More on Pelicans Coaching Search
Get Up: It is not a forgone conclusion that Ty Lue will end up as the Clippers' next head coach, according to @wojespn. "I'm told he's going to meet with New Orleans soon. Houston wants to talk him."
Adrian Wojnarowski: Houston and New Orleans are among teams planning to interview Clippers assistant Ty Lue in near future, sources tell ESPN. The Clippers are expected to begin meeting with coaching candidates soon -- and Lue will be prominent in that search to replace Doc Rivers.
The New Orleans Pelicans are planning to interview Lue in the near future too, sources said. Lue and Pelicans Executive VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin have strong ties, most notably working together to win an NBA title in Cleveland in 2016.
The New Orleans Pelicans are planning to interview Lue in the near future too, sources said. Lue and Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin have strong ties, most notably working together to win an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
Rivers has also been contacted by the New Orleans Pelicans. However, sources say he appears to be happy living in Southern California. The Clippers also have to pay him for the remaining years of his contract. So he could opt to sit out next season with the uncertainty of the schedule.
Lue, a former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach, has some options. The Clippers reached out to him Monday about being a candidate to replace Rivers, who is a close friend, according to sources. Sources added that representatives of the New Orleans Pelicans are scheduled to fly to the West Coast for an informal meeting with Lue on Friday. He’s also scheduled to interview for the Houston Rockets job next week. But Lue is interested in coaching the Sixers.
Marc J. Spears: New Orleans Pelicans and Philadelphia 76ers have already reached out to former Clippers head coach Doc Rivers in regards to their head coach openings, sources told @TheUndefeated.
David Griffin, the executive vice president of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans, was spotted before the Pelicans’ exit visiting with the Clippers’ in-demand assistant coach Tyronn Lue. Griffin and Lue have a history, as the former general manager and coach of the title-winning Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, so the sight of former work colleagues spending time together on a campus that housed 22 N.B.A. teams is not notable in itself.
Lue, of course, has also been mentioned for months as a top candidate in the Nets’ looming coaching search. The latest rumbles in N.B.A. coaching circles suggest that the Nets or the Philadelphia 76ers are more likely landing spots for Lue than New Orleans despite his Griffin ties.
Lue’s price tag could price him out of a place like New Orleans, where league sources say the team is expected to spend about $5.5 million annually on its coach. Pelicans executives would not discuss their coaching search with The Athletic.
Had Lue not taken the job with Rivers on the Clippers, sources said, Lue may have been hired in New Orleans earlier this season. There were frustrations at Christmas time inside the organization with Alvin Gentry, sources said, though Gentry was allowed to stay on for the rest of the year because Williamson returned from injury, the Pels started winning, and there weren’t candidates on the open market to step in.
Among those coaches expected to be part of the Pelicans search: Lakers assistant Jason Kidd, Clippers assistant Ty Lue and former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, sources said. The Pelicans are also expected to have an interest in Brooklyn interim coach Jacque Vaughn, should the Nets decide not to retain him, sources said.
