David Stern further expounded on his controversial decision to veto a trade in 2011 for "basketball reasons" that would have seen the New Orleans Pelicans trade Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Pelicans and Lakers agreed upon a three-way trade with the Houston Rockets involving Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.

"(My decision) was only based on what was good for New Orleans, or what was not good for New Orleans," said David Stern. "It had nothing to do with the Lakers at all. And in fact, in the course of the weekend, we thought we could re-do the deal. We really thought that Houston would be ready to part with Kyle Lowry; and we had a trade lined up for Odom that would have gotten us a good first round draft pick. Not we, but my basketball folks. But Mitch Kupchak at the time panicked, and moved Odom to Dallas. So the piece wasn’t even there for us to play with at the time. So that was it — just about what was good for the then New Orleans Hornets."

New Orleans soon thereafter traded Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The New Orleans Pelicans are close to hiring Chris Finch as an assistant coach.

Finch had a large impact on the Denver Nuggets' improvement on offense. Finch previously worked for the Houston Rockets for five seasons.

The Pelicans hope Finch will help improve the way the team plays on offense with DeMarcus Cousins.

The New Orleans Pelicans will retain Alvin Gentry as head coach and Dell Demps as general manager for the 17-18 season.

Both Gentry and Demps were already under contract for next season and have been given clarity on their job status.

Demps replaced Jeff Bower as general manager in July of 2010.

Demps' trade for DeMarcus Cousins in February played a significant role in him keeping his job. Cousins' arrival also helped Gentry retain his job. Gentry has developed a strong relationship with Cousins.

There has not been a public announcement by the New Orleans Pelicans on the future of Dell Demps and Alvin Gentry about their positions next season.

Both Demps and Gentry are going about their normal business despite the lack of clarity about their futures.

Gentry, Demps and various league sources have all said it’s a “day-to-day” situation, indicating there’s no pressure from the calendar to choose when the team will make a firm decision.

Demps replaced Jeff Bower as general manager on July 20th, 2010.

The Pelicans’ decision rests in the hands of senior vice president of basketball operations Mickey Loomis and owner Tom Benson.

Demps successfully traded for DeMarcus Cousins in February.

"I walk in here every day excited about my job,” Demps said on April 14. “I don’t ever feel the pressure or anything like that.

“Right now, we’re in evaluation mode. We’re going to sit back and meet with Alvin. We’re going to sit back and go over the whole season. I think we’ve had a lot of challenges this year. But I do like the direction and path that we’re headed (on).”