The New Orleans Pelicans fired their head coach Alvin Gentry last week after he failed to make the playoffs with a relatively easy schedule in the NBA’s bubble. Now that the search has begun, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin has revealed his plan on finding the perfect coach for an incredibly talented, yet youthful Pelicans squad:

“This is not a rush,” Griffin told reporters via a Sports Illustrated story by Sam Amico. “We have a job we believe is going to be the most attractive in the NBA, quite frankly, with all the candidates still in the bubble. Obviously, there are some that may not be. For the most part, most of the candidates you want to talk to are still with teams in certain circumstances. I would say that the virus is going to dictate some of our timeline. This isn’t going to be done solely via Zoom. Depending on when we can sit down and really get to know each other, we’ll know more from then on.”

Certainly, the head coaching search will be far different in a world that is still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. While Gentry’s up-tempo style certainly aided a younger player base, some of his late-game decisions were head-scratching.

In five seasons with the Pels, Gentry coached 400 games and went 175-225 (a 43.8 winning percentage). With the canny Griffin in charge and one of the brightest young stars on its roster in Zion Williamson, the Pels will certainly have their pick of top-tier coaching candidates, and it will be interesting to see which direction they go.