The New Orleans Pelicans ended the 2025-26 NBA season with a 26-56 record and the 11th seed in the Western Conference. The Pelicans don’t control their 2026 first-round pick, so they had no incentive to tank at any point this season. Their record reflects how bad the team actually is, with the summer of 2026 potentially bringing major changes.
The franchise already ended head coach Willie Green’s four-year tenure with the franchise after the end of the regular season, with them already hunting for a replacement. Other teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, and Orlando Magic are also looking for new coaches, with more teams presumably joining this list before the Playoffs end. As a result, the Pelicans are already making moves to secure their new head coach.
A report from The Athletic’s Sam Amick on Tuesday revealed that the franchise is strongly considering former LA Lakers head coach and current Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, alongside two-time NBA Champion point guard Rajon Rondo, for the role.
“New Orleans has been deliberating over finalists Darvin Ham (a Bucks associate head coach under Rivers), Steve Hetzel (Brooklyn assistant), Sean Sweeney (San Antonio associate head coach), and Rajon Rondo (a coaching associate with the Bucks). Mosley has long been believed to be a possible candidate if he became available, but it’s unclear as of yet if he’ll be added to the list.”
With these fascinating candidates on their list of finalists, let’s take a look at the candidates in depth.
1. Darvin Ham
Darvin Ham hasn’t been a head coach in the NBA after the end of his two-year stint (2022-24) with the Lakers, making an unexpected appearance in the 2023 Conference Finals under Ham. Many criticized the Lakers for reacting too strongly to their rough 2023-24 season by firing Ham for rookie head coach JJ Redick, but the franchise seems to be doing well. In the meantime, Ham has been the lead assistant under coach Doc Rivers in Milwaukee.
With Coach Rivers leaving the Bucks, likely, Ham is also in consideration for that job. But if the uncertainty around Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future makes him uneasy, he could take on the role of a rebuilding Pelicans franchise. His strong defensive principles will give the franchise a competitive base to work off, while the opportunity to mold a young roster after being on star-driven contending teams for most of his coaching career would be a nice change of pace.
The Pelicans have a lot of interesting offensive pieces like Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, Dejounte Murray, and rookies Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen. Ham could at least use his credentials to get a crack at making the team compete for Playoff appearances again. If the Bucks aren’t snapping Ham up, the Pelicans might be the most logical choice for him if he wants to return to head coaching roles in the NBA.
2. Rajon Rondo
Rajon Rondo retired as one of the best point guards of his generation, playing a crucial role in the Boston Celtics‘ 2008 NBA Championship win as their starting point guard before playing a high-level rotational role for the Lakers as they won the 2020 NBA Championship. While his playing career ended in 2022, Rondo has been touted as a potential future head coach since before his playing career had even ended.
Rondo is well-known as one of the smartest guards the NBA has ever seen, a trait that translates well for point guards who become NBA coaches. He’ll be well-respected within the locker room while bringing a new philosophy to the meandering franchise. Rondo played for the Pelicans in 2017-18, one of the best years the franchise has had since their rebrand to the Pelicans in 2013. This hire carries the most risk, as the Pelicans will be gambling on the bet that Rondo is one of the NBA’s next great coaches if they give him a head coaching role right now.
Rondo has only one year of experience as a member of an NBA coaching staff, spending the 2025-26 season as a coaching associate on the Bucks under Doc Rivers. This might bring him into consideration for the Bucks job as well, but there’s increased pressure on Milwaukee to sign a win-now head coach to appease Antetokounmpo. If this leaves Rondo on the market, the Pelicans could take a bold risk unlike anything they’ve done before.
JJ Redick became a head coach with zero experience on an NBA coaching staff, so it’s not impossible to imagine a player as respected as Rondo could get the same opportunity after spending a season under Rivers. The Pelicans would be far less pressure than what Redick took on with the Lakers, but it also provides Rondo a unique opportunity to establish himself as an NBA head coach by leading the Pelicans into overachieving next season.
3. Sean Sweeney
San Antonio Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney has emerged as a potential candidate for most open head coaching positions around the NBA. It wouldn’t be wrong to say he’s arguably the most likely assistant coach in the NBA to step into a head coaching role somewhere over the offseason.
Sweeney built his NBA coaching resume over the last 13 years, starting his career with the Brooklyn Nets under coach Jason Kidd in 2013. He’d go on to have stints with the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons before shining as an assistant under Kidd once again on the Dallas Mavericks. Sweeney played an integral role in the franchise, making the Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals in two of the four seasons he was with the franchise.
He left the Mavericks for a bigger coaching role under Mitch Johnson on the Spurs. His arrival to the franchise coincided with them having a 28-win turnaround to go from the Draft lottery to the No. 2 seed in the West with 60 regular season wins. He’s a solid coach on both ends of the court and has experience in managing big egos and extracting the best out of them in his capacity as an assistant.
Sweeney is a highly-touted head coaching prospect, so the Pelicans have to consider bringing him into the fold. He’ll likely have more teams to consider over the summer, so the Pelicans need to move fast and snag Sweeney up before more attractive destinations open up.
4. Steve Hetzel
Brooklyn Nets assistant Steve Hetzel has the most coaching experience of anyone on this list, starting his career in 2009 with the Pistons as a player development coach.
He became an assistant coach under Steve Clifford on the Charlotte Hornets in 2014, spending four seasons with them before following Clifford to the Orlando Magic from 2018 to 2021. He would then spend three seasons on the Portland Trail Blazers staff under Chauncey Billups before joining Jordi Fernandez’s staff on the Nets in 2024, and has been generating buzz as a potential option for the Pelicans.
Hetzel’s coaching philosophy as a head coach will likely be a product of the various coaches he’s worked under. He’s seen the league evolve from under coach Steve Clifford after spending seven years on his staff, adjusting well by working with new generation coaches like Billups and Fernandez in recent years.
Hetzel’s coaching resume doesn’t have a lot of experience with winning franchises, which would be a drawback. However, his experience and versatility might make him a stable choice for the Pelicans, who are looking to return to competitive form in the NBA over the next few seasons.
