The New Orleans Pelicans capped off a disappointing and frustrating season with a pair of losses in rather meaningless games inside the bubble in Orlando last week. The finale to the season was a fitting conclusion to what was an underwhelming season.
Coming in with playoff expectations, the team was never above .500 on the year and floundered all season before finishing 30-42 and in 13th in the Western Conference. Making matters worse is that the Pelicans could not even move up in the draft as a minor consolation prize as records were locked prior to the league’s restart in regards to the draft lottery standings.
Head coach Alvin Gentry has taken a fair amount of blame for the struggles this season. Even though New Orleans was ravaged by injury much of the year, that has shifted the focus from Gentry.
The talk has gotten to the point that Gentry’s future with the franchise is in serious doubt. Numerous different places and reporters have reported that, with just one year left on his contract, Gentry may be out of a job this season.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was the most prominent to report that the Pelicans front office was eyeing candidates like Jason Kidd and Ty Lue as potential replacements for Gentry. While The Athletic’s Will Guillory did not name prospective replacements, he did call Gentry’s impending firing “the worst kept secret in the NBA.”
With New Orleans heading home in the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s loss to the Magic, there will likely be a period of days where everyone within the franchise that was in the bubble, like executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin, readjust to being back home after multiple weeks inside the bubble.
As a result, news of Gentry’s departure would likely not come until early next week, if it were to come.
It would be a harsh decision on Gentry, who had the team playing at a high level just prior to the four-month break in play. But coaches are typically the easiest ones to move on from after disappointing seasons and Gentry likely will have to bear that burden.
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