Pelicans: How new coach could affect roster and Jrue Holiday

New Orleans Pelicans head coach search: Stan Van Gundy wants to win now

If Stan Van Gundy is hired

Whichever coach the New Orleans Pelicans hire, they will be looking for someone to establish a culture of consistent winning.

But if you hire a veteran coach like Stan Van Gundy, you don’t do it with a five-year plan in mind, you do it because you think you can win now.

If Van Gundy is hired, you can rest assured that J.J. Redick will be on the roster. Van Gundy and Redick have a good relationship and the veteran sharpshooter would be his biggest ally in the locker room.

Van Gundy would probably also mean that Jrue Holiday isn’t going anywhere, as he gives the Pelicans the best chance to win now. Hiring Stan Van Gundy means the franchise thinks that they are close to being playoff contenders and they want to speed up the timeline.

That probably means keeping your veterans and possibly trading away some of the young talent to get more proven players. Hiring a guy like Van Gundy might mean players like Jaxson Hayes, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and even Lonzo Ball could be on the trading block.

When asked about the Pelicans’ roster Van Gundy raved about their young core of “Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson” without mentioning Lonzo Ball. Ball would be another piece that could potentially bring back a haul.

I’m not saying that Van Gundy would advocate trading Lonzo or that he doesn’t like him, just that a veteran head coach may look more to win now as opposed to building for the future.

Van Gundy is also a well-known and respected coach that can likely recruit some veterans to come and play for less money.

The New Orleans Pelicans need to hire a head coach so that person can get started evaluating draft picks and implementing their system.

The Pelicans can go a lot of different directions and who they pick will tell us a lot.