New Orleans Pelicans general manager Dell Demps has very little job security.
As in, no job security.
As in, according to CBS Sports’ Ken Berger, the Pelicans may have already handpicked his replacement:
Saints GM Mickey Loomis has taken on a greater personnel role above GM Dell Demps, but rival execs understand that move is only temporary. “Mickey is a football guy, not a basketball guy,” one exec said. And at the D-League Showcase, the buzz was getting louder that it’s only a matter of time before former Pistons executive Joe Dumars — who has a close relationship with Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson — returns to his native Louisiana to assume control.
The degree to which existing relationships can influence the direction of an entire franchise remains mind-boggling.
Dumars was last in charge of the Detroit Pistons. Though he was voted Executive of the Year in 2002-03 and largely responsible for the Pistons’ success during the early and mid-2000s, a series of less than logical decisions (Josh Smith, anyone?) created Detroit’s current playoff drought and ultimately cost him his job.
Could things be different in New Orleans, where the Pelicans already have one megastar in Anthony Davis?
We’re apparently going to find out.
