The New Orleans Pelicans took the first step in a potential rebuild when they hired former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin to be the team's executive vice president of basketball operations, and have followed that up by hiring former Brooklyn Nets assistant general manager Trajan Langdon to be their own GM.
Langdon, who played in the NBA for three seasons before becoming a prolific figure in the Euroleague, joined Brooklyn's front office in 2016, and should provide another perspective as the Pelicans look to accumulate a bunch of young talent.
Griffin commented on Langdon's hiring on Sunday afternoon.
David Griffin on Trajan Langdon:
"Trajan is a tremendous talent and shares in our vision of what it means to be a part of the Pelican family, on and off the floor. We are excited to add he and his family to our leadership group as we continue building upon that vision.”— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) May 19, 2019
For his part, Griffin was the driving force behind Cleveland's momentous 2014 offseason, which saw the Cavs draft Andrew Wiggins (and subsequently trade him for Kevin Love, a tremendous move in hindsight) and bring LeBron James back to Northeast Ohio.
The Cavaliers would make three straight NBA Finals appearances with Griffin as the general manager, winning the title in 2016. After a loss to the Warriors in 2017, both Griffin and team owner Dan Gilbert came to a mutual agreement that Griffin would step down as GM.
Griffin and Langdon have their work cut out for them this summer. Luckily, they should have tremendous leverage in any potential trade involving star forward Anthony Davis, mostly because of their luck in landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Will the Pelicans elect to trade Davis and begin their rebuild in earnest, or will they try to keep Davis and mend his relationship with the organization, simultaneously hoping that the emergence of likely No. 1 pick Zion Williamson will galvanize the franchise and make New Orleans playoff contenders?
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