New Orleans Pelicans’ coach Stan Van Gundy has an up and down history of player development.
When the New Orleans Pelicans hired Stan Van Gundy they knew they were getting a respected teacher of the game, a guy who could help develop the immense talent on their roster.
With Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and Lonzo Ball, the Pelicans have some of the top under-25 players in the league, who should be able to get even better under Stan Van Gundy’s tutelage.
Van Gundy has already said that improving the defense, reducing turnovers and getting better in clutch time were areas he would focus on, three things the Pelicans struggled with last season.
Stan Van Gundy has said all of the right things so far and clearly understands where the Pelicans need to improve to be competitive in the Western Conference.
But this will be the youngest and most talented team Van Gundy has ever coached, as most of his squads have been filled with veteran players, not guys in their early 20’s who haven’t even been in a playoff game.
Van Gundy may be able to recruit some veteran free agents but is going to have a very young team either way.
We took a look back at Stan Van Gundy’s history of developing young players, from his time in Miami and Orlando to his most recent job in Detroit.
His success has been up and down, but there are some interesting patterns that emerge if you look at all of the data.
Boom or bust, Stan Van Gundy’s history of player development has run to the extremes.
New Orleans Pelicans: Stan Van Gundy’s history of player development in Miami and Orlando
Miami Heat (2003-2006)
Stan Van Gundy’s Miami Heat teams were not loaded with young players, so it’s hard to get a read on how he did with development.
He really only had two rookies on the team who played significant minutes and both went on to have exemplary careers in the NBA.
The first was Udonis Haslem, a long-time role player who is miraculously still on the Miami Heat bench at age 40.
Haslem was undrafted and Stan Van Gundy helped develop him into a quality role player who has won three rings in Miami, not bad for a guy who most didn’t think would even make the league.
The second rookie was some guy called Dwyane Wade, a first-ballot hall-of-famer who made the All-Star game in his second season. Wade is obviously a superstar but credits Van Gundy for having faith in him and handing him the keys to the team.
Orlando Magic (2007-2012)
The Magic were another team that wasn’t loaded with young players when Stan Van Gundy was coach.
He is credited with helping Dwight Howard become an All-NBA player but Howard was already in his fourth season when Van Gundy came on the scene.
However, Van Gundy did help develop rookies Marcin Gortat, who went on to be a quality two-way big man, Courtney Lee, who had a nice career as a 3-and-D role player, Ryan Anderson, who was a quality stretch-four and Ish Smith, another undrafted player who is still making an impact off the bench.
He also helped J.J. Redick, who credits Stan Van Gundy with teaching him how to defend, and Jameer Nelson, who Van Gundy helped develop into an All-Star.
There are two clear patterns here:
- Stan Van Gundy coached mostly veterans early in his career
- He’s had a lot of success developing role players. If you look at guys like Haslem and Ish Smith, Stan Van Gundy was able to get the most out of their talents.
Wade is the only star Van Gundy coached as a young player and I’m not sure any coach can take credit for a guy who was going to be a superstar either way, but SVG didn’t get in his way.
Unfortunately, his success with young players didn’t continue in Detroit, where it was mostly “busts” for Stan Van Gundy.
New Orleans Pelicans: Stan Van Gundy’s history of player development in Detroit
Detroit Pistons (2014-2018)
Stan Van Gundy’s time in Detroit wasn’t nearly as successful as his other two stops.
On one hand, this wasn’t really his fault, as he never had much talent to work with in Detroit and still got them to the playoffs.
On the other, Van Gundy was the one choosing most of these guys, so he can’t really blame anyone but himself. Van Gundy was woeful at talent evaluation in Detroit, missed on most of his draft picks and then didn’t really develop the guys he did pick.
Van Gundy did help Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in his time in Detroit, showing faith in the young KCP as he developed into a player who is now a contributor on a title team, but he was never very good in Detroit.
Same with Spencer Dinwiddie, who languished on the Pistons’ bench and was eventually traded for nothing before becoming an All-Star for the Nets.
Most of the young guys Van Gundy had in Detroit were flat-out horrible. Stanley Johnson has gotten worse every year he’s been in the league. Luke Kennard has barely played and looks like a 45-year-old man with bad knees already and Henry Ellenson (who?) is no longer in the NBA.
Those were just the top picks the Pistons had.
Van Gundy also failed to develop role players Darrun Hillard and Michael Gbinije and completely misevaluated Boban Marjanovic, who he gave a fat contract but never played.
This recent history is troubling, as the Pelicans are a lot closer to those Pistons’ teams in talent and age than they are to the Heat or Magic teams that Stan Van Gundy led.
SVG’s history of player development is positive when it comes to role players but mostly non-existent otherwise.
One of his primary duties will be teaching the young New Orleans Pelicans how to play. Let’s hope he’s up to the task.