New Orleans Pelicans: How hot should Alvin Gentry’s seat be?

The Verdict

Notably, the Pelicans signed Alvin Gentry to a two-year contract extension after last season’s successful playoff run that puts him under contract through the 2020-21 season. The Pelicans are one of the smallest markets in the NBA and always rank near the bottom of the league in attendance — finances will likely play a part in keeping Gentry on past 2018-19.

Even though franchises are normally poo-pooed for cheapness, the move is ok if it leads the team to bring Gentry back, because he is the logical candidate to lead whatever the Pelicans’ new young core turns out to be.

Quite frankly, he should be given the chance to do so. Firing him now would be the wrong decision, and looking at his coaching history, he’s never truly been the head coach of a stable franchise, so it’s hard to blame him for his lack of success.

Whenever the team does trade Davis, the return — whether it includes Jayson Tatum or not — will be young guys looking to grow and make their mark in the league. As the ultimate player’s coach, Gentry would have quite a positive impact on young guys shaken by being traded away at the drop of a hat for an established superstar.

On the court, things would work too. Gentry’s fast-paced offensive style would showcase the young talents beautifully, and freed from Davis’s max contract and maybe even Solomon Hill’s cap-clogger, the new front office may be able to actually get more than six NBA-caliber players on the roster. Defensively, Erman needs to be replaced to change something, but Gentry shouldn’t have to fall on that sword.

The rebooted Pelicans won’t have any expectations in the coming years, so if they do lose games — and they will — it won’t be the end of the world.

If New Orleans wants to crawl out of the cellar of the most dysfunctional franchises in the league, retaining Gentry is the place to start. His stabilizing presence alone would be more beneficial to an organization that outsiders are almost willing to Seattle than any Xs and Os guru could bring and he would have a fresh start to lead the Pelicans with a more balanced team than he’s had up to this point.

And who knows? Maybe the 2017-18 season was more indicative of what Gentry can do for the Pelicans than the 2018-19 season has been.