UPDATE 8:52 pm: The Pelicans have issued a statement denying that Dumars is about to get an official position with the franchise.
''With so many questions surrounding the end of the successful Pelicans season and now JoeDumars in particular, no job offer or position has been discussed with Joe regarding the Pelicans. He is very close to our organization and our ownership and he has our utmost respect,’' team spokesman Greg Bensel said in a released statement.
No reports have said Dumars is near a deal with the team, but it still remains something to watch.
4:48 pm: Most likely next year’s Pelicans’ roster is going to look similar to this year’s. There are a couple potential free agents —Omer Asik is the biggest one — but the Pelicans want to bring the key guys back, then use the mid-level exception to add a veteran. Most of the growth will be internal, and with some system changes.
But there may be changes at the top.
People up the ladder at the Pelicans front office have been meeting with Joe Dumars, possibly for some supervisory role, reports John Reid a the Times-Picayune.An NBA source said New Orleans Pelicans front-office officials, including vice president/basketball operations Mickey Loomis, met former Detroit Pistons player and executive Joe Dumars at several Saints road games during the 2014 season. The meetings were held to gauge Dumars’ opinion of the Pelicans.
Dumars, a Louisiana native, has close ties to Pelicans officials and is a longtime friend of Loomis and Saints coach Sean Payton.
The Pelicans could be looking to hire Dumars to run the team’s basketball operations department,according to a WDSU report Wednesday.
The one thing we do know is nothing is imminent, according to multiple reports.
Pelicans GM Dell Demps’ contract expires in one more year, he is considered a lame duck around the league.
There had been rumors that both Demps and coach Monty Williams had been given a “playoffs or else” mandate by management — and the Pelicans made that happen by beating the Spurs on the final night of the season. Still, should one game make a difference? Either you think this team is on the right track, or you think it could be doing better in roster building and using the talent on hand — squeaking into the playoffs by the slimmest of margins shouldn’t change that perception. If you’re going to make changes, that one win shouldn’t alter the path.
The question is, will Dumars be the one deciding the path? Should he be?
Early on as the GM in Detroit Dumars made some fantastic moves — picking up Rasheed Wallace in the middle of the 2004 season and building a very good Pistons team of that era — but by the end the Pistons were a mess under him. He signed Josh Smith to a massive deal, one Stan Van Gundy convinced ownership to eat just to get Smith off the roster and out of town.
