New Orleans Pelicans: An Interview With Tyronn Lue Is Coming

David Griffin is getting ready to interview Tyronn Lue for the New Orleans Pelicans coaching vacancy

At last, big news is arriving in the New Orleans Pelicans coaching search! Right as I sat down for an afternoon lunch and poured myself a cup of coffee ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski left the New Orleans Pelicans fanbase a minor Woj bomb.

In a piece he published detailing the Philadelphia 76ers’ coaching search, Wojnarowski dropped this bit of information:

"“The New Orleans Pelicans are planning to interview Lue in the near future, sources said. Lue and Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin have strong ties, most notably working together to win an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016”- Adrian Wojnarowski via ESPN.com"

After this information dropped, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Pelicans representatives plan to fly out to California on Friday to have an informal interview with Lue.

This is huge news considering that the New Orleans Pelicans have been tight-lipped on their heading coaching search up to this point. It also creates an interesting storyline that Tyronn Lue might be the Pelicans’ guy and their target all along.

Consider the fact that one of the last real reports about the Pelicans coaching search was that David Griffin met with Tyronn Lue before the New Orleans Pelicans left the bubble back in early August. 

NBA rules mandated that teams with coaching vacancies couldn’t contact assistant coaches in the bubble until their team was eliminated from postseason contention. With Lue coaching for the Los Angeles Clippers until just a few weeks ago, it makes sense that now things are starting to heat up.

With an already developed relationship between Griffin and Lue, it makes sense for both sides to pursue this marriage. Griffin knows exactly what he’s getting out of Lue, a coach with championship experience who’s vocal and will hold the young Pelicans accountable. Lue on the other hand knows how Griffin operates and won’t have to worry as much as he would with other front offices.

With David Griffin speaking so highly of Pelicans lead assistant Chris Finch Griffin may want to add Tyronn Lue to be the vocal leader and defensive mind on the staff while Finch continues to develop the Pelicans offense.

Of course, this all might be the start to the Pelicans interviewing several candidates, but it’s hard to ignore that Griffin’s fascination with Lue seems to be legit.