After a tumultuous season riddled with injuries that knocked out practically their entire roster, the New Orleans Pelicans were surely headed for a lot of changes this offseason. In fact, they wasted no time embarking on their next era. On the very first day of their offseason, just after they concluded their 2024-25 regular season with a 100-115 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, they fired their longtime executive vice president of basketball operations, David Griffin.
They were quick to fill the seat, too, hiring Detroit Pistons legend and former general manager Joe Dumars for the post. How quickly that all happened — firing essentially their top executive and replacing him within 48 hours of the season's conclusion — gave the indication that the Pelicans brass had been planning both moves for a while.
Dumars has been a controversial pick to say the least, not only because of the timing of his hiring, but also due to his past transgressions as an NBA decisionmaker for the Pistons. Nevertheless, he's now been tasked with shepherding this team into its next era, perhaps at the dawn of the most important offseason in franchise history. He's been busy rounding out his staff to help him oversee the Pelicans during his tenure.
The Pelicans new front office is starting to take shape
It's no surprise that there was a lot of backend turnover to follow after David Griffin was relieved of his duties and Joe Dumars was hired in his stead. It's only natural that a new boss would want to bring his own staff. He began filling out his cabinet by enlisting Troy Weaver, another former Pistons general manager, as his new senior vice president of basketball operations. That post was formerly held by WNBA legend Swin Cash, who was one of Griffin's first hires during his time.
According to HoopsHype's Michael Scotto, Cash won't be the only one who's not staying on for the new regime. Also expected to depart are special advisor Gar Forman, scout Todd Quinter, scout Chico Averbuck, and coaching advisor Mike D'Antoni. NBA staffs are much deeper than the average fan believes, so there is surely much more turnover to come.
One person who is expected to stay, though, is Willie Green. It was stated that the Pelicans' ownership gave Dumars two mandates upon his hiring: trade Zion Williamson and keep Head Coach Green. Then, we later found out that Dumars was considering hiring a different head coach and moving Green to a different role. Now, though, HoopsHype is reporting that Green is expected to remain on the sidelines for the Pelicans next season.