Joe Dumars has been in this position before.
Twenty-five years ago in his first season as president of basketball operations for the Detroit Pistons, Dumars’ team finished 32-50 and missed the playoffs.
Fast forward to the present and after his first season as head decision-maker for the New Orleans Pelicans, and his team is once again sitting home for the playoffs.
Despite this year’s Pelicans winning six less games than that Pistons team did, Dumars isn’t discouraged. In fact, he’s just the opposite.
“We are in a better position now here than we were there,” Dumars said. “That’s why I’m so positive about this experience. We are much further along than when I took over in Detroit.”
That’s good news if Dumars is right.
The Pistons reached the playoffs in the second season of his leadership. They made it to the Eastern Conference finals in his third season when he was named the NBA executive of the year. And they hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy in his fourth season.
Can the Pelicans, a franchise that has won just two playoff series in its history, take a similar trajectory? Can they flip the switch quickly in Dumars’ second season like Detroit did?
Skepticism is understandable for an organization without a first-round draft pick and in the middle of a coaching search.
Dumars, heavily criticized in June for giving up this year’s draft pick to move up in last year’s draft to select Derik Queen, said the team has a chance to move into the first round of this year’s draft.
“We can if we choose to,” he said. “You can always move when it comes around draft time. It’s amazing the incoming phone calls you take.”
If they don’t get into the first round, they’ll have to try to fill holes elsewhere.
The biggest needs are rebounding, rim protection and 3-point shooting. Any chance of the Pelicans trending upward will depend on them adding players who can do those things.
Dumars desires toughness, both mentally and physically. Those are the ingredients he sees in the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Pistons, the two teams that are the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences this season.
There were times this season when he saw that toughness in the Pelicans. But more times than not, he didn’t.
He spent this season assessing and learning. It took him just 12 games to decide to move on from Willie Green as head coach. He spent the next 70 games watching a team that often struggled in clutch games, defined as games within five points with under five minutes remaining. They went 10-24 in those games. Dumars believes the growing pains of such a season were needed.
“You can’t skip this step of figuring out exactly who you are and who is in the building,” he said.
Dumars and senior VP of basketball operations Troy Weaver have started making changes.
“Reorganization is underway,” one source told the Times-Picayune on Friday.
Another source familiar with the changes said staff members from the basketball operations side were told last week that they were not being retained. Among those let go are assistant coaches Casey Hill and Corey Brewer, The Times-Picayune confirmed.
More changes could be coming this week, one source said.
The goal with the changes is “to improve in these various areas and set things up for long-term success in the future.”
While Dumars is getting his own people in place, the decisions that will make the biggest difference are the head coaching hire and the additions (and subtractions) to the roster.
Dumars said Zion Williamson will continue to be a core piece of the team’s future. He also likes what he saw in some of the players around Williamson.
Rookies Jeremiah Fears and Queen showed promise. Trey Murphy was one steal shy of becoming the first player in NBA history to record 200 3-pointers, 100 dunks and 100 steals in a season. Saddiq Bey brought toughness and productivity the team needed.
Not all the pieces fit, though. Jordan Poole had a disappointing first season in New Orleans. Poole, the second-highest-paid player on the roster, spent most of the year on the bench. That’s not ideal.
“For the most part, we have some pretty good contracts set up with those guys,” Dumars said. “Between the age (of our roster) and the contracts, it gives us flexibility to do what you need to do going forward. If there is something you need to do going forward, you’re in a pretty position to improve your team.”
Frustration among the fanbase continues to grow as the Pelicans have remained among the bottom feeders of the NBA.
“No matter where you start, you better have vision and a focus for what kind of team you want to be and what kind of players you want to get,” Dumars said. “You have to be crystal clear in your mind and your organization has to be crystal clear on the guys you want to bring in. You have to know who you want to be. We know who we want to be.”
Now it’s a matter of actually becoming that.