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Adrian Wojnarowski tweets that the Nets have granted the Pelicans permission to interview assistant GM Trajan Langdon for New Orleans vacant GM slot.
New Orleans has been granted permission to interview several front office candidates for GM job, including Golden State’s Larry Harris, Brooklyn’s Trajan Langdon and Houston’s Gersson Rosas, league sources tell ESPN. There are more candidates expected to be in the process.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 29, 2019
According to local reports, the Pelicans intend to interview five or six candidates.
Today @PelicansNBA owner Gayle Benson said the franchise will soon look at 5-6 candidates for the GM job.
— Fletcher Mackel (@FletcherWDSU) March 25, 2019
Talking to multiple @NBA sources I trust, I think four of the people Gayle is referencing (under consideration) are:
Danny Ferry
David Griffin
Trajan Langdon
Gersson Rosas pic.twitter.com/DultH9yikl
The Pelicans have been without a GM since ownership canned Dell Demps just before the All-Star Break in February. The ouster came not long after franchise foundation Anthony Davis made it clear he wanted a trade out of New Orleans.
Any GM who takes the job will have a massive rebuild on his hands. Not only is Davis an albatross with a year left on his contract but Julius Randle has a $9 million player option that he’s expected to take, making him an unrestricted free agent. Moreover, the team’s highest paid player, Jrue Holiday, just had season-ending surgery to repair a strained lower abdominal muscle. It’s the latest in a series of injuries to the 28-year-old who’s at the beginning of a four-year contract totaling more than $100 million.
Finally, the new GM will no doubt have imput into whether the Pelicans retain Alvin Gentry as their head coach.
Langdon, as GM of the Long Island Nets, was awarded the G League executive of the year Friday night, The Nets have already lost the G League coach of the year, Will Weaver, to the Sydney Kings of the Australian National Basketball League. There is, in fact, concern that other parts of the Nets basketball operations staff will be poached by other NBA and even international teams. Such is the price of success.