The New Orleans Pelicans fired head coach Monty Williams on Tuesday afternoon. Williams had been with the Pelicans since 2010, guiding the team towards incremental improvements every year before finally breaking through the playoff barrier this season.
The reasoning behind Williams’ firing is admittedly understandable, but the timing is suspect.
Pelicans general manager Dell Demps, vice president Mickey Loomis, and owner Tom Benson are just a few of the many organizational decision makers who have opted to follow a current NBA trend that, without context, is illogical.
Countless NBA teams are tying to mimic what the Golden State Warriors are doing on the court, and a similar number of NBA teams are tying to mimic what the Golden State Warriors already did off it as well.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or something. Mimicry isn’t a novel concept. When the Miami Heat had LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade, the all-too-simple formula of “creating a super-team” was the trend. Now, it’s all about the high pick and roll. It’s about “pace and space.” It’s about having interchangeable defensive pieces that can switch when necessary. Nearly everyone wants to do what Golden State is doing, and for good reason. The Warriors have had an amazing year, and if they win the championship this season, it will further validate the way that team was constructed, and how they are playing. Not for nothing, it’s fun to watch. If you don’t think owners care about how their product looks on television, I don’t know what to tell you.
For all intents and purposes, the Warriors “traded” Mark Jackson for Steve Kerr, and Golden State took off. It’s starting to feel as though general managers around the league are using that example to convince their owners and fellow front-office executives that certain coaches can only get you to a certain point and then it’s time to move on. Of course, the general manager gets to keep his job in this scenario, so why not?
The Sacramento Kings fired Michael Malone in the middle of the season because the Kings weren’t playing a “style” the front office liked. Kings owner Vivek Ranadive infamously insinuated that the Kings’ record was irrelevant to letting Malone go. He just wasn’t their guy anymore.
There is nothing inherently wrong with any of this, to be honest. The owners can do whatever they want, that’s why they are owners. If Ranadive doesn’t mind paying three head coaches for one 29-win season, by all means, do your thing.
The Kings briefly dated Tyrone Corbin before settling down with George Karl. Is Karl a better coach than Malone? It’s not as obvious as you might think. Karl was an amazing coach. Malone did a very good job in his season and a half in Sacramento.
A similar situation happened in Oklahoma City with Scott Brooks. You could argue that Brooks wasn’t the best coach for that particular basketball team, but you cannot say with any certainty that Billy Donovan will be better.
As Grantland’s Zach Lowe so eloquently noted, it’s not that hard to understand why Oklahoma City would move on from Brooks, but to do it after a season when both Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant missed a substantial amount of games is just strange. Better late than never is Sam Presti’s best argument, but that isn’t a defense to be proud of.
All of these scenarios are slightly different in their own ways. In both the Kings’ and Pelicans’ cases, the head coach was brought in before the general manager, and in Oklahoma City’s case, the Thunder are on the brink of losing one of the top four players in the NBA. Everything is on the table.
In all cases, however, a lot of irrational confidence in Steve Kerr’s success permeates the air. If you’re the general manager, it is a lot easier to blame the coach than the players you personally acquired.
In every instance I can’t help but ask myself how any of these teams could have performed better than they did. The Kings were 11-13 when they fired Malone, and a heaping portion of those 13 losses came while DeMarcus Cousins was out of the lineup trying to recover from viral meningitis. How were the Thunder supposed to perform better than they did this season under Brooks? They were decimated by injuries and still managed to stay in the playoff hunt.
Monty Williams has the best defense. In mid-April, Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Pelicans owner Tom Benson told both Dell Demps and Williams that the team had to make the playoffs or both of them would be fired at the end of the season. The Pelicans made the playoffs, and Dell Demps just fired Monty Williams. How does that work?
Moreover, what about this letter Tom Benson sent Monty Williams, his staff, and his players?
“Dear Monty, Dell and all of the Pelicans Coaches and Players:
I wanted to thank each and every one of you for a job well done this past season. We made the playoffs in a very strong finish at the end of the season. That is a tribute to your hard work and determination. You were able to overcome the adversities that face every team, but it was the way you all came together as a team that made us all very proud.
Our fans were truly galvanized by your dedication. Our theme this year was to Take Flight. I am confident that we have begun to take flight as a team. We now must turn our attention to getting better and coming back for the 2015-16 season with an even stronger resolve.
I am very excited about the future of our Pelicans and you have my word and my resolve to bring everything to bear to win. New Orleans deserves an NBA Championship and we have the foundation, facilities and fans to make this a reality.
Sincerely,
Tom Benson, Owner.”
The NBA is a cruel fraternity, man.
I feel bad for Monty, if only because he seems like one of the more humble and classy figures in a world where those qualities can be so hard to find. His first interview after hearing the news of his firing was actually inspiring on some levels:
The real injustice here is that Dell Demps is still in charge after forcing Monty to coach that unbalanced, thrown-together roster he assembled.
The New Orleans Pelicans are going to be just fine. That is the harsh truth. They don’t need Monty Williams, even if I disagree with how Benson and the organization handled his firing.
They have Anthony Davis, after all. You are going to see a lot of big-name coaching candidates coming out of the woodwork for this one. I can’t imagine a more desirable coaching vacancy than one that includes an opportunity to coach the league’s most dynamic two-way player with nearly unlimited potential. On that level, moving on from Monty Williams makes a lot of sense. If you can grab someone like Tom Thibodeau, Jeff Van Gundy, Alvin Gentry, or Michael Malone, then yes, that feels like a tangible upgrade to me.
The Pelicans didn’t need to change their coach as much as they needed to improve their roster, and that is where a potential problem lies. If they look at Kerr and the Warriors and determine that nothing but a few minor tweaks and a new coach will be enough to turn them into contenders, it would be a mistake. Demps must break up the oft-injured, rarely complementary Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, Jrue Holiday backcourt before I can call this offseason a success.
However, if they can bring in one of the few proven head coaches available, and make progressive roster changes this offseason, the Pelicans could contend as early as next season. Benson is putting an awful lot of faith in Dell Demps. I might invest my faith elsewhere, but this is it for Demps. This is his last chance.
