Some targets in the New Orleans Pelicans search for its next coach are coming into clearer focus.
New Orleans has received permission to interview a pair of current assistant coaches for their newly vacated head coaching job after the team parted ways with Stan Van Gundy after one tumultuous season, according to a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Those coaches are Brooklyn Nets assistant Jacque Vaughn and Milwaukee Bucks assistant Charles Lee. Neither name is particularly surprising, with both previously cropping in reports as potential targets.
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Vaughn has the more notable head coaching track record, having spent two-plus seasons as the head coach of the Orlando Magic beginning in 2012. Vaughn was fired late in the 2014-'15 season amid his third consecutive losing season. He finished that tenure with a record of 58-158.
The next season Vaughn joined the Nets as an assistant, with his head coaching profile gaining a bit of steam after after taking over as the interim head coach following Kenny Atkinson's departure and leading the Nets to a 7-3 record and the No. 7 seed in the playoffs to end the regular season. That run ended with a thud however, as his Nets team was swept in four games by the Toronto Raptors.
Vaughn's season is suddenly over despite the Nets' title ambitions due to an overtime, Game 7 loss to the team led, in part, by the other name on this list. Lee began his coaching career as an assistant at Bucknell in 2012, and joined the Atlanta Hawks coaching staff as an assistant in 2014. He began his current assistant head coaching gig with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2018.
After defeating the Nets, the Bucks will now face the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals. That series begins Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
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Some other names reported as potential options have included Pelicans assistant coaches Teresa Weatherspoon and Fred Vinson, another Nets assistant in Ime Udoka, and current Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd.
The Pelicans' future hopes will also be mapped out a bit more clearly Tuesday night in the NBA draft lottery, where the Pelicans hold the 10th-best odds to jump into the top-four selections. Pelicans vice president of basketball operations Swin Cash will be New Orleans' representative at the event, which begins at 7:30 p.m. (central).