Getty New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis
The New Orleans Pelicans are doing a worldwide search for a new GM.
Two names may not be inculded in that search according to a source within the New Orleans Pelicans front office: Avery Johnson and Joe Dumars.
My understanding is that guys like Joe Dumars and Avery Johnson are not part of the search,” a league source shared with me this afternoon via text message.
For those keeping score at home: Both are natives of the great state of Louisiana and do have eyes for hoops talent. Dumars constructed a Detroit Pistons team in the 2000s that had a dynamite starting five of Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince that won an NBA title in 2004.
Johnson is currently the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Alabama. He previously had NBA posts as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets and the Dallas Mavericks.
FYI: His rant in the 2006 NBA Finals goes down as one of the most underrated post-game press conferences.
Last month, the Pelicans announced that both the team and Dell Demps mutually parted ways. Demps spent 8 1/2 seasons as general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans.
“We will immediately begin the process of restructuring our basketball operations department,” stated Pelicans Owner Gayle Benson.
Demps became the fall guy after Anthony Davis trade talks at the NBA trade deadline went unfulfilled.
The Pelicans wanted a lot.
As for Anthony Davis:
Demps told Magic this is what he wanted:
✅Lonzo
✅Kuzma
✅Ingram
✅Zubac
✅Hart
✅KCP
✅2019 unprotected FRP
✅2020 FRP swap
✅2021 unprotected FRP
✅2022 FRP swap
✅2023 unprotected FRP
✅2019 and 2021 2nd round picks
Lakers said: 👎🏽✌🏽✌🏽✌🏽✌🏽✌🏽✌🏽
Demps took a more diploatic approach.
“New Orleans will always be near and dear to my family and me,” Demps told the Advocate newspaper.
Danny Ferry was named Demps’ replacement in the interim.
Per The Bird Writes: For the rest of this season though, Ferry has been handed the reins of the general manager duties on an interim basis, but few, if any, have given much thought to the idea that his interim tag could potentially flip to a much more permanent one while being upgraded to a higher standing within the organization in good time.
While that’s great news for Ferry, one cannot forget his last post in an NBA front office role.
While GM of the Atlanta Hawks, Ferry made a racist remark relating to Luol Deng’s heritage while on a conference call in 2014.
“He’s a good guy overall,” said Ferry.
“But he’s not perfect. He’s got some African in him. And I don’t say that in a bad way, other than….”
In the recording, you can hear Ferry speaking about Deng, with Atlanta ownership laughing in the background.
Per SB Nation: Ownership interjects once Ferry first references to Deng’s heritage, and says “That comment was Sterling. That’s going to be on TMZ tomorrow.”
Ferry did apologize. “I repeated those comments during a telephone conversation reviewing the draft and free agency process,” he said.
“Those words do not reflect my views, or words that I would use to describe an individual and I certainly regret it. I apologize to those I offended and to Luol, who I reached out to Monday morning.”
Ferry was eventually let go by the Hawks and he has found consultant jobs in the NBA since then.
As I reported last month, a name that has floated around as potential replacement has been Sam Hinkie.
The former GM and President of Basketball Operations of the Philadelphia 76ers is about as analytics as they come!
New Orleans Pelicans are considering Sam Hinkie as president of Basketball Operations.
#TrusttheProcess part 2?
A disciple of Daryl Morey and the Houston Rockets, Morey’s “trust the process” mantra became a “thing” in the Sixers’ locker room, their fan base and in pop culture references.
Furthermore, Hinkie helped the Philadelphia 76ers get a major facelift in the post-Allen Iverson, Andre Iguodala era. He hired current head coach, Brett Brown, drafted Joel Embiid, signed Robert Covington and a bit more.
Sadly, after losing many losing seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers parted ways with Hinkie and hired Bryan Colangelo as the Sixers’ general manager and president of basketball operations.
We all know how the Colangelo experiment panned out.
So, is The Process Remix finding it’s way to New Orleans? “Sam Hinkie is being brought up as the potential President of Basketball Operations,” one league source told me last month.
“It’s gaining some steam.”
Will they trust their process? Hinkie could be their start. In the meantime, it doesn’t seem right now that Dumars or Johnson are.
Stay tuned for more.