NBA Rumors: Pelicans to pursue hiring Tom Thibodeau
By Josh Hill
The New Orleans Pelicans fired Monty Williams on Tuesday, and they’re already circling the tank in Chicago to scoop up Tom Thibodeau.
Monty Williams got the short end of an aggressively pathological stick on Tuesday afternoon when he was fired by Dell Demps for basically not being Tom Thibodeau. It was a shocking and unfair move, but Dell Demps could care less what you think about his decisions and he’s ready tome on as quickly as possible from a coach who helped guide the Pelicans through the toughest of tough times.
According to David Aldridge from TNT and NBA.com, the Pelicans are already pondering the thought of hiring Tom Thibodeau if — or when — he’s fired by the Chicago Bulls.
But if the Bulls indeed get rid of Tom Thibodeau after the playoffs, he's a clear and obvious candidate to coach Anthony Davis & Pels.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) May 12, 2015
In addition to that, Marc Stein from ESPN is reporting that the Pelicans will be using Anthony Davis to lure in Tom Thibodeau due to their connection from Team USA and the relationship they grew out of that.
Worth noting on Pels: Tom Thibodeau has strong relationship with Anthony Davis from Team USA days and has been pursued by New Orleans before
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 12, 2015
Another factor in all of this is the Pelicans going after Jimmy Butler, as he could be a package deal with Thibodeau. It’s no secret that Butler loves playing for Thibs, and if the head coach were to leave Chicago for New Orleans,then Butler could follow.
The real loser in all of this is Monty Williams. Right when the Pelicans were about to turn a corner and get good — largely due to the sweat he poured out to make the team good — he gets axed. This is the kind of control freak it takes to run an NBA franchise though, as you can win and build a winner as you’ve been asked to do and still get fired.
Hopefully Thibodeau doesn’t end up in New Orleans, because it’s going to be hard to root for New Orleans after a gutless move like this.