USA TODAY International Edition
David Griffin has Pelicans primed for success
David Griffin waited two seasons for the right job.
After the Cavaliers decided not to bring Griffin back as general manager following the 2016-17 season, he worked as an NBA TV and radio analyst and was good at it. But returning to the NBA was never far from his mind.
When New Orleans fired GM Dell Demps at the All-Star break, an opportunity opened for Griffin to get back into the league. He developed great respect for Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, appreciates the cultural and historical significance of the city — he and his wife, Meredith, are food connoisseurs and spent their time in California wine country the past two years — and saw an opportunity to create something special with the Pelicans, starting with Anthony Davis.
Either Griffin would persuade Davis to stay (highly unlikely) or he would trade him for a boatload of assets that would accelerate New Orleans’ rebuild.
By luck of a ping-pong draw and one month into Griffin’s tenure as executive vice president of basketball operations for the Pelicans, they won the draft lottery and the right to draft Zion Williamson.
And here we are today. Less than 48 hours after the NBA Finals ended, Griffin traded Davis to the Lakers for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks, including the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft and a firstround pick likely in 2022, the year the NBA is expected to eliminate the oneand-done rule and allow high school players to enter the draft. That means double the talent in that draft and the potential to get a really good lotterytype player no matter where the pick is in the first round.
To be clear, it’s not like New Orleans gave up nothing for something. Davis is an All-Star and not yet in his prime.
But for sure, it’s an impressive and massive haul and Griffin maximized his return, setting up New Orleans for the long and short term.
Next season, the Pelicans will have a roster that includes Williamson, Ingram, Ball, Hart, the No. 4 pick — or whomever Griffin trades for that pick, which is a possibility — Jrue Holiday, E’Twaun Moore, Solomon Hill and maybe Julius Randle plus whomever Griffin signs in free agency.
The Pelicans have a team that will be talented, fun to watch and marketable — key factors when it comes to making the playoffs, putting fans in the seats and creating lucrative partnerships.
It’s been a productive two months on the job for Griffin. He hired Trajan Langdon as general manager, snagged highly regarded trainer Aaron Nelson from the Suns and named him vice president of player care and performance and brought in former WNBA great Swin Cash as vice president of basketball operations and team development.
The Pelicans also have a seasoned coach in Alvin Gentry who should soon have his best opportunity to create something special with New Orleans.
Since the Pelicans drafted Davis in 2012, they have been trying to break through in the Western Conference. They lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2015 and reached the conference semifinals in 2018 but also missed the playoffs in 2016, 2017 and 2019.
Injuries played a big part of that, and the Pelicans never were able to maximize what they had. Then, Davis wanted out.
The situation turned messy for the Pelicans and the Lakers after they worked toward a trade at the February deadline and failed. Demps, who was steadfast in keeping Davis, lost his job. Magic Johnson eventually quit as president of basketball operations for the Lakers. Los Angeles general manager Rob Pelinka took a public relations beating. The Lakers looked like a bumbling organization, and the Pelicans looked inept.
Griffin came in, assessed the situation and got to work.
The Pelicans look good on paper and need to make it work on the court. But there aren’t many teams who are set up for the next seven seasons and beyond like the Pelicans.