Report: Stan Van Gundy agrees to deal to become next head coach of Pelicans

Stan Van Gundy has agreed to a deal to become the next head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Andrew Lopez reported Wednesday afternoon. It is considered a multi-year deal. Van Gundy had reportedly been interviewed for the job and was among a handful of finalists. He will be coaching in the NBA for the first time since 2018 with the Detroit Pistons. Van Gundy had been in the booth calling games, something we will all definitely miss.

Like I mentioned above, Van Gundy hasn’t coached in the NBA since 2018 with the Pistons, his last head coaching gig. Many remember Van Gundy (not only as the brother of Jeff Van Gundy) for his stint with the Orlando Magic, coaching Dwight Howard and gang to the NBA Finals in 2009. The Magic would lose to the late Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Van Gundy has also coached the Miami Heat. Overall, Van Gundy has a 523-384 record during the NBA regular season in his career. He is 48-43 in the playoffs.

The Pelicans are bringing in SvG to ultimately teach the young roster how to become a championship contender, per Woj. Van Gundy will be able to leave his mark on budding stars Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram. The Pels have a young core that has the potential to compete as soon as next season. Whether or not Van Gundy is the man to do that is to be seen. NOLA wasn’t concerned about his personnel decisions mostly because Van Gundy won’t be in charge of those decisions, that’s GM David Griffin’s job.