The New Orleans Pelicans continue their busy offseason. It hasn't even been two full weeks since they wrapped up their final game of the 2024-25 NBA season. Yet, they're now a completely different organization than the one that oversaw that unexceptional 100-115 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Aside from Bruce Brown Jr. and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl technically entering unrestricted free agency, the Pelicans haven't made any changes to their on-court personnel yet. They won't likely make any major player moves until after the draft at the end of June, as the results of the lottery and which rookie they end up landing could significantly influence the directions they want to take on the trade wire and in free agency.
New Orleans has been busy reorganizing their front office ahead of a crucial summer, though. They began their offseason by firing former Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin. A day later, they announced that they had replaced him with former Detroit Pistons General Manager Joe Dumars, who most recently served as an executive for the NBA as a whole. The Pelicans handed the keys to Dumars, and he's been hard at work fleshing out his staff, but his first few moves have been pretty controversial, to say the least.
Joe Dumars replaces Griffin-hire Swin Cash with former Pistons GM Troy Weaver
The first notable move that Joe Dumars made as the Pelicans' new executive vice president of basketball operations was to hire Troy Weaver as general manager. Interestingly enough, David Griffin didn't have a GM, as he held the responsibilities of that role in his time as POBO.
Apparently, Weaver won't technically hold the title of GM either, although his duties are expected to remain similar to his position with the Pistons between 2020 and 2024. Instead, he's going to become the "senior vice president of basketball operations." Yes, there's supposedly a huge difference between the executive vice president of basketball operations and the senior vice president of basketball operations.
If the latter title sounds familiar (aside from its near match to Dumars's post), it's because it was previously held by WNBA legend Swin Cash. Cash has been in New Orleans since 2019, after joining the team as one of David Griffin's first hires. Now, she'll be one of the first to follow Griff out the door at the end of his failed regime.
Cash shared an emotional post on Instagram, sharing nothing but gratitude for her time in the Bayou, writing in her caption:
"Dear New Orleans… Thank You for it ALL! 6 years of memories, growth, highs & low, the birth of our son and all while remaining unapologetically me🫶🏾 Thank You for the love, the critic’s, pulling up on me in carpool or the grocery store about yalls team"
Cash was largely in charge of player development and scouting during her time as SVPOBO, whereas Weaver is likely to handle more responsibilities like a GM, with Dumars remaining the top authority on all basketball operations.