The New Orleans Pelicans are offering Jeff Bzdelik a spot on head coach Alvin Gentry's staff. Bzdelik recently left the Houston Rockets as the team overhauled their coaching staff.
Bzdelik, 66, had been an assistant coach for the Rockets since the 2016-17 season. Before that, he was an assistant for the Memphis Grizzlies from 2014-16.
Bzdelik has spent considerable time at the NBA's annual summer league in Las Vegas with Gentry and the Pelicans in the wake of Bzdelik's run as Mike D'Antoni's defensive coordinator in Houston
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 8, 2019
As Stein notes, the “highly regarded” Bzdelik has spent “considerable” time with Gentry while attending the NBA's Summer League in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bzdelik served as head coach for the Denver Nuggets from 2002-04. Prior to his time in the Mile High City, and early in his career, Bzdelik scouted or was on the coaching staff of college and professional teams — including Davidson, Northwestern, the Washington Bullets, New York Knicks and Miami Heat.
After he was dismissed by the Nuggets in 2004, Bzdelik coached the Air Force, Colorado and Wake Forest before finding a spot on then-Memphis head coach Dave Joerger's staff.
The Pelicans are currently undergoing a complete organizational makeover, starting at the top with executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin, formerly of the championship-winning Cleveland Cavaliers.
In Griffin's brief time in charge of New Orleans basketball, he has won the NBA's draft lottery in May, later selecting consensus number-one pick Zion Williamson.
He also dealt All-Star power forward Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers for a king's ransom of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and multiple first-round picks including the fourth pick in June's draft. The fourth pick was then later traded for the eighth, 17th and 35th picks in the draft. Griffin would draft Texas big man Jaxson Hayes at 8, Virginia Tech guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker at 17, and Brazil's Marcos Louzada Silva in the second round.
Griffin also signed head coach Alvin Gentry to a contract extension and signed veteran shooting guard JJ Redick in free agency.
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