The Pelicans will hire Jamahl Mosley as their next head coach on a five-year contract, sources tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
Team officials have been in “constant communication” with Mosley since he was fired by the Magic on May 4 following their first-round playoff loss, Charania adds. They were able to meet in person during last week’s draft combine in Chicago.
Charania states that the Pelicans believe their situation is similar to Orlando’s in 2021 when Mosley took over following a 21-61 season. He steadily built the Magic into a playoff team that placed a heavy emphasis on having one of the league’s best defenses.
The Pelicans have been conducting a coaching search since the regular season ended more than a month ago, and there was speculation that their interest in Mosley was the reason the process was taking so long. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype first mentioned Mosley as a potential candidate last month, stating that he has “several admirers” in New Orleans.
Mosley will replace interim coach James Borrego, who was among the candidates that were interviewed during the search. He was hired as the team’s associate head coach in 2024 and compiled a 24-46 record after Willie Green was dismissed early this season. There’s no word yet on whether Borrego will remain with the franchise or what the plans are to round out Mosley’s staff.
Other reported candidates for the job included Bucks coaching associate Rajon Rondo, Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel and Bucks associate head coach Darvin Ham.
Mosley had a 189-221 record in his five seasons with the Magic and led the team to three playoff appearances. However, his failure to advance past the first round led to his dismissal as he lost in seven, five and seven games over the last three years.
He’ll be in charge of a Pelicans team that has underachieved in recent seasons, but features a good mix of veteran players and young talent, Charania notes in a full story. New Orleans doesn’t own its first-round pick in this year’s draft, and its only current selection is at No. 58.
The Pelicans’ decision leaves Orlando, Chicago and Portland as the remaining teams without head coaches in place.
This was expected
Dumb. He just blew a 3-1 lead and he was outted by his players at being terrible at making in-game adjustments. Pelicans are cooked for the next 3-4 years.
Sounds like a typical Dumars hire!
No he is a goddess development coach. Did a great job with the magic developing. However, once the team gets into needing to win is not going to work out. He doesn’t really have any schemes. Doesn’t know how to call timeouts and it seems like he has an issue managing multiple star players. But maybe he has learned. Not really big on hiring recently. Fire coaches.
Pistons just did this and we see the exact reason why old buddy was fired from the cavs. Can’t be the number one seed and have two first round seven game series. Especially Orlando should have closed that series out. I believe when coaches get fired they should go back to assistant coach for 2 to 3 years to fix the problems that they had and then retry
5 year deal?? I can easily say that deal will not last 5 years. There are so many asst coaches that deserve a shot why hire off the same old coach train?
He’s only 47
Thats actually a good move
This franchise is headed nowhere. He’s a good coach but there were better candidates than him.
Rondo would have been more fun.
What’s stupid about this is even if you like Mosely, 5 years is too long.
He was a scapegoat in Orlando. He deserves another shot. He helped build that team. I wish him well. Imo its good to have guys that need to prove themselves. He’ll fit right in. In New Orleans
No one good wants to be in New Orleans, especially with that roster and lack of assets.