ACCOUNTABILITY: Pelicans’ Reluctance to Fire Willie Green May HURT Derik Queen’s Development
Dallas Mavericks fire GM Nico Harrison after a disappointing season—will their accountability spark real change? Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans stick with Willie Green despite glaring issues, raising serious concerns about the future of rookie Derik Queen. Is New Orleans risking long-term harm by ignoring fan frustration and failing to address repeated blowout losses?
Hosts Jake Madison and Dylan Sanders break down the impact of coaching decisions on Pelicans player development, spotlighting Derok Queen’s standout on-court performance and the team’s flawed rotation strategy. The conversation covers New Orleans’ stagnation, ownership’s questionable direction, and why the franchise must commit to building around Queen. Key topics include player net ratings, off-ball movement, defensive rebounding, and the looming consequences for season ticket holders. With trade rumors swirling and rookie potential on display, can the Pelicans shift gears before it’s too late?
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23 Comments
This was the best critique of # 1's shortcomings I ever heard you make. Finally, it's setting in!!!!
How some people see him as an elite NBA talent continues to boggle my mind. Maybe it's the one highlight play he produces per game that blinds his supporters from the litany of blocked shots, and turnovers he endures nightly. His 'hit-or-miss' defense (mostly miss) goes largely ignored, too.
No matter how you slice it, Jake, it's….
DEFENSE!!!! DEFENSE!!! DEFENSE!!!
…that wins in this league (and yes, defensive rebounding qualifies big time).
Play Zion as 6th man. Eric Gordon 2.0
congrats jake!
Just spitballing here… If we approached the Hawks and offered them Zion for a player and our #1 pick back, would they go for that, and if so, would you do it?
Congratulations Jake
Dallas listen to their fans, Pels showing they couldnt give a 💩!
Congrats Jake from the 🇬🇧.
Billy Green gotta go
Everydayer!!
Congrats Jake
I never heard this dude mention David Griffin name as much as he's mentioned joe dumars
Where can I get that sweatshirt?
Every dayer
Congrats Jake! 🎉
We’re 7.5 point home under dogs to the Blazers today. That is a very sad statement.
I dont understand why the fan base, media podcasts are so vocal regarding the progress of this team and we have heard nothing from Gale or Joe dumars at all. Joe had so much to say during the summer and now it seems as if everyone is hiding under a rock.
OWNERSHIP TALK TO THE FANS!!! WE DESERVE AT LEAST THAT!
Congratulations Jake.
Today there should be only boos and Fire Bill Green chants the whole game. Regardless of the score
Congrats!
This is 100% correct. Ownership's choice to be cheap and complacent by keeping Green is actively damaging the future of the franchise. They're letting Derik Queen's special talent develop under a system that doesn't fit him. It's completely backward.
On a separate note, huge congrats to Jake on his wedding! Enjoy the time off and the honeymoon! Also, I love that Dylan is going to be on moving forward! It's about time, I love his perspective, and I love that we are getting another option. It's much needed!
If you are the front office and you fire Willie Green ten games into the season, you are admitting you got it wrong.
That is why it has not happened. The moment you make that move, you are telling everyone that the entire offseason plan failed before it even had a chance to take shape.
In NBA history there have been more than 200 midseason coaching changes. Fewer than twenty percent of those teams made the playoffs that same season. And that is across every era, not in today’s league where parity is real and the Western Conference is so deep you can have a winning record and still miss the postseason. Firing a coach this early does not fix anything. It just exposes that you never had a clear plan.
Right now it is obvious this front office has no direction. They traded CJ McCollum for Jordan Poole, taking on more than 30 million dollars per year for two seasons instead of letting an expiring deal come off the books. That was a win now move. Then they gave up their 2026 first round pick for a rookie who left most general managers across the NBA scratching their heads, and they gave up way too much to do it. That was a rebuild move. The two do not match. You cannot go all in to compete and then act like you are developing for the future at the same time.
And with no pick next year, there is no reset button. This season either works or the organization has to answer for decisions that never made sense to begin with.
Meanwhile, more than 100 million dollars in salary is sitting on the bench between Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, and Jordan Poole. That is not a coaching issue. That is availability.
If you replace Willie Green today, you do not look decisive. You look lost. You confirm to everyone, the players, the fans, the sponsors, that you misread your own roster and your own direction before Thanksgiving.
This team does not need a new coach. It needs its players to play. It needs health. It needs stability. It needs players who do not give up when they make mistakes. They need to follow the example that Jose Alvarado sets every time he steps on the floor. He plays with energy, effort, and accountability.
There have been too many moments where one of our best hopes for the future, Trey Murphy, makes a mistake on offense and then gives up on the next defensive possession. That single sequence turns one mistake into two. You cannot win that way.
You do not fix five years of inconsistency by firing another coach in November. You fix it by demanding more from the players who are already here. You either make this roster work or you admit that the front office built it wrong from the start. You trade all of your assets, and you start over.
Billionaires are best of breed (especially w/ high paid advising team). Horrific decision after horrific decision is 100% INTENTIONAL. Billionaires are not stupid. My only guess is they're trying to tank the team to open up the possibiltiy of selling the team at a much higher valuation in another city.
It’s not the team it’s not Willie Green not zion but get them boys some help somebody they can Wemba for the spurs get us a big guy go get us a center
New Orleans owned both its own and Indiana’s 2026 firsts, then new GM Joe Dumars traded both in June. And now both picks are have top 3 odds in a loaded draft.