Birdfeed: Another theory on Monty Williams release

Sam Amick jotted down several interesting thoughts late last night regarding the New Orleans Pelicans on USA Today.

• Similar to Scott Brooks in Oklahoma City, Monty was let go because the organization did not want to give him a long term extension during the final year of his contract.

  This wasn't about a power struggle with general manager Dell Demps or a lack of communication (both of which I'm told didn't exist), but more the fact that the internal desire for new leadership and a new era far outweighed the idea of making Williams the guy for the long-haul.

• Speaking of Brooks, Amick believes the Pelicans are interested in him.

  Whether that's Brooks (early rumblings of significant interest here), Chicago's Tom Thibodeau (who is expected to part ways with the Bulls), or someone else, the new coach will be on board mostly because the Pelicans — like the Thunder before them — had concerns about sticking with the status quo.

Now for some NBA playoff talk. Everyone has heard the adage, "defense wins championships." Well, that may still be the case with the Golden State Warriors advancing to the Western Conference Finals, but overall, the remaining teams are much more potent on the other end of the floor.

Defense wins. Or maybe not. If Clippers beat the Rockets defensive teams left will rank 1,7,15 and 20. Offenses will rank 1,2,4 and 6

— David Locke (@Lockedonsports) May 16, 2015

The Memphis Grizzlies season is over, and at one point, they were up on the Warriors 2-1 in their series. However, even though the Pelicans didn't win a game against Golden State during the first round of the playoffs, they played better than most people gave them credit for.

Warriors beat the Grizzlies by a higher point differential than they had in the Pelicans sweep (8.0 vs. 7.8)

— Ethan Strauss (@SherwoodStrauss) May 16, 2015