While the league-wide offseason doesn’t truly begin until an NBA champion is crowned, for a team like the Pelicans, every bit of time is valuable. The biggest talking point surrounding New Orleans in the early stages of their summer has been who will be the franchise's next head coach, and Jake Fischer just provided a crucial update.
In his recent drop of The People's Insider, Fischer reported, "I've heard both Milwaukee's Darvin Ham and Brooklyn's Steve Hetzel have made strong impressions on Pelicans officials in their discussions to date." He also mentioned that New Orleans is likely out of the running for San Antonio's associate head coach Sean Sweeney, as he is expected to be part of Chicago and Orlando's coaching search. It was also noted that former Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley is still being considered, but it's unclear whether he will take time off or is ready to jump into another head coaching gig.
The immediate takeaway from Fischer's report is that Rajon Rondo wasn't mentioned anywhere. Ever since the former Pelicans guard was interviewed for the opening, fans have been drawn to the idea of him leading the franchise. But now it appears that dream may be just that, a dream.
New Orleans is zeroing in
Rondo being out of the running does come as a bit of a shock and likely a disappointment to many fans who wanted to see his first head-coaching opportunity come in New Orleans. But, it's probably for the best. Sure, bringing in Rondo is a great idea in theory, and I fully believe he could become an elite-level NBA head coach just off the resume he built as a player. But at the same time, this Pelicans team is trying to compete next year, and hiring an inexperienced, unproven guy to lead that charge wouldn't be the smartest move.
Pivoting to Sweeney, it's probably best for both sides that he is no longer viewed as a serious candidate. When looking at this team's roster, they don't fit his style at all, as Sweeney is a defensive-minded coach, and outside of Herb Jones and Micah Peavy, this team lacks any real high-level stoppers.
That now brings us to Darvin Ham and Steve Hetzel. Out of the several names listed as legit contenders for the Pelicans opening, these two were two of my personal favorites.
With Ham, the Pelicans would get a longtime assistant with head-coaching experience from his time with the Los Angeles Lakers and the type of voice a young team needs.
During his two years in LA, he achieved a 90-74 record, made the conference finals in his first year, losing to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets, and led LA to back-to-back postseason appearances. While he has been criticized for struggling to make adjustments, learning to manage a 48-minute game, especially in the postseason, takes time. Time is something the Pelicans have, and it is why being the team to give Ham a second chance is worth considering.
Lastly, Steve Hetzel, who has been my No. 1 choice throughout this entire process. The resume speaks for itself. He brings two decades of NBA coaching experience, started in the Spurs film room, built a reputation as a developmental wizard, is the lead assistant for one of the league's brightest minds, Jordi Fernandez, and has prebuilt connections in the league that could help him fill out his staff.
Although the idea of Rondo was great, both Ham and Hetzel have always made more sense to lead the next era of Pelicans basketball.
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