NBA Rumors: New Orleans Pelicans Reveal Main Reason Behind Decision To Fire Dell Demps As General Manager
The New Orleans Pelicans’ success in the Western Conference Playoffs 2018 made most people believe that they’re once again set to make a huge noise in the 2018-19 NBA season. The Pelicans succeeded to make a noise but not in a way they expected. Before the February NBA trade deadline, the face of the franchise, Anthony Davis, informed the Pelicans through his agent, Rich Paul, that he has no intention of signing the massive contract extension that they are planning to offer next summer and expressed his desire to be traded to a team where he can consistently win and contend for the NBA championship title.
As soon as Anthony Davis became officially available on the trading block, several NBA teams expressed interest in engaging in a blockbuster deal with the Pelicans, including the Los Angeles Lakers, who reportedly offered their entire young core of Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and Ivica Zubac. However, the Pelicans decided to wait for the summer of 2019 to deal Davis so NBA teams like the Boston Celtics could join the bidding.
Unfortunately for Dell Demps, he’ll no longer be the Pelicans’ general manager when they resume the trade discussion involving Anthony Davis next summer. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Pelicans recently parted ways with Demps and named Danny Ferry as the team’s interim GM.
One of the major reasons behind the Pelicans’ decision to fire Dell Demps is the way he handled Anthony Davis’ situation. Pelicans owner Gayle Benson reportedly believes that the team is being influenced by someone outside the organization, forcing them to make decisions that “don’t make sense.”
“Benson has been angry over the Davis trade demand and her belief that ‘outside forces’ are trying to push the franchise into decisions that don’t make sense, league sources said. Her mandate has been to ‘take back control from outside forces,’ one league source told ESPN. Benson has been adamant with the organization about finding a pathway to sustainable winning in one of the league’s smallest markets and plans to be aggressive in pursuing the best available candidates to oversee basketball operations, league sources said.”
The Pelicans have reportedly fired general manager Dell Demps amid the ongoing Anthony Davis drama. https://t.co/iDRsY0ASuf
— USA TODAY NBA (@usatodaynba) February 15, 2019
ESPN’s Wojnarowski didn’t give any information who are the “outside forces” Pelicans owner Gayle Benson is talking about. It could be Anthony Davis’ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, or the opposing team’s general manager, who urged Dell Demps to wait for the 2019 NBA offseason to trade the All-Star big man. As of now, the Pelicans are hoping that they could find a new GM who could help them build a title contending team in the post-Davis era.
