The New Orleans Pelicans’ coaching search this offseason looks to be a far less extensive one than last offseason. While the team spent months searching before landing on Stan Van Gundy last fall, this offseason, the search appears likely to only last a few weeks, ending with an interview of current Pelicans assistant Fred Vinson.
Per Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report:
A former Magic play-caller, Jacque Vaughn, has seemingly emerged as the most likely candidate in New Orleans’ head coaching search, sources told B/R. The Pelicans’ interview process will likely stretch into later this week, culminating with New Orleans assistant Fred Vinson, but Vaughn’s name, even more so than Bucks assistant Charles Lee, is continually mentioned as the Pelicans’ leader.
A couple of things of note from that report. First, it corroborates reports from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and from NOLA.com’s Christian Clark that Vaughn is at least one of the leading candidates for the position. Second, it creates the first timeline for the Pelicans’ search that has been reported.
Most interestingly, though, is the mention of Vinson as a candidate. One of the team’s most valuable assistant, interviewing Vinson could be a move on two fronts: vetting a potential candidate while also showing a level of respect that could help keep him around should the team hire a different candidate.
Vinson has close relationships with Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram after helping both remake their jumpers and also worked with Zion Williamson on his free throw shooting. He’s been a valuable commodity to a rebuilding franchise and his hard work has been rewarded with a coaching interview.
However, by nearly all accounts, it appears to be Vaughn’s job to lose, which will again set up another interesting situation to see if Vinson stays with yet another new staff.
