Stan Van Gundy agrees to become new coach of New Orleans Pelicans

Stan Van Gundy confirmed on Wednesday that he had agreed to a become the next head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Van Gundy posted on his Twitter account that he was excited to join a talented New Orleans Pelicans team and it would be an honor for him to work with their players and to work for David Griffin, Trajan Langdon, Mrs. Benson, and their staff as well as other great people of the team.

Van Gundy is the former Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons, and Orlando Magic head coach and now he becomes the seventh coach in the history of the Pelicans franchise.

According to sources told ESPN, Van Gundy’s representative, Brian Elfus, and the Pelicans reached agreement for the multiyear deal yesterday morning.

Van Gundy’s reputation as a teacher of the game as an NBA head coach stood out during his 11 seasons, which shows that he will become key part of New Orleans when attempting to make the leap with a new roster.

In the 11 seasons of his head coaching career, Van Gundy’s teams were always in the top half in the league 10 times in terms of defensive rating.

His 4 seasons in Detroit included a dual title as coach and president, and personnel decisions, particularly in the NBA draft’s role in limiting the team’s success. Van Gundy also led the Pistons from years in the lottery into the playoffs with 44 victories in 2016.

He inherits a Pelicans squad that underachieved during the league’s restart after having the easiest path to make the playoffs. Instead, after going 2-6 in Orlando, New Orleans finished 13th in the Western Conference. However, the future does appear bright for them.

The lack of success made Anthony Davis to head to the Lakers prior to last season, which gave New Orleans the chance to accelerate its rebuild with the haul it received – a haul that is said to help get New Orleans over the hump, according to the Pelicans’ executive vice president of basketball operations, David Griffin.