Alvin Gentry, the New Orleans Pelicans coach has reportedly been fired. He served as the Pelicans head coach for the last 5 years. After a disappointing performance in the NBA bubble, the Pelicans quickly decided to release Gentry. He had one year left on his contract.
During his tenure with the Pelicans Alvin Gentry had an abysmal 175-225 record. He only made the postseason once. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach for several franchises, including the champion Warriors in 2015. Despite his success as an assistant coach, he had failed to produce meaningful wins as a head coach.
Now the Pelicans are in the market for a new head coach. The coaches expected to be part of the Pelicans search are Jason Kidd, Ty Lue, and Kenny Atkinson. The Pelicans also have an interest in Jacque Vaughn. He is currently the Nets interim head coach. If the Nets decide not to keep Vaughn, he can be an interesting addition to the Pelicans coaching staff.
Currently, Jason Kidd is the assistant head coach for the LA Lakers. Ty Lue is the assistant coach of the LA Clippers. And Kenny Atkinson is the former head coach of the Nets. All of these options appear to have much better upsides compared to Alvin Gentry. Especially since all three have individual achievements, unlike Alvin Gentry, whose achievements all came as an assistant coach on good teams.
Kenny Atkinson in particular had some upside. Prior to being the Pelicans GM, Trajan Langdon was the assistant GM with the Nets during Atkinson’s most successful seasons. If both are able to connect as they did in with the Nets, the Pelicans may be able to revitalize their roster in the future.
This will be an opportunity for the Pelicans front office to finally be able to utilize its talented, young roster. With All-Star Brandon Ingram, and rookie star Zion Williamson, the only thing the Pelicans lacked was a competent head coach. This change could allow the New Orleans Pelicans to thrive in seasons to come.
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