The James Borrego era is not off to a great start in New Orleans. The interim head coach began his journey with the Pelicans with back-to-back blowout losses at home. Going up against the Warriors and the Thunder, those results are not particularly surprising, and Wednesday’s clash against the Nuggets is likely to extend the Pelicans’ losing streak to seven games.
While the Pelicans are continuing their disappointing season, the front office is conducting a head coach search. Joe Dumars is leading this search, and there have already been reported names that he is pursuing. Among those are former UConn head coach Kevin Ollie and former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham.
Pelicans Are Unlikely to Find an Upgrade Over James Borrego
Even though Borrego has yet to make a meaningful impact on the Pelicans, he remains the best candidate for the job, especially if the frontrunners for the position are Ham and Ollie. This suggests that the Pelicans are not really considering some of the elite free agent head coaches like Mike Malone, Taylor Jenkins, or Mike Budenholzer. Whether it’s the organization not going after them, or if these coaches wouldn’t want to take over a dumpster fire of a team mid-season, is currently unclear, but it’s safe to assume that the Pelicans won’t be hiring a top-of-the-market head coach.
Plus, it’s not even clear that any of these names would actually be upgrades over Borrego. The 48-year-old coach has been a hot name on the market in the past several hiring periods, and was a finalist for the Cavaliers and the Knicks jobs. He has had success with the Hornets as a head coach and has gotten the most out of limited teams, especially offensively. Bringing in another head coach over him who is not clearly an upgrade will raise a ton of eyebrows, not only within the organization but also around the league.
The Pelicans have already not done themselves any favors by hiring Dumars and GM Troy Weaver, and letting them pull off one of the more questionable trades in recent memory by giving up their unprotected 2026 first-round pick. Their reputation around the league is already as low as it could be, and the head coaching hire could only make things worse.
The Pelicans’ coaching search seems like Dumars’ attempt to put his stamp on the organization and cut all ties with the previous regime. Borrego may be seen as a representative of the pre-Dumars era, as he has been with the organization since 2023.
Yet, the problem with the team is obviously not coaching. This roster isn’t good enough to compete in the stacked Western Conference and is built around an unreliable, injury-prone star. Whichever direction Dumars & Co. go in their search, they will not find what they are looking for.
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