New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson could end up getting his third coach in as many seasons. After all, it seems Stan Van Gundy's days with the organization are numbered.
After a disappointing 31-41 season that saw the Pelicans barely miss the cut for the play-in tournament, reports surfaced that the relationship between Van Gundy and his players are not that good. Sam Amick of The Athletic emphasized there is definitely an issue between the two parties, with SVG's style of coaching not getting the expected response from the team.
“In New Orleans, the players are not vibing with the coach,” Amick said on KHTK radio, per Scott Kushner of NOLA.com. “There’s issues there.”
Considering the Pelicans transitioned from two different coaching philosophies, there were bound to be problems. And sure enough, after failing to meet expectations once again, the drama unfolds. It's pretty normal to see teams (the front office, players and coaches alike) finding someone to blame when things didn't go as planned, and everyone is seeing that in New Orleans.
It remains to be seen how the Pelicans front office will handle the situation, especially since Stan Van Gundy just finished his first year with the team and has three more years left on his contract.
New Orleans boasts one of the most promising young rosters in the NBA led by Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, so it's no wonder why there are high expectations on them to succeed immediately. With the way things are going though, they might first need to fix some internal problems before addressing roster issues and other team needs in the offseason.