The New Orleans Pelicans are moving on from head coach Monty Williams.
Fighting significant injuries to key rotation players Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson, Williams led the Pellies to a 45-37 record and a playoff berth in the highly competitive Western Conference. His reward was his walking papers.
In some ways, the decision was a shock. Ownership conditioned Williams' and general manager Dell Demps' job security on making the postseason, per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, and the coach-GM duo cleared that bar. Nonetheless, Williams, who would have been a lame-duck coach next season, is out.