Shocking just about everyone, the New Orleans Pelicans made the biggest splash of the 2017 NBA trade deadline, swooping in on the night of the All-Star Game to free DeMarcus Cousins from Sacramento, sending Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans and a first-round draft pick for the talented big man.
In addition to that big change, there had been rumblings of potential changes in the front office and coaching staff, as both GM Dell Demps and coach Alvin Gentry were reportedly on the hot seat toward the end of the season.
On Monday afternoon, however, the Pelicans announced that both Demps and Gentry are safe, at least for now. But the press release was not exactly brimming with confidence. Via Pelicans.com:
"After careful and thorough review of basketball operations, we have made the determination that the best course of action as we move forward into the 2017-18 season is to continue under the leadership of General Manager Dell Demps and Head Coach Alvin Gentry," said Loomis. "We will continue to evaluate important roles on both the administrative and coaching staffs which will be resolved at the appropriate time."
"Our organizational expectations and goals have not changed and all of our efforts are focused on putting together a playoff caliber roster entering training camp and ultimately into the season," said Benson. "The end result as we move forward – playoffs and winning a championship for our fans."
Let's translate that.
Hey, so we're not really thrilled with the job that Dell and Alvin have been doing, but we don't really have any better options so we might as well just stick with them for now. But, yeah, we're probably going to fire them soon.
