Nothing about the 2019-20 NBA season has been normal and that figures to carry over into the 2020-21 season. With the NBA’s play in the bubble set to end for the top teams in mid-October, the early December turnaround before the start of the next season will compact a multi-month off-season into roughly 90 days.
But the New Orleans Pelicans, who fired head coach Alvin Gentry on Saturday, do not intend to speed up their process when searching for a new head coach. In a press conference with the media following Saturday’s head coaching decision, David Griffin spoke of the timeframe for the franchise to bring in a new head coach.
“This is not a rush,” he said. “We have a job that we believe is going to be the most attractive in the NBA, quite frankly. And with all of the candidates still in the bubble…for the most part, all of the candidates that you may want to talk to are still with teams in many circumstances. I would say that the virus itself is going to dictate some of our timeline. This isn’t going to be done solely via Zoom so, depending on when we’re able to sit down and really get to know one another, we’ll have more updates from then on.”
Three of the four names first linked to the Pelicans opening all are still inside the bubble in Lakers assistant Jason Kidd, Clippers assistant Ty Lue and Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn. If the Pelicans do desire to have in-person interviews with any of those candidates, it won’t be as simple as previous seasons.
Whereas in the past, teams could simply allow assistants to fly to interviews in-between games, leaving the bubble this year would require a multi-day quarantine upon return. However, it’s also unrealistic to expect the Pelicans to wait the better part of two months before interviewing a coach. It could lead to some assistants interviewing in-person and being away from the team for multiple days or for New Orleans to put more value in Zoom interviews.
It’s an unprecedented situation for NBA teams but much of the league’s last four to five months has been unprecedented and the league and the Pelicans will have to continue to venture those treacherous waters.