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New Orleans Pelicans fire Monty Williams, path cleared for Tom Thibodeau?

By Josh Hill

Apr 16, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams against the Houston Rockets during the first quarter of a game at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 16, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams against the Houston Rockets during the first quarter of a game at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New Orleans Pelicans have fired head coach Monty Williams, seemingly clearing a path for Tom Thibodeau to land with the team.

After leading the New Orleans Pelicans to their best record in years and guiding the franchise to the postseason, Monty Williams is out of a job. The Pelicans fired their head coach on Tuesday morning not for an offense away from the court or an argument in-house among the front office staff — but for  simply not being a big enough name for general manager Dell Demps.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Pelicans fired Monty Williams despite getting the team to the postseason and guiding the team through tough times these past few years.

The Pelicans needed to make this move, as Williams isn’t the leader that the Pelicans need moving forward and they need a rock star head coach to truly take them to the next level. The last thinNew Orleans can afford to do is take a step back in 2015-16, and that could mean Tom Thibodeau comes to town from Chicago.

Tom Thibodeau has been rumored to be on his way out in Chicago, and the Orlando Magic have been circling the tank. New Orleans can now join them, and according to Gery Woelfel they could be the place the Thibs wants to coach if given the choice.

Still, this is a low down dirty move by the Pelicans, as they fired Williams for essentially not being a big enough name for them. Williams led the team to the postseason, improved in each of his previous seasons with the team and was building a winner.

He’ll get a job again in the NBA, and he’s going to have the bitter taste of this whole incident fueling him to be better and stronger in his next job.

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