As the seemingly stuck-in-last-place New Orleans Pelicans prepare to embark on a brutal five-game homestand, the temperature around Willie Green's office chair has risen from warm to scorching hot. Understandably so, given a 2-8 start to the season and the body language being displayed by the locker room.
However, despite growing external pressure, organizational sources indicate that a decision on the embattled coach's future is being measured against a preseason plan and a brutal run of Zion Williamson's injury luck, not a small 10-game sample size.
Through four-plus seasons, ownership has remained in Green's corner, showing patience and perseverance in a market where both have been in short supply. His record of 150-188 overall, including just 25 wins in his last 100 games, is not flattering at all, sure. Still, there is an understanding inside the organization that few coaches have been dealt a more chaotic hand.
Green has guided the Pelicans to multiple postseason appearances (NBA Playoffs and Play-In Tournament) despite rosters ravaged by injuries and slow starts. Williamson has played just 219 games since 2019 while missing 272 and counting. Brandon Ingram missed over 150 games across his last four seasons before being traded to the Toronto Raptors.
Williamson is now back on the injury report, Ingram is throwing bottles in Toronto, and Dejounte Murray is not expected back until well after Thanksgiving.
So, as ClutchPoints was asked by one team source, “What's the rush? What's changed to make a decision now?”
Another echoed that same sentiment. Even when the Pels began the new season with a 0-6 record, the focus remained on “winning winnable games” until Murray and Williamson returned.
“You think it's all roses? Does anyone?” the same source added. “Win games, that's it.”
The Pelicans have gone 2-2 since being crushed by the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the team has played only three home games all season.
There are a handful of winnable games on the calendar before the start of December. Beyond wins and losses, the organization has prioritized rookie development and evaluating which veterans fit long-term alongside Williamson and Trey Murphy III. Saddiq Bey has emerged as a bargain acquisition, while Jordan Poole continued to post disappointing numbers before his injury.
As the rotations become more settled, Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver can make some adjustments before the trade deadline.
This team is arguably just five shots away from a .500 record, according to at least one half-glass-full executive. New Orleans is two wins out of the 10th spot in the West standings and three wins behind Portland for a home Play-In Tournament game.
If Kawhi Leonard missed that one Hollywood shot, or a couple of calls went a different way in Memphis, or perhaps that overtime heartbreaker in the home opener ended with a regulation-time game winner, there would be far less focus on Green's job security.
Pelicans under pressure
Those bounces did not favor the Big Easy, and the internal mood is bleak. Multiple representatives and staffers have described how the overall internal “vibes are bad” and how Green sticking around makes one “want to crash out.”
The pressure has seeped outside the organization, with local influencers and national platforms, like Barstool's Pardon My Take, taking note.
Win or lose, Willie Green has one thing going in his favor: not many postseason-proven NBA coaches wanted to inherit such instability.
Jacque Vaughn notably turned down the opportunity to mentor a young Zion Williamson before the Pelicans found Green with Brandon Ingram's input, sources said. Charles Lee, another leading candidate at the time, wound up with LaMelo Ball's Charlotte Hornets.
Simply put, development projects littered with discarded veterans do not attract the best candidates, especially in the middle of a disappointing season. As one league source explained, “No one wants to take the job without a direction.”
It gets worse as multiple sources describe an organization gripped by anxiety and self-preservation because “Dumars is talking about wanting to completely clean house.” One person close to the team told ClutchPoints some fear that the front office is quietly looking for someone who would “completely shake up the organization and reset the culture.”
The fear has led to players playing timidly and coaches coaching quietly. The “force and purpose” Green likes to cite so often in media scrums is gone. Rather than collaborating on solutions, Green is being left to handle the crisis largely alone.
Coaches talk about putting their “head down and doing the work,” but a gym with everyone looking at their feet is bound to get tripped up by some heads-up opponents more often than not.
Others in the building sometimes question the overall tone and seriousness, pointing to Troy Weaver's baggy basketball shorts and Adam Sandler-esque vacation wardrobe being pretty routine. Although, as one internal source said, “Sometimes you'll see him (Weaver) dressed up.”
Many point to the team skipping Green's announcement as head coach during pregame introductions as an undeniable negative signal to the city. The fans who want to pay good money to boo, to let their voices be heard, lose out in the end.
“We're professionals. We're supposed to do our job,” Trey Murphy III said at the start of November. “Our job is to go play basketball to the best of our abilities. We haven't been doing that as a team. We have to get back on track and figure it out ourselves.”
Wins do cure all ills, but it is hard to see more than a handful of wins before the holidays for this team.
Willie Green waiting for Zion Williamson
The plan was always to give Willie Green and Zion Williamson at least 15 games, maybe 20-25, depending on injuries and a tough schedule.
That was the first pit window, to use a racing term for a quick change, if the team was not doing well. Unfortunately, Murphy III's “figure it out ourselves” statement is the exact opposite of a team-wide group effort. Green had to admit as much after allowing Grayson Allen to go off for 42 points in 27 minutes on Monday night.
“We've got to stop waiting as a team to get punched and then start trying to fight,” Green began. “Again, we're below our standard of where we want to be.”
That starts with the starting lineup and rotation patterns.
Kevon Looney is providing little, especially when Derik Queen's development is far more important right now. The rookie's production is better, too, by most metrics. Karlo Matkovic has made the most of his time. Jose Alvarado “deserves” more appreciation as well, per one source.
Green cannot keep waiting for Williamson to solve the problems.
In fact, a win over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers without the All-Star is needed to stay on the job. Following up with a respectable loss versus the Los Angeles Lakers would be acceptable.
The team could say they've turned a competitive corner, like Murphy talked about at practice last week. Until that corner is turned, though, fans have every right to be sour after Dumars spent months selling a gritty, competitive product.
After hosting the Trail Blazers, which is a must-win for optics as much as record, the Pelicans face the Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Denver Nuggets.
The consensus is clear in that Green likely won’t survive this brutal stretch without a win over Portland. Another humiliating loss, especially to a team whose coach was recently in FBI custody, would be the final, embarrassing straw for the Crescent City's most cautious decision-makers.
In less than 24 hours, Willie Green's fate could be decided.
