{"id":134328,"date":"2025-04-14T16:27:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T20:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=134328"},"modified":"2025-04-14T16:27:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T20:27:03","slug":"after-firing-david-griffin-whats-next-for-the-pelicans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/04\/14\/after-firing-david-griffin-whats-next-for-the-pelicans\/","title":{"rendered":"After Firing David Griffin, What’s Next For The Pelicans"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> made a major move this week, firing Executive Vice President David Griffin. According<\/a> to ESPN<\/em>, the team chose to “move in a new direction after continued playoff shortcomings.” Now, the Pelicans must quickly regroup to maximize their promising core and secure a stable future.<\/p>\n

After Firing David Griffin, What’s Next For The Pelicans<\/h2>\n

Why Griffin\u2019s Tenure Ended<\/h3>\n

Griffin arrived in New Orleans with high expectations. After winning the Zion Williamson<\/a> lottery in 2019, many believed he would transform the Pelicans into contenders. Instead, the team struggled with consistency, coaching turnover, and internal issues.<\/p>\n

As reported<\/a> by The Athletic<\/em>, “Griffin\u2019s vision often clashed with coaches and players,” creating instability. Despite assembling a roster featuring Williamson, Brandon Ingram<\/a>, and C.J. McCollum,<\/a> the Pelicans never made it past the first round of the playoffs. Injuries and chemistry problems derailed several seasons.<\/p>\n

Griffin’s firing reflects the Pelicans’ frustration with slow progress. Ownership grew tired of excuses and underperformance, particularly with a healthy roster this past season. According<\/a> to TheBirdWrites.com<\/em>, “this decision was about urgency. The team can\u2019t afford to waste any more prime years.”<\/p>\n

Zion Williamson\u2019s Role In The Future<\/h3>\n

The Pelicans\u2019 next moves must center around Williamson. When healthy, Williamson is a generational talent<\/a>. He played the most games of his career this past season and showed flashes of dominance.<\/p>\n

However, questions about his commitment and long-term health remain. The Athletic <\/em>reported<\/a> extensively about Williamson\u2019s strained relationship with Griffin over the course of their time together. The new front office must unlock Zion and empower him to lead the franchise.<\/p>\n

Retaining Williamson and keeping him engaged or trading him away will define the Pelicans\u2019 trajectory.<\/p>\n

Finding The Right Leader<\/h3>\n

Ownership must prioritize finding a strong, respected voice to run basketball operations. The next executive must have a clear plan to stabilize the organization and elevate the roster.<\/p>\n

As TheBirdWrites.com <\/em>noted, “Whether they choose an experienced executive with a proven track record or take a swing on an unproven leader remains to be seen. But removing Griffin, as painful as it may be, is a step towards restoring hope for fans that things will improve.” The Pelicans cannot afford another misstep. Stability at the top will encourage players to buy into the long-term vision.<\/p>\n

Joe Dumars has emerged as the leading candidate for the job. According<\/a> to the ESPN, both parties are expected to engage in conversations to finalize a deal by the end of the week.<\/p>\n

Strengthening The Roster<\/h3>\n

On the court, New Orleans faces critical offseason decisions. The team owns valuable assets, including draft picks and young players like Trey Murphy III<\/a> and Herb Jones<\/a>. They must decide whether to package assets for a star or continue developing internally.<\/p>\n

New Orleans also needs more shooting and a reliable backup center. Targeting those areas in free agency or trades or the draft would address glaring weaknesses.<\/p>\n

What’s Next for the Pelicans Post-David Griffin<\/h3>\n

The Pelicans\u2019 decision to fire David Griffin signals a pivotal moment for the franchise. New leadership must maximize Williamson\u2019s prime, stabilize the organization, and strengthen the roster.<\/p>\n

Griffin\u2019s tenure will always be remembered for the trade that sent Anthony Davis<\/a> to the Lakers in exchange for three players and three draft picks in 2019. The team pivoted in a new direction with the first overall pick in the 2019 draft. A top-five pick in this year’s draft offers another opportunity to recenter the franchise.<\/p>\n

New Orleans has the talent to compete. Dumars appears set to be given a shot at unlocking that potential before time runs out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The New Orleans Pelicans made a major move this week, firing Executive Vice President David Griffin. According to ESPN, the team chose to “move in a new direction after continued playoff shortcomings.” Now, the Pelicans must quickly regroup to maximize their promising core and secure a stable future. After Firing David Griffin, What’s Next For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":134349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,33,3],"tags":[1682,49979,49375,240,308,1934,996,979,4112,2242,50077,49701,4382,1684],"class_list":["post-134328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-pelicans","category-news","tag-2019-nba-draft","tag-2024-25-nba-season","tag-2025-nba-draft","tag-anthony-davis","tag-brandon-ingram","tag-cj-mccollum","tag-david-griffin","tag-espn","tag-herb-jones","tag-joe-dumars","tag-nba-executive","tag-the-athletic","tag-trey-murphy-iii","tag-zion-williamson"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134328"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134351,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134328\/revisions\/134351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}