With one of the smallest analytic departments in the league, the New Orleans Pelicans appear to be making moves to address the matter this off-season. An early August report from The Athletic’s Seth Partnow indicated the Pelicans had the smallest analytics department in the NBA.
While New Orleans hasn’t been a team associated with playing an outdated style of basketball or not adhering to more modern concepts of the NBA, not putting a priority
On Tuesday, Bourbon Street Shots’ Shamit Dua reported that the franchise would be hiring Michael Hartman, the Director of Coaching Analytics for the Cleveland Cavaliers, to lead the Pelicans’ analytics department. Hartman recently received a promotion to his position with the Cavaliers last summer upon John Beilein’s hiring.
Assuming the Pelicans have also retained the only listed member of their analytics department in Partnow’s piece, Somak Sarkar, the team now has two members in the analytics department. That figure would still rank as tied for last in the league with Utah, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Denver and Atlanta.
