New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry is a favorite of the organization and is expected to return next season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The Pelicans hired former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin on Friday as the team's new executive vice president of basketball operations.

Gentry worked with Griffin with the Phoenix Suns in the past.

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Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry worked with Griffin with the Suns, and he interviewed Griffin for the Cavaliers' head-coaching job that eventually went to David Blatt. Gentry is a favorite of the organization, and he was expected to return next season regardless of the front-office hiring, sources said.

The Pelicans went 33-49 on the season. Griffin's first task with New Orleans will be to trade superstar big man Anthony Davis, who has requested a trade.

Alvin Gentry did the best job he could in the second half of the season after the Pelicans didn't trade Davis at the February trade deadline. It was an awkward dynamic for Gentry, who had to coach a team full of guys who knew the best player on the team didn't want to be there.

Gentry joined the Pelicans in the summer of 2015. He has gone 145-183 in the regular season and 5-4 in the playoffs.