Pelicans’ David Griffin, Willie Green on way out?

The David Griffin era in New Orleans may be over. Same goes for Pelicans coach Willie Green. Given all the injuries and issues, well, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if neither returned.

This is something that was reported by Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, who first addressed Griffin, the executive VP of basketball operations.

“This is his sixth season in charge and there are some in New Orleans, league sources say, who are undeniably bracing for his exit,” Stein and Fischer wrote.

They went on to call Green’s status “also tenuous.”

The Pelicans were rocked by injuries perhaps like no other team on their way to an ugly 21-61 finish. That took place after an offseason trade with the Atlanta Hawks that brought in guard Dejounte Murray and was expected to take the Pelicans to another level.

Instead, Murray spent the majority of the season on the injured list and New Orleans was worse than last year.

“The pain of Murray’s limited availability, meanwhile, was only exacerbated by the rise of Dyson Daniels in Atlanta after the Pelicans included him in the Murray deal,” Stein and Fischer wrote. “As a Hawk, Daniels has emerged as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. And his rise has been a source of tension in the organization this season, with Green facing questions internally about his perceived past preferences for playing pesky guard Jose Alvarado rather than Daniels.”

Green has compiled a 148-179 overall record in four seasons with the Pelicans, though they did reach the playoffs twice. They failed to get out of the first round either time.

Of course, it’s hardly the fault of Griffin or Green that franchise face Zion Williamson and others have been able to stay on the court. Especially Williamson.

“Williamson failed to surpass 30 games played for the fourth time in his six seasons out of Duke,” Stein and Fischer wrote. “Herbert Jones was limited to just 20 games thanks largely to season-ending shoulder surgery. Brandon Ingram sprained his ankle on Dec. 7 and has not played since … although Griffin did manage to trade the former All-Star forward to Toronto after it became clear that the parties were not going to agree on a contract extension.”