David Griffin’s gameplan that I understand, after all I’m not sure it is either. All I’m trying to do is figure out why the New Orleans Pelicans are playing a waiting game when other organizations are being aggressive.

If we review David Griffin’s comments, he speaks very highly of both D’Antoni and Lue. Is a far stretch to think that rather trying to decide between two coaches he thinks highly of he lets another organization do it for him? After all, it would absolve him from some criticism if this hire fails because no one would question why he chose one over the other.

Just something to think about while the New Orleans Pelicans continue being enigmatic in their head coaching search.