Early Wednesday morning, The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears reported that former Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks executive Danny Ferry had been named special adviser to the New Orleans Pelicans basketball operations staff, apparently at the insistence of General Manager Dell Demps. This appears to be a final buttoning up of the operations staff following a tumultuous 2015-16 season that saw high expectations beget disastrous disappointment.
Around the trade deadline, concerns arose that Demps may not have been entirely in control of the front office, perhaps having lost his place as the top Pelican on the New Orleanian totem pole.