Pelicans Are Already Fumbling the James Borrego Era With Coaching Search

The New Orleans Pelicans are making a mistake by not naming James Borrego as the permanent head coach.

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The New Orleans Pelicans finally made the long-awaited move of firing Willie Green on Saturday. Associate head coach James Borrego has been named the interim head coach, but it sounds like he still has to prove himself to the organization to earn the full-time role. Joe Dumars is reportedly conducting the head coach search and that should scare Pelicans fans.

SNYtv's Ian Begley reported on Saturday that while Borrego will "get consideration for full-time NOP job," there will be other candidates, including former UConn head coach Kevin Ollie. Chris Dodson of ClutchPoints added that Dumars may be looking for someone who can "completely shake up the organization and reset the culture," suggesting that Borrego may not be that name. He threw out Michael Malone, Tom Thibodeau, Mike Budenholzer, and Taylor Jenkins as some potential replacements.

Pelicans Are Wasting Their Time With Head Coaching Search

As things stand now, Ollie seems like the only actually reported name that the Pelicans have interest in. Ollie has found a ton of success with the Huskies, leading them to a national championship in 2014. He was fired in 2018 after a series of NCAA investigations. Since then, he worked for the Overtime Elite as head of coaching and basketball development, and acted as an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets in the 2023-24 season.

Ollie has had one season of NBA experience as a coach and has very limited coaching experience outside of UConn. The fact that Dumars is targeting him as one of the leading candidates is not a good sign for the organizational priorities. It is highly reminiscent of the way the Pelicans hired Dumars, who had not worked in an NBA front office for years before landing the job in New Orleans six months ago.

Hiring such an inexperienced, first-time NBA head coach to a dumpster fire of a situation in New Orleans, in the middle of a season, would be extremely risky. It would also send the wrong message to the rest of the league, the organization, and the coaching staff. Borrego has been the associate head coach with the team, has a track record of success as a head coach in the NBA, and has been a sought-after candidate for multiple head coaching openings.

Bringing a questionable external hire like Ollie over him would raise a ton of eyebrows around the league.

Proven coaches like Jenkins, Thibodeau, and Malone are a different story. The Pelicans would be wise to target one of those names, but how attractive a job the Pelicans' role is right now, especially under Joe Dumars and Gayle Benson, is unclear. There is a very good chance that those coaches would wait a little longer for other head coaching roles to open up.

Unless you can hire an established winner mid-season, it's difficult to imagine the Pelicans having a better option than Borrego. Instead of disrespecting him throughout the season with constant speculation, the Pelicans would be wise to announce him as the next permanent head coach of the franchise.