The 2025-26 season was simply a disappointing one for everyone involved with the New Orleans Pelicans organization. But now, with the offseason in swing, a new hope has arrived in the form of head coach Jamahl Mosley. With a bench boss in place, many fans are already eager for the front office to jump in and shake up a roster that won just 26 games last season. But it’s important to remember that those changes will come with time, and there are more important things to address first.
For the trio of Mosley, Joe Dumars, and Troy Weaver to achieve their vision, they need to start by filling out the rest of the coaching staff. It was announced on Sunday that they did just that. Originally reported by HoopsHype’s Mike Scotto, God Shammgod has agreed to join the New Orleans Pelicans as an assistant coach on the front of the bench.
Shammgod is a streetball legend-turned assistant coach who has been working in the NBA since 2012. He has spent time with Providence, the Mavericks, and most recently the Magic, focusing on player development at each stop. This is both a strong and expected first addition by Mosley, as the two have spent seven years coaching alongside one another.
Although Shammgod has a great resume, this type of hire can’t become normalized. With the way things ended in Orlando for Mosley, surrounding him with the same staff would be working backward.
The Pelicans can’t see Jamahl Mosley’s new staff turn into Orlando 2.0
To this point, the only other assistants linked to Mosley and his staff in New Orleans are Bret Brielmaier and Dale Osbourne. As Rod Walker mentioned on X, he’s been hearing that both long-time assistants could be coming with Mosley from Orlando to NOLA.
I can confirm that God Shammgod is joining Jamahl Mosley's coaching staff in New Orleans.
— Rod Walker (@RodWalkerNola) May 23, 2026
Also hearing that Bret Brielmaier and Dale Osbourne could also be coming to join the #Pelicans staff. They were also with Mosley in Orlando. https://t.co/n4L1QpLZLG
Familiarity is definitely a good thing, especially considering how successful the Magic were with Mosley and his staff over the past several years. Building a consistent playoff team in the NBA is incredibly difficult, and they deserve a ton of credit for maintaining that status and building a winning culture in such a short time. However, it’s also important not to put the same ceiling that the Mosley had in Orlando on him with the Pelicans.
For the entirety of his tenure there, they were a defense-first team, and while that helped them be a winner, they desperately needed someone to revive their offense. Mosley needs to be paired with an offensive genius the way cheese needs to be paired with wine—they just elevate one another. And when looking at his staff in Orlando, he didn’t have one of those.
On top of just needing an offensive mind next to Mosley, it would also be great to see some new faces around him because they likely would be willing to challenge him more. As important as a head coach is, the people around them are arguably just as important. Can they question him, can they push him to be greater, and do they look at the game differently? Those are all questions that should be yes when bringing in new assistant coaches to a staff.
That’s not to say the assistants from Mosley’s Orlando staff would simply become ‘yes men’ in New Orleans or anything like that. But in a league that is all about versatility, having a versatile coaching staff could be the key to maximizing a new era of Pelicans basketball under Jamahl Mosley.
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