James

Borrego

Borrego was 24-46 as interim head coach after taking over for Willie Green, who was fired last November. Prior to that, Borrego was the associate head coach under Green and he previously spent four years as the Hornets head coach, going 138-163 with no playoff appearances. While Borrego will be included in the search for a new Pelicans head coach, he seems like a long shot to land the job. He had plenty of time to make an impression this season and the Pelicans were more than 20 games below .500 on his watch.

Friday’s loss to the Lakers dropped the Pelicans to 2-10, and there had been rumblings of a potential move well ahead of the team’s most recent defeat. In four-plus seasons as the head coach, Green’s teams went 150-190 and made two playoff appearances. He’ll be replaced on an interim basis by associate head coach James Borrego.

Borrego is currently the associate head coach of the Pelicans under Willie Green. The 47-year-old Borrego was the Hornets’ head coach for four seasons before he was fired after the 2021-22 season. Borrego is the fourth known person to interview with the Knicks joining Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins and Micah Nori. The Knicks are still looking for a new coach after parting ways with Tom Thibodeau shortly after losing in the Eastern Conference finals.

After being fired by the Hornets at the end of the 2021-22 season, Borrego did not join a coaching staff ahead of this season. He’ll make his return in New Orleans, joining Willie Green’s staff as the team’s associate head coach. According to Wojnarowski’s report, Borrego’s offensive philosophy was a key selling point, and he’ll have the opportunity to work with C.J. McCollum, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson (provided he’s healthy), among others.

After getting blown put in the play-in tournament for the second consecutive year, the Hornets have decided to move on from their head coach. Borrego helped the team develop a lot, which is why he was rewarded with a three year extension this past offseason. However, it appears that Charlotte wasn’t satisfied with the results of the past two postseasons and feel that they’ll need someone else leading the charge to be more successful.

Charlotte had already decided to pick up the team option on Borrego’s contract for the 2021-22 season, but that was the final year on his current deal. The Hornets qualified for the 2021 Play-In Tournament despite dealing with several significant injuries and appear to be headed in the right direction.

According to Shams, the Hornets were “vying for homecourt advantage this season prior to extended absences for Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball” and have “upgraded player development under Borrego.” Charania adds that Charlotte qualified for the Play-In Tournament and Borrego has helped the team’s young core progress.

Wednesday’s game was already postponed and they’ll also reschedule Friday’s game vs. the Nuggets. This comes in the wake of four players on the Spurs testing positive for COVID-19 after they played Charlotte on Sunday night. Hornets players therefore have a maximum of one game this week, Saturday vs. the Warriors, and fantasy managers are left scrambling for replacement value.

The Hornets are one of the worst defensive teams in the league, but based on the other players available, it’s tough to see a lineup change making much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. Cody Zeller has been rather underwhelming as Charlotte’s starting center this season with averages of 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and just 0.4 blocks per game, so maybe Borrego swaps him out for Bismack Biyombo or Willy Hernangomez. If would be surprising to see one of the other current starters head to the second unit, although PJ Washington has been struggling.

The only player locked in as a starter is Kemba Walker, so there are a lot of pieces to figure out. If Borrego learned anything from Gregg Popovich, it’s that playing the matchup game could be a successful approach. If that’s the case, that could affect really any position give how so many guys can play multiple positions.