The management is in chaos! The coach takes the blame! What are the difficulties for the Pelicans?

Back in November 2023, the Pelicans were still a dark horse on the hot streak.

Since McCollum returned from injury, the team has surged to a record of 38 wins and 24 losses. At that time, the Pelicans ranked third in the league in net points; looking at NBA history, they were second only to the 2024 champion Green Kai and the 2025 champion Thunder. This is also the Pelicans' highest moment since Davis left the team.

Behind this highlight, the value of coach Willie Green is particularly critical.

Although his results were average, he at least turned a team with an imperfect structure into a superficially strong team. It's just that this highlight didn't last long, and the story turned around quite quickly. Ingram was injured in March, and Zion was injured again in April. The backbone of the team fell one after another, and the team's offensive and defensive system collapsed immediately.

Coming to this season, the Pelicans plummeted directly to the last team in the Western Conference. But what's worse is that they can't move it. They don't even have their own first-round pick this season.

When the poor record is in front of us, someone must take the blame behind it. In the end, coach Willie Green was kicked out and became the scapegoat.

Of course, on paper, firing coach Green is not a wrong decision. Starting from the second half of last season, the Pelicans' system collapsed visibly, and the offense and defense were full of loopholes.

It is undeniable that unexpected injuries are indeed part of the reason, but for the remaining available rotation players, coach Green failed to develop many bright spots.

From a coaching perspective, the breakup between the team and the head coach is not unexpected. Just one thing must be said:

Willie Green does have problems, but he is not the source of the Pelicans' problems; he may not even be the main problem.

The real source of confusion for the Pelicans comes from top to bottom.

In just one year, the Pelicans went through two managements. During this period, the Pelicans added three first-rounders, Dyson Daniels, Nance Jr., and Ingram, and replaced them with Dejounte Murray and Derrick Jones.

But judging from the lineup changes, no matter how you explain it, such trading is difficult to satisfy.

In addition to the blind manipulation of the lineup, the Pelicans' most fatal pain point mainly lies in injuries, especially the team's leader Zion.

Referring to the previous play-off match against the Lakers, Zion still performed as a star. But just like the team's short-lived highlights, Zion's bright moments did not last long, and his decline after injury was even worse. Faced with such a disadvantageous situation, we must ask:

Does the management have no responsibility for the team's so many additional injuries over the years?

For the Pelicans, it is likely that something is wrong from the root. As a team that has never been willing to spend big money, the Pelicans have never paid the luxury tax. It is difficult for such a team to hit the upper limit.

But what is even more pessimistic is the team's management appointment process:

The Pelicans fired David Griffin in April this year, and only three days later announced the hiring of Dumars to take over as the team's general manager. According to reporters, there was no interview or evaluation between the two parties. This human operation feels a bit like nepotism.

Compared with other serious management, the Pelicans are more like randomly looking for an acquaintance to take over in the face of chaos. Before taking over the Pelicans, Dumars had not managed an NBA team for more than ten years; and his last championship was with the Pistons in 2004.

It is really difficult for the Pelicans to rely on Dumars to solve the current complicated situation.

In addition to the team management, the problems within the players cannot be ignored.

While retiring from injury, Dejounte Murray once spoke publicly on a podcast, saying that he did not receive support from the team during his recovery from a broken hand, and that he was unable to receive a reasonable training plan when he encountered family changes.

It is not that there have been cases of players complaining about the team's top management before, but Murray is different. After he clearly complained to the team, he still wore a Pelicans jersey. It is rare for a player to speak his truth so directly while still playing for the team.

In the face of Murray's criticism, the new management also responded:

"We will not have this problem happen again this year."

The response is indeed confident enough, but the problem is that, after all, whether it can be done or not is another matter. Judging from the current performance of the Pelicans, they have not been able to get better, and have even gotten worse.

The question is now on the table. Can a coaching change really solve the Pelicans' problems?

The answer is clear: no.

There have been too many cases in the NBA before. Under the chaos of the top management, no matter how many coaches are changed, they will only go further and further in the end.

The Kings and Suns are standard cases. The former won the best coach under the leadership of Mike Brown, but was fired after just a year and a half, and the Kings returned to the quagmire again; as for the Suns, since owner Isbia took over the team, no coach has been able to survive a year under him.

For a team, coaching change is never a master key; real reconstruction must start from the top. Until then, the Pelicans are still far away from being able to embark on the road to success.