Pelicans' Joe Dumars hire gives Saints fans cause for concern in Gayle Benson's leadership

USA Today

18-04-2025

Pelicans' Joe Dumars hire gives Saints fans cause for concern in Gayle Benson's leadership
The New Orleans Pelicans' latest move should also set off an alarm for New Orleans Saints fans. The Saints and Pelicans are connected by more than the synergy of the city. They're both owned by Gayle Benson.
The Pelicans fired David Griffin on Monday and hired Joe Dumars on Tuesday. It's a move Locked on Pelicans host Jake Madison labeled the hiring as 'the laziest and most uninspired move the Pelicans could have made.' The appearance of a less than thorough search also gives off the appearance of ownership being underinvested in improving the team.
Mickey Loomis may be on his last leg, so the idea of the Saints being in the same predicament in the next couple of years isn't far-fetched. The Dennis Allen experiment was a massive failure that extends beyond the field. The organization feels dysfunctional and poorly ran. Changing your general manager should change these concerns.
A decision essentially made 24 hours later would not instill confidence if anything changing it would actually do the opposite. When you replace your general manager, you are in need of wholesale changes. The Saints need them now, but stopped at changing head coaches. If things get worse, Loomis will be next, but where do the Saints turned to?
The Pelicans likely selected Dumars well before Griffin was fired. An essentially nonexistent interview process due to a predetermined choice can easily lead to missing out on a better candidate because you weren't looking for them.
There's a cliche, "How you do somethings is how you do everything." Dumars is a big name, who could be really good for the Pelicans. Time will tell on that aspect. How they got to the decision is more questionable than the decision itself. That thought process could easily transfer to the Saints in any big decisions
The current moves of the Pelicans could be what the Saints are facing in the near future, and the same person will be calling the shots. If this is how Benson handles this move with the Pelicans, there's a chance she handles it the same way with the Saints. She already seems hesitant to move on from Loomis, but would Benson rush the process if the Saints do have to look for a new general manager? These are questions Saints fans should ask.
In the case of the Saints, that would likely look like picking someone the organization is already familiar with. There were rumblings they wanted to do that at head coach. Familiarity has been a common principle with the Saints, and leaning on it in the case of firing Loomis would cheat the process of finding the next general manager.