The New Orleans Pelicans could be closing in on specific candidates for the head coaching vacancy with a familiar name at the center. Per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on “The Hoop Collective” podcast on Friday, former Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn is emerging as a leading candidate for the Pelicans along with Bucks assistant Charles Lee (h/t Bleacher Report).
“I’m not saying he’s gonna get the job because Charles Lee on the Bucks’ staff is also, I think, going to be a strong candidate, but the word out of Chicago at the draft combine is that Jacque Vaughn, who is close to (Pelicans general manager) Trajan Langdon … is gonna get a real serious look.”
Last year, Vaughn was reportedly considered one of the front-runners for the Pelicans in the immediate aftermath of Alvin Gentry’s firing. However, he never got much more of a push than that and wasn’t a factor in the search. This season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski again reported Vaughn as an early candidate for the position.
Vaughn hasn’t officially held a head coach position since 2015 when he was fired midseason in his third year with the Orlando Magic. He was named the interim head coach of the Nets after Kenny Atkinson was fired midseason in 2019-20 and helped Brooklyn navigate the playoffs in the bubble without many of its top contributors.
Despite Steve Nash being hired as head coach last offseason, Vaughn remained on the Brooklyn staff and helped the team navigate to the Eastern Conference playoffs before falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in a memorable Game 7.
For the Pelicans, Vaughn would come in as a coach with a history of tremendous player development in Brooklyn, a member of Gregg Popovich’s coaching tree and a far more player-friendly head coach.
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