Halo

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.

Demps, whose vision of roster construction reportedly clashed with Williams', and who Wojnarowski reported "pushed out Williams," will stay.

Williams routinely faced criticism for an offensive system that failed to make as much use of superstar Anthony Davis as possible, and his perceived mismanagement of late-game fouls allowed the Golden State Warriors to steal a game in their first-round sweep.

Williams wasn't a perfect head coach, but he had success with a thin roster against long odds. And Davis developed into a legitimate MVP-level talent.

Now, the Pelicans must find a replacement whom they believe can top that.

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SmashMouth

Halo and FF not under consideration? WTF!