The Pelicans have taken a dive.
The New Orleans Pelicans fired basketball operations chief David Griffin on Monday, ending a six-year run during which the team drafted former Duke superstar Zion Williamson with the No. 1 overall pick but still had a difficult time winning consistently with three different coaches.
Griffin, whose title was executive vice president of basketball operations, leaves his position less than 24 hours after a 115-100 loss at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder that extended the injury-riddled club’s season-ending losing streak to seven games.
The Pelicans’ 21-61 record, fourth worst in the entire league this season, was the franchise’s second-worst mark since arriving in New Orleans in 2002 and worst since the 2004-05 season, when the club, then called the Hornets, went 18-64.
But the Pelicans’ turmoil and failures this season, their first in the past four without either a play-in or postseason berth, appeared less tied to the level of talent on the roster than the health, or lack thereof, of all five of their starters and even key bench players.
The injury bug played such a major role this season that Griffin never got to observe top players on the team he assembled last summer all play together under the direction and leadership of Willie Green, the coach he brought on board four years ago.
Green’s future remains in limbo and could be left up to Griffin’s yet-to-be-named replacement.
“I haven’t had any discussions, any talks yet,” Green said Sunday when asked about his future with the club. “I didn’t do great. I have to take full ownership of where we are as a team. We failed. I failed.”
However, Green said he hoped that the club’s evaluation of him would take into consideration the previous three seasons, when the Pelicans qualified for the Western Conference play-in and twice advanced to a first-round playoff series.
“I think that’s important. You try to look at the body of work,” Green said. “But I didn’t give myself this job. I had to be chosen for this position, and I’m grateful.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThis season, Williamson was sidelined, missing 52 games because of a variety of injuries, his hamstring strain being the worst of them. Starting guard Dejounte Murray, seen as the club’s highest-profile acquisition last offseason from the Atlanta Hawks, missed 51 games because of hand and Achilles injuries. Herb Jones, recognized as one of the NBA’s top defensive players, missed 62 games with nagging right shoulder injuries.
High-scoring wing Brandon Ingram, who began this season frustrated about the lack of a contract extension he sought, took the court in just 18 games with New Orleans because of an ankle injury before he was traded north of the border to Toronto in February.
Trey Murphy III also missed significant time, 29 games with multiple injuries.
Griffin, who did not make himself available to the media on Sunday, joined the Pelicans in 2019. Shortly after, the ping-pong ball fell in the Pelicans favor, winning the NBA’s draft lottery, giving them the opportunity to draft Williamson, the consensus top overall prospect that year.
But what appeared to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at that time in hindsight looks more like a curse.
Plagued by injuries, Williamson has missed 258 out of 472 regular-season games since he was drafted and has never appeared in a postseason game.
The Pelicans have a regular season record of 209-263 since Griffin arrived and drafted Williamson, and the franchise lost both of the first-round playoff series they reached during that period.
This season’s record also was the Pelicans’ worst since team owner Gayle Benson’s late husband, Tom, who also owns the Saints, purchased the club in 2012.
Those unacceptable results have left an air of uncertainty around the coming Pelicans offseason, not just for the front office and coaching staff.
“We truly don’t know who’s going back. I’m just trying to be honest with you,” Murphy said. “Nobody is safe.”
