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The New Orleans Pelicans are moving forward on a deal to hire Phoenix Suns assistant Willie Green as head coach, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
A 12-year NBA veteran, Green has been an assistant for the Suns for the past two seasons and spent the previous three seasons on the Golden State Warriors coaching staff. Green also has experience in New Orleans, having played one season with the team in 2010-11, when it was still the Hornets.
At 39, Green would become the third youngest coach in the NBA behind Mark Daigneault (35) of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Taylor Jenkins (36) of the Memphis Grizzlies.
As a player, Green has made the playoffs in seven of his 12 seasons, including the only year to New Orleans – one of seven playoff trips the team has made in history. franchise.
He would replace Stan Van Gundy, who left the Pelicans after just one season.
The Pelicans went 31-41 in 2020-21, a disappointing result after starting the season with playoff aspirations. In the end, New Orleans didn’t even make the Western Conference play-in tournament.
The immediate future looks bright in New Orleans with two young All-Stars in Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. The Pelicans also have the No.10 pick in the upcoming draft and a plethora of future trades picks that sent Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers and Jrue Holiday to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Andrew Lopez of ESPN contributed to this report.
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