Former NBA All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo has interviewed for the vacant New Orleans Pelicans head coaching job.
According to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, Rondo recently interviewed for the Pelicans’ head coach gig. Pelicans interim coach James Borrego is also a candidate for the job, as well, but after he failed to lead the team to the playoffs, they are understandably looking at other potential options. According to Stein and Fischer, Rondo, who had been serving as a special assistant to former Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers, is very interested in an NBA coaching career.
“There’s actually one more former Pelicans point guard who’s been involved in the early stages of New Orleans search: Four-time NBA All-Star guard Rajon Rondo. League sources say Rondo has been interviewed for the post after serving as a special assistant on Doc Rivers’ Milwaukee staff. Rondo is said to have felt his first coaching itch while recovering from a torn ACL as a Celtic, prompting Brad Stevens to bring him into staff meetings,” Stein and Fischer reported on Substack.
Rajon Rondo is an NBA Legend
Rondo was drafted by the Phoenix Suns with the 21st overall pick in 2006, and he was immediately traded to the Boston Celtics. It was with the Celtics that Rondo would spend the first 8.5 years of his NBA career, winning the NBA Championship with them in 2008. He would become a journeyman after leaving the Celtics, but won a second NBA Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020. Rondo also made four NBA All-Star teams during his career, four All-Defensive teams, and he led the league in assists three times. He played for nine teams during his 16-year NBA career.
It is worth noting that Rondo played for the Pelicans in 2017-2018, suiting up 65 times for the team that year in the regular season plus nine more times in the playoffs. That was, to date, the only season the Pelicans have ever won a playoff series in New Orleans.
New Orleans Pelicans Need to Nail This Hire
The Pelicans have been one of the least successful franchises in the NBA since the team moved to New Orleans in 2013. Since then, they have only made the playoffs four times, winning just one playoff series overall. The Pelicans have missed the playoffs the past two seasons, including a disappointing 26-56 record this past year. Somehow, that record was still good enough for third-place in the Southwest Division, after the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets, but that’s only because the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies were even worse this year.
To make matters worse for the Pelicans, they traded away their first-round pick this year, free of lottery protections, to the Atlanta Hawks at last year’s NBA draft for the right to draft Derik Queen. While Queen had a solid rookie season, giving up a potentially high draft pick for him was seen as a major misstep by Pelicans head of basketball operations Joe Dumars.
That’s why the Pelicans simply have to nail this next coaching hire. The team has talent, with Queen and Jeremiah Fears both having promising rookie years, plus talented players like Zion Williamson, Saddiq Bey, and Dejountae Murray also on the roster. But they need to find the right coach to help lead them back to the postseason, and perhaps, Rondo could be the guy.
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