The New Orleans Pelicans had hope heading into this season. The team was coming off a playoff appearance that saw the Pelicans sweep the Trail Blazers before falling to Golden State.
Hopes were high that New Orleans would try to keep Demarcus Cousins and lock up Anthony Davis long-term.
Instead, this past season was a disaster. The Pelicans lost Cousins in the offseason, there was trade drama between the team and Davis all year, and they went 33-49 in 2018-2019.
Lots of question marks follow the franchise into next season.
Will Anthony Davis Return Next Season?
Anthony Davis says he didn't choose to wear the "That's all Folks" shirt last night 🤨
(via @PelicansHoops) pic.twitter.com/7k1nZMMgi5
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 10, 2019
New Orleans Pelicans’ star Anthony Davis missed 26 games in 2018-2019, battling injuries along with a souring relationship with the Pelicans’ organization as a whole. Trade rumors swirled around all season, leading Davis to actually request a trade from the team at one point.
Now it seems fitting that Davis chose to wear a shirt that read “that’s all folks.” The Pelicans and Davis are all but certain to split in the offseason.
The Pelicans are expected to be in rebuilding mode with limited cap room at the moment. That’s why many expect the Pelicans to cut ties with their best player.
Davis has stated that although a trade seems imminent, he’s waiting on the Pelicans to name their new general manager.
Pelicans Still Searching For New GM
Here’s an update on the Pelicans’ GM search, with everything that I’ve been able to gather in the past few days:
Pelicans expected to conclude GM search interviews on Tuesday
Link: https://t.co/dtohdFUA4B pic.twitter.com/FxKKM7TzWl
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) April 9, 2019
Pelicans interim general manager Danny Ferry interviewed to become the permanent GM on Tuesday.
Ferry has been the general manager previously at Cleveland and Atlanta. He’s considered to be a leading candidate to land the GM spot in New Orleans.
Other candidates that are considered favorites are David Griffin and Gersson Rosas.
Rosas interviewed well and left the Pelicans impressed. He has previously been a GM with the Dallas Mavericks in 2013 and interviewed for the Sixers and Hornets GM positions after last season.
Griffin, the former general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, also interviewed for the position. He has more GM experience than Rosas, but others are matching him to be the new president of the Los Angeles Lakers after Magic Johnson stepped down earlier in the week.