The Pelicans opened what was seen to be a busy offseason with player movement with the firing of Stan Van Gundy.
Before Suns assistant Willie Green emerged as the presumed next head coach of the Pelicans, it was Nets assistant Jacque Vaughn who emerged as the favorite.
Though as it seemed Vaughn was set to become the next signal caller for the Pelicans, he removed his name from the running to return to Brooklyn, siting wanting to be remain close to his children.
But, there may be more to the story.
Reported by Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, though family matters was a strong variable for the Nets assistant coach, it was ‘Vaughn’s negotiations with Griffin that derailed the Nets coach from joining the Pelicans.’
“With Vaughn, sources said, Griffin had specific ideas to fill out the coach’s entire assistant group, envisioning Bucks assistant Charles Lee as the associate head coach…”
This sounds a lot like the situation when Tyronn Lue was set to be hired as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach in 2019. General Manager Rob Pelinka strongly suggested Jason Kidd as Lue’s associate head coach, which Lue felt was undermining his ability to hire his own staff and for Lue, had been down this road before with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lue soon declined the opportunity due to the influence from the Lakers front office. Fischer noted that Griffin has acted on this level of influence in the past during the tenures of Alvin Gentry and Stan Van Gundy, often involving himself in discussions regarding ‘minutes, rotations, and player development.’
“He wants to have some level of involvement in every decision,” one Pelicans voice said.
But it wasn’t just the coaching staff that Griffin sought influence on. Fischer stated that in the negotiations with Vaughn, Griffin pushed for a starting backcourt of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kira Lewis. First, this adds to the speculation that restricted free agent Lonzo Ball will not be in retained this offseason. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported last week that New Orleans is unlikely to match a ‘significant offer sheet’ on Ball. Second, Griffin clearly sees potential in the young guards that he’s had a hand in drafting over the last two years but placing this much demand and influence before the coach puts pen to paper can certainly be concerning. With Willie Green’s pedigree as a leader and experience in player development, you have to wonder if Griffin will take a backseat and let Green steer his own ship.
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