After 10 losses in 12 games, the New Orleans Pelicans have seen enough: Willie Green is out as head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans.
The team announced the move Saturday morning, hours after a 118-104 loss to the L.A. Lakers. Assistant James Borrego will take over as interim head coach.
“After careful evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to make a change at head coach,” Pelicans EVP Joe Dumars said in a release. “I have the utmost respect for Willie Green, and I’m sincerely appreciative of his contributions to the Pelicans organization and the New Orleans community. We wish him and his family all the best in the future.”
New Orleans began the season 0-6 before winning games on back-to-back nights against the Hornets and Mavericks, but another four-game losing streak spurred the ultimate change.
The decision wasn't a surprise from the Pelicans, with the head coach's seat quickly heating up throughout the course of the rough start and coming off a 21-61 campaign a year ago. At that point New Orleans opted to part ways with Executive VP David Griffin, who was replaced by Dumars. The decision marked a change at the top and there were some staffing changes, but a majority of the operation -- including Green -- was left in place after Dumars assessed the situation.
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Green began his head coaching tenure in the 2021-'22 season, taking over after an unsuccessful stint with Stan Van Gundy in that role. He led the team to a record of 36-46 and his team fought through the play-in tournament before falling in six games to the top-seeded Suns. The Pelicans went on to win 42 and 49 games the following two seasons, landing in the play-in tournament both times. Green's run with the Pelicans ends with an overall record of 150-190.
Dumars made it clear early on that he'd be making aggressive moves, trading CJ McCollum out of town while bringing in veteran guard Jordan Poole and F Saddiq Bey. The team also made an aggressive trade up in the draft, sending their unprotected 2026 pick to the Hawks in exchange for the No. 13 overall pick, which was used to select center Derik Queen. The rookie class of Queen and Jeremiah Fears have been clear bright spots for this year's team, but they haven't shined brightly enough to avoid starting with the worst record in the Western Conference.
Team owner Gayle Benson had emphasized previously that the decision on what to do with the head coach lied with Dumars alone. The decision comes just over a year removed from the Saints' decision to fire Dennis Allen midway through the 2024 season.
“I have tremendous admiration and respect for Willie Green, and I truly appreciate all he has done for our organization over the last few years," Benson said in a statement. "This is a tough business and these are difficult decisions. My expectation is to be a winning team that competes for championships, and I remain steadfast in our commitment to building a championship-caliber organization for our players, partners, and above all, our fans.”
The Pelicans now hand the team over, at least for now, to a former head coach in Borrego. The 48-year-old from New Mexico has been in the NBA coaching ranks since 2003 and was the head coach for the Charlotte Hornets from 2018-'22. He's also been in a similar scenario before, taking over as the interim head coach for the Orlando Magic in 2015 after the firing of Jacque Vaughn.
Due to the trade and the lack of a first round selection in the upcoming draft, there will be no talk of tanking surrounding this team. That means there will be at least some investment in righting the ship the rest of the way, which will hopefully include the return of star Zion Williamson and Poole, both of whom have missed time with injuries but should be back in the action soon.
Williamson currently leads the team in points (22.8 per game), rebounds (6.8), assists (4.6) and steals (2.0) and his 11.4 free throw attempts per game average leads the NBA.
The Pelicans are back on the court Sunday when they host the Warriors at the Smoothie King Center. Catch all the action on WWL Radio.