Pelicans expected to hire Hall of Famer as head of basketball ops

The Pelicans and Joe Dumars are finalizing a deal that will make him the team’s new president of basketball operations, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Charania first reported on Monday that Dumars had emerged as a “serious frontrunner” for the job.

A Hall of Famer as a player, Dumars began his front office career in 2000 as Detroit’s president of basketball operations. He remained in that role until 2014, earning Executive of the Year honors in 2003 and building the Pistons team that won a championship in 2004.

Dumars turned the Pistons into a perennial contender during the first half of his front office tenure in Detroit, making a series of savvy moves to compile a roster led by Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, and Tayshaun Prince. The club advanced to at least the Eastern Conference Finals for six straight years from 2003-08, making two NBA Finals appearances during that time.

However, Dumars made his share of missteps while running the Pistons, most memorably drafting Darko Milicic with the No. 2 overall pick in 2003, right ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Detroit had a losing record in each of Dumars’ last six seasons at the helm and wasn’t set up for success following his exit.

Dumars later had a stint in the Kings’ front office, working in a variety of roles in the organization from 2019-22. He joined Sacramento as a special advisor to then-GM Vlade Divac and became the Kings’ interim head of basketball operations when Divac was fired in 2020.

Dumars subsequently transitioned into a chief strategy officer role following the hiring of general manager Monte McNair and held that title for two years before joining the league office as the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations in 2022. He has been in that position under commissioner Adam Silver for the last three seasons.

A Louisiana native who played his college ball at McNeese State, Dumars will be returning home for his new job with the Pelicans. He’ll be replacing former executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin, who was let go by the club on Monday following a disappointing 21-61 season.

New Orleans’ 2024-25 season was decimated by injuries, some of which are expected to carry over to 2025-26, but there’s a solid foundation of talent on the roster for Dumars to work with. Forwards Zion Williamson and Herbert Jones, guard Dejounte Murray, wing Trey Murphy and center Yves Missi are all locked up for multiple seasons, with CJ McCollum set to enter the final year of his contract.

The Pelicans also control all of their own future first-round picks, along with Indiana’s 2026 first-rounder (top-four protected) and the right to swap picks with Milwaukee in 2026 and 2027 (the Bucks’ 2027 pick is top-four protected). New Orleans’ 2025 first-rounder projects to be in the top half of the lottery.

The future of head coach Willie Green is uncertain — reporting on Monday indicated his status would be decided after a new head of basketball operations is hired, so Dumars will presumably be heavily involved in the decision on whether to retain Green or seek a new coach.

Dumars will be tasked with turning a Pelicans team with just one 50-win season (in 2008) and two playoff series victories (2008 and 2018) since its inception in 2002 into a contender.