Latest Head Coach Firing Complicates Pelicans' Head Coaching Search

The New Orleans Pelicans are looking for their next head coach. Casting a wide net and interviewing candidates since the end of the regular season, the Pelicans hope to find their head coach of the future to lead the franchise back to relevance. On Monday, the search just got more complicated after the Orlando Magic fired head coach Jamahl Mosley.

When Orlando got off to a 3-1 lead over the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons, many wondered whether Mosley was on his way to saving his job. Mosley was widely considered to be on the heat after the regular season, but a surprise playoff performance changed the discourse around his job security. After fumbling the series lead and losing to the Pistons in Game 7 on Sunday, Mosley's time in Orlando came to an end.

Jamahl Mosley Will Emerge as a Candidate for Pelicans Job

Mosley has reportedly been on the Pelicans' shortlist of candidates for a long time. Even before the start of the playoffs, Mosley was expected to be an option for the Pelicans. Joe Dumars holds Mosley in high regard and will almost certainly pursue him now that he is a coaching free agent.

Given that he is a higher-profile coach than any of the reported candidates in the Pelicans' search, Mosley should have a decent shot at the job. Whether he would have an interest in head coaching immediately after his firing is another question.

Mosley may have helped his reputation by forcing a Game 7 against the Pistons. If that is the case, he may choose to wait for another opportunity rather than accepting the Pelicans job. With plenty of coaching vacancies expected to pop up this offseason, Mosley may not be too desperate to accept Joe Dumars' offer.

As things stand now, James Borrego and Rajon Rondo seem like the frontrunners to be the next head coach in New Orleans. Borrego is coveted by the front office and seems like the safe choice after the team showed flashes of improvement in his interim tenure. Rondo would be an outside-the-box hire that could give a boost to the franchise.

How Mosley would fit into that equation is unclear. On paper, he is the type of head coach who makes sense for the Pelicans. He took over the young Orlando team and instilled discipline, effort, and defensive intensity. He turned the Magic into one of the best defensive teams in the league in his tenure. Where he came up short was in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, that won't be a problem for the Pelicans for a while. What they are looking for is team identity. Mosley has proven in Orlando that he can at least do that. Whether that's enough to land him the Pelicans job remains to be seen.