Darren Erman leaving to be Pelicans Associate Head Coach

[Moranis]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--pelicans-coach-alvin-gentry-164205332.html

[Grindfather]

Huge loss.  It says a lot that he got the bump to Associate Head Coach.  I think with Erman running the defense and Gentry running the offense that New Orleans team is going to be hugely improved. Anthony Davis is going to absolutely destroy next year.

[Tr1boy]

Huge loss.  It says a lot that he got the bump to Associate Head Coach.  I think with Erman running the defense and Gentry running the offense that New Orleans team is going to be hugely improved. Anthony Davis is going to absolutely destroy next year.

unless they get more help, they are still only a 8th seed seed out of the west

I don't get Erman. I mean we have a good situation in Boston.  If it was for a head coaching position fine. But not sure why for a lateral move.  I get Davis is involved in this but that team in general still is only ok and won't do much damage in the west

Celtics could of stopped Erman from leaving. Wasn't he under contract for a few more years?

[Tr1boy]

I guess bottom line was he wanted to leave.  I hope the wonder boy CBS picked up as much as he could from Erman. Our overall team defense might suffer next season

[Csfan1984]

Maybe TT comes back for the gig if he doesn't like the coaching situations this year.

[GetLucky]

Huge loss.  It says a lot that he got the bump to Associate Head Coach.  I think with Erman running the defense and Gentry running the offense that New Orleans team is going to be hugely improved. Anthony Davis is going to absolutely destroy next year.

unless they get more help, they are still only a 8th seed seed out of the west

I don't get Erman. I mean we have a good situation in Boston.  If it was for a head coaching position fine. But not sure why for a lateral move.  I get Davis is involved in this but that team in general still is only ok and won't do much damage in the west

Celtics could of stopped Erman from leaving. Wasn't he under contract for a few more years?

Becoming an Associate Head Coach is the opposite of a lateral move.

[Kuberski33]

While it helps to have good assistants, saying any loss of one of them is a 'huge' loss is stretching things just a bit.  Talent trumps coaching in the NBA - by a huge margin.

[Grindfather]

Huge loss.  It says a lot that he got the bump to Associate Head Coach.  I think with Erman running the defense and Gentry running the offense that New Orleans team is going to be hugely improved. Anthony Davis is going to absolutely destroy next year.

unless they get more help, they are still only a 8th seed seed out of the west

I don't get Erman. I mean we have a good situation in Boston.  If it was for a head coaching position fine. But not sure why for a lateral move.  I get Davis is involved in this but that team in general still is only ok and won't do much damage in the west

Celtics could of stopped Erman from leaving. Wasn't he under contract for a few more years?

Becoming an Associate Head Coach is the opposite of a lateral move.

This is definitely a promotion.  He's one step closer to being a head coach with this move.  The cachet that could come with turning NO into a defensive powerhouse, and helping AD realize his full potential, would definitely get him a shot at a head coaching gig in a few years. 

As for the Celtics stopping him, I don't think teams really do that if they have a good relationship with an assistant.  It looks pretty bad for the organization if they are blocking his path up the coaching ladder.

[LooseCannon]

If Erman eventually gets a head coaching job somewhere, will he be the first NBA head coach to have never played in high school or college?

[Rick Robeys Return]

So this is the quote in the mark murphy story in the Herald: "Ultimately, New Orleans offered something the Celtics didn’t have available — a place as part of Brad Stevens’ actual bench staff.
“We heard rumors about the connections Erman had made in Golden State, where Alvin is now, though Alvin wasn’t in Golden State with Erman,” Ainge said. “The people at Golden State, including a few of the players, were encouraging Alvin that if he got the job, Erman was the guy he needed to hire. .?.?. We didn’t want to lose him. We just didn’t have a spot on the bench for him here.”"

Im curious if anyone has any insight into this idea of "a spot on the bench." Aside from James Young (the assistant coach), none of the other guys have much seniority, eg Laranaga, McCarty...I thought Erman  was pretty well respected. Why was he so far down the C's coaching ladder?