What is up, fellow thermonuclear A Effers. I am Dampa Valley coming at
you with another NBA team. Look ahead. We are onto the New Orleans
Pelicans, which means I had to bring on Schmidt. Duah. He does
pells content for boot Crew Media. He's a lead writer at Bourbon Street Shots.
He's a contributor to w D s U. He's a mode at NBA
Reddit, and he's also the co host of the In the No Pod with
Mason Ginsburgh. I love that podcast, by the way. Follow them at
In the No Pod spelled exactly as it sounds. Follow him on Twitter at
Fear the Brown spelled exactly as it sounds. He does a lot. He's
been on the podcast before. I spoken with him before. He does a
great job covering the pells and the league at large. I'm excited to pick
his brain. But Shmidt, the first question that I have to ask,
and it's the most import how the heck are you doing? I'm doing great,
Dan, I've been looking forward to this and it's always a pleasure to
join your show. And Pelicans basketball is back, so I can't be happier.
Yeah, And as our listeners know, I'm like obnoxiously high on the
Pelicans this year. It's it's probably almost foreboding and how high I am on
them where I should probably be lower just so that something doesn't go wrong karmically
there. But to really start, I think it's with just Zion. Is
there a sense of just like this exasperated relief that the extension is done.
He looks healthy, looks to be an incredible shape. And I think my
actual question though, is do we expect like a slower ramp up for him
to start the regular season or is he just going to be full go from
day one? Yeah, so, I think to answer your first question,
there definitely is a sense of relief around the organization and the fan base that
hey, like all of this, I guess turbulent stuff in the past is
in the past. He's signed for the next five years. There is no
player option in. He looks fantastic, he played his first game. You
know, things are back on track. Everyone's saying the right things, doing
the right things, and there's just a lot of excitement around the team.
And and that's that's from all fats, that's like from from the city,
from the front office too, for the coaching staff, the players themselves,
so it's always a good good time when when when that's going on, and
and yeah, like as far as a ramp up goes, I think that's
fair. I think as with any team, their starters are probably going to
play limited minutes in the first few preseason games and as they approached the last
one, maybe it simulates what a regular season game might look like. And
I think Zion's no exception to that. So the Pelicans have been very cautionary
with with how they handled injuries with anybody. So last night they played their
first preseason game. They held out Brandon Ingram for tots Ornis, they held
out Tray Murphy for footsorenessuh and and these are players who could have played who
if there was a regular season game, but there's you know, it's preseason,
so why I risk it. So the fact that Zion got a regular
slate of minutes that all starters got, not more, not less, bodes
well in my opinion that hey, like this guy is restriction free at the
moment. And you know, there there hasn't been any talks of them holding
him out of like back to backs or anything like that, So yeah,
I expect him to ramp up as the preseason progresses. Just this is all
starters do, but not in a way that's unique or special to him.
Just hey, he's restriction freeze, gonna go go with the team as they
go one. And it's clear that the Warriors have poisoned my vernacular with ramp
up when they kept using it with James Wiseman. It's like tattooed into my
brain. That's why I always say now and maybe it's also because I haven't
seen Zion playing forever, but he just seemed like he was smiling the whole
time, and that was the I don't watch too much preseason because I don't
want to let it like impact too much. I don't want to overreact to
preseason, but I will it'll happen. So I watched most of that game.
He seems like he was smiling the whole time he was on the court,
and it was just infectious and super cool to see, especially because I
got exhausted by the way that the Zion stuff was being covered. And that's
almost the biggest relief for me from the extensions. Like I don't really want
to hear about the SGA or the Zion speculation. I do love transactions,
but like that stuff really fatigues me. And so that's why I was just
especially when there was no player option, it was just done super quickly.
That's why for me the way I covered the league, I was just very
excited that that like sort of stage of speculation passed at least for now.
Yeah, I mean, I think I think you're You're absolutely right. There's
only a bit of speculation that remains is what is he actually gonna do on
the court? Right? And to see him out there having fun, I
think it's huge because he's gone on record and talked about how difficult of a
time he had during his rehab and in how difficult it was for him to
be away from the team. And you know, for for any player,
much less a twenty one year old, Uh, that's got to be a
struggle to be away from the game. You love, the your teammates,
all of that, and not only that, but face constant criticism in the
media and to everyone commenting on your weight, your appearance, and every time
you step out in the public setting, like you know, someone snapping a
picture of you trying to analyze like what's happened in your body. So that's
that's got to be an unreasonable amount of stress on on such a young person.
And to see him back on the court, uh, free of those
stresses, you know, or I guess I assume those stresses are a lot
less than they were in the past, and free of those pressures, just
playing basketball being himself. Like I think when he when he dunked it,
like he had a huge grind, like, hey, like I'm back,
like I can do this, Like this is what I love. Aline.
He was just smiling me. It's like he's having fun. And I think
that's all you can really ask for, is like, hey, like this
guy is an amazing basketball player, but you wish him well as a human.
So you know, if he's having fun, that's that's fantastic. So
Zion the basketball player, what are you looking specifically to see from him in
year four aside from just better availability at this point? Yeah, so you
know, I'm not picky. So if he weren't able to replicate any of
his offensive success he had, uh prior to last season, I'd be ecstatic.
You know, someone who was point Zion averaging twenty seven points a game
on sixty percent shooting. That's fantastic. He was probably like him, sorry
to reject, like maybe like five to ten more appearances away from just being
All NBA that year, right, because it's yeah, yeah, I mean
it came down to like him and like Julius Randall, I think and and
the Knicks did. Really we will not speak. We will not speak about
this. Knicks fans will be in I mentions, you're not setting me up
for this thing. Yeah, it's a snapshot of one season, but you
would like to think there's some level of like sustainability in there where it doesn't
look like this huge outlier. But please carry on. I didn't mean to
do that, but you know, I you know, I'd be happy if
he weren't able to do that. However, I don't think that's the bar
he's setting for himself, right and uh, certainly he wants to be a
better player than he was in the past, and with the sort of condition
that he's in the way he's moving right now at leaston limited the limited view
we had of him in the last game, it seems like there's a lot
more effort he's willing to put forth on defensive end. He had a chase
down block, he had another like help rotation block. He had a couple
of steals and deflections all in like thirteen minutes, which is like the most
amount of defensive activity I've perhaps ever seen him put forth on the NBA court,
which is again part of the reason why why he was like a no
brainer number one pick was he was a monster on defense at Duke and someone
who could just cover large areas of the court, protect the rim, play
small ball five if he had to, and and that Zion has not appeared
yet in the NBA, and I'm hoping it trends towards that direction this season,
and Willie Green contributes to some of that buying. But offensively, I
would the thing I guess I'm looking for is some counters. I think he
is one of the most like singular unstoppable forces and in terms of getting to
the paint, but I would love if he added another like layer to that.
So like what I think is like a stop and pop flow maybe like
a yeah, like like an eight to like twelve foot shot some somewhere between,
like somewhere in the paint, still taking shots in the paint, but
like not necessarily at the rim. And you know, like I guess you
can get a little bit out of the paint, but something that where he
doesn't have to go all the way to the rim, and when teams give
him that space, he can just like rise up and drop something in because
I think he has a touch. He went five or five in the free
throw line last night. Fred Vincent's and putting him work. Every practice I'd
go to they're off in the corner and they're working. Those two are working
on his free throw. So it'd be great if he's you know, like
a seventy five percent plus or an eighty percent free throw shoot or this year,
that'd be fantastic. But I think he can do it. I don't
think he needs a three ball. I think he just needs a little like
some some mid range stuff and not like you know, like a heasy pull
up Jimbo. Like he just needs like some float or some somewhere where he
doesn't have to go all the way to the rim. Something that's like a
drop coverage killer, and just you know, a lot of people give him
space and he's very good at eating it up because he's so sudden and forceful.
He's just going to get to the rim. He doesn't needed a counter,
but in case he needs one, that floater would be nice. Yeah,
it would make him his downhill. Saul's just like a lot more unpredictable,
and so yeah, that would be absolutely terrifying to witness. How do
you I think some people have spun the zion CJ McCollum brandon Ingram fit as
something that could not mesh that well, I don't. I guess something could
always fail, but I just can't bring myself to care about it. You
would ask the great I think it was you. That's the great question of
brand Ingram about his focus on off ball shooting and how he improved that as
the year went on last year. And I just look at CJ playing off
Dame his entire career, how that shooting kind of naturally translates to maybe spending
more time away from the ball. This just feels like, yeah, there
might need to be a grace period, but this feels like the dynamic should
should not just work but thrive. Yeah. I don't think CJ is going
to be an issue. I mean, that man has played on and off
the ball with Dame his whole career. He knows where his skill set is.
He can he can move off screens extremely well. It can put the
ball on the floor if he needs to. He's a vet. He he
will fit in and with Brandon Ingram. Uh. Something that's really underappreciated about
Brandon Ingram is that he's been tasked with different roles since he's gotten to the
Pelicans. So initially he was supposed to fit in with Zion, was going
to be Zion's team. Zion got hurt, Brandon Ingram took took the team
basically like upon his shoulders, his very skinny, slender shoulders and with Drew
Holiday and he made his first All Star appearance as kind of being a focal
point of the offenses first year. The second year, Zion played a lot
more games. He had to play more off ball. He to like really
focus on the catch and shoot was a you know, he put up I
think I want to say six or seven three is a game, And you
know, he shot like right under forty percent. It was. It was
a pretty solid percentage. And he replicated essentially the same stats he had the
previous year, but being more of an off ball player than the on ball
player. And then again, Zion's out the next year and and Ingram is
leaned fully into it, being an on ball player and the primary creator of
the team most of the time organizing an orchestrating the offense by himself playing downhill.
His his three point volume dipped in percentage dipped that season this previous season
because he was mostly playing in the paint and just trying to get to the
rim. And he's adapted every single time he's come he's been asked to.
And I think adding Zion back is going to force another adaptation, because I
think Brandon Ingham did take a leap last year as a playmaker, someone who
was able to read the help and read offenses a beat quicker than he has
been able to win the past, and so adding Zion to that is going
to force him to get back a little more to his off ball ways.
But I think he's just such a talented basketball player that it's not going to
be an issue. And when you have the spacing and shooting the CJ provides
and the offensive attention that Jonas himself draws, like, I think Brandon's going
to have a lot easier time attacking defenses because they're not going to be able
to load up on him him singularly like like prior to the C. J.
McCullum trade, lineups they were putting. The starting lineup was Devonte Graham,
Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones, and Jonas Valanciunas, and
surprisingly, you know, it was one of the best lineups in terms of
neck rating. But when you when you look at that lineup, like shot
creation is only happening through Brandon Makom, Like that is the only place you're
getting shot creation. Like Demonte Graham, He's not gonna get to the rim,
He's gonna put up a lot of threes, but Josh's not doing anything
once he gets there. Anyway, Yeah, Josh Hart blesses, you know,
bless him in his hustle. But like that that that man is a
transition player, an open court player, like he'll grab a rebound and take
it coast to coast, But asking him to create in the half court is
is dicey proposition at best. And he's a streaky shooter. Herb Jones was
a rookie and then Yonis. Yonis was a champ. You know, they
have to do a lot and that that he carried them, you know,
the early portion of the season. And I'm I am excited for him to
get a little bit of a break this season. If everyone's healthy, he
won't have to have quite the offensive Josh Hart First Team all shoots worse from
three than you actually think that he does. Right, do you think brandon
Ingram then, of the these three like stars, has to make the biggest
like adaptation to his game of them. And also you mentioned him having to
do in the past, he'd do with the Lakers too, like he's playing
with Kuzman and Lonzmo and then then Lebron's there, and then he's traded the
Pelicans. Like his career has had like like I don't know, like five
different parts to it already, which is and then you look at some of
the injuries that stalled out his previous seasons even before he got to New Orleans.
So I have confidence in him to be someone who can toggle between now
after watching the past few years, that primary creator and more of an off
ball player. But do you think that he's the one of these three that
probably has to make the biggest adjustments when they're at full strength and playing together.
Yeah, I mean, I think historically he's always been the player that
takes the longest to sort of come around and find his footing in when being
introduced to higher usage players. But I just think that, hey, he's
grown so much and be the offensive talent this team is is so high now
that it's not going to be that big of an adjustment. And I think
with Willie green system that prioritizes just a lot of off ball movement in general,
Like you know, players are coming off of screens to get the ball
attacking downhill in motion rather than you know, going off a standstill. Is
going to really like help him because they Willie Green preaches point five basketball,
which is shoot, pass or dribble, make that decision in point five of
a second, which is crazy, Like that's like extremely requires extremely high processing.
But you know, that's that's the kind of style the Warriors, you
know they got. He got that from the Warriors when he was there.
He brought up you know, they talked about it with the Suns when when
they were there, and the Sun's half court offense was one of the best.
It's been one of the best the last couple of years. And and
now I think you have a set of players who can make those quick decisions,
like the thing with Zion is he's not a ball stopper. Like everything
he does is very quick. If he's going to shoot or attack, like,
it's going to happen very very quickly. He's not going to sit there
size up the defense, let them load up and make a decision. Like
so, I don't think Zion's introduction is going to be as big of a
hurdle as people people think. I do. I do think it will be
a hurdle, But like this, Brandon Ingle was playing with Jackson Hayes at
that spot literally like four months ago. Jackson Hayes was that player, and
you're telling me I can upgrade Jackson as the Zion Williamson. Like, I
just don't think there's gonna be an issue the CJ extension. The number is,
I think people still get sticker shock age thirty three, age thirty four
CJ with how his game should age. He I think I did the math.
He's ever gonnaccount for more than like twenty two percent of the cap.
That is perfectly fine. They were not under any like pressure obligation though to
do this extension. Now, were you a little bit surprised that the investment
in him and maybe even Nance even though that deal is gonna end up just
that was highway robbery. But Larry Nash's one of my favorite players in the
league. Like, were you surprised though that they sort of reinvested in this
core before seeing it in action in full together with Zion? No, because
one, this is never going to be a cap space team with Zion and
Brandon Ingram on the books, they're they're just gonna occupy those two max slots
and they'll never be a cap space team too when they are a cap space
team, which we saw what happened last year. Everybody turns down their money,
like a thirty five year old Kyle Lowry did not want one hundred twenty
million dollars, Chris Paul did not want their money. Tim Hardaway Junior did
not want their money. Everybody turns down their money, right, so cap
space does not matter, so there's there's no leave anymore. It was the
other thing I pointed out on Twitter if maybe if you think in the new
CBA that's going to change or the cap spike invites more of a free agency
bananza, but you just point out no one's taking they one anyway. But
like stars, they extend and get traded like that's just exactly, yeah,
exactly, And so so a place like New Orleans already has a difficult time
attracting that kind of talent. So when you've got talent, when you've got
talent like c J. McCullum, you want to keep them in the building
and then you have enough picks and assets down the line to make trades if
you need to, if you want to get rid of those contracts. It's
not going to be that difficult. Like you said, like the percentage he
occupies the the cap isn't isn't astronomical, Like it's not a Russell Westbrook,
it's a it's not a John Wall and it's never even gonna hit that monetary
num. I mean, those guys that are forty seven million, even with
with raises and stuff like CJ never gonna see thirty three million. So there's
that too. There's this level of legitimacy that CJ. McCollum is brought to
the organization that they were desperately seeking and did not have that kind of leadership,
that vocal outward presence both on the court off the court. They've tried
to replicate that with with with JJ Reddick. That was a failed experiment because
he was like thirty seven years old and got on people's nerves pretty quickly.
They try to they try to bring Salmon Gundhi to be a vocal person,
and that was a monstrous failure. Steven Adams same same sort of concept.
But like none of these players have the cachet that that CJ. McCullum has,
right, they don't carry that that aura of respect that CJ. McCollum,
Like when he walks in the room, this is the president of the
players Union. You know, he knows he knows the in and out of
the league from like every angle. He knows what it's like to be a
player at a high level. He knows what it's like to come off the
bench, you know his early years, Like he's been there, he's played
every role. And so to have that kind of leadership presence someone that they
were willing to pay hundreds, like one hundred plus million dollars to in the
form of Kyle Lowry, in the form of Chris Paul, Like, they
got younger version of that in c J. Mcculluman. You know, like
it's no secret he's not as impactful as those players, but he is younger
than them, and by the time his contract like reaches his contract extension reaches
its finality, he's still gonna be younger than when they were willing to offer
Chris Paul and and and Kyle Lowry that money's gonna be thirty four, and
those guys were thirty five, thirty six. Like it's it's not you know,
the age is not that big of a deal. And I think his
game is also one that age is pretty pretty uh pretty well, because he
doesn't rely a lot of on athleticism. It's centered primarily around his shop making
and shooting and his craft and is his shiftiness and so you know, perhaps
he sees a sharp decline in shooting at some point, you know, across
that bridge when it comes. But I think it won't be difficult to transition
him if his production drops in a significant way to someone that is a six
man type player or you know, I guess a Fox starter that that starts
but doesn't close games, Like I don't think that is a difficult thing,
and someone likes CJ willing to do that is also another like, I guess
organizational asset, because you'd be like, dude, this is CJ. McCullum,
he's willing to sacrifice like everyone else should be willing to sacrifice. So
I think just if it was, like, you know, if it was
a player who who's a young player and they like knew, like, hey,
like we want more money, we want more shots, we want a
bigger role, it'd be one thing. Uh, And you know you have
to invest in talent if you're this kind of market anyway. But with CJ.
McCullum, like he knows who he is, he knows, he knows
what he brings to the table, and I think just this team in particular
needing that kind of presence, that kind of voice. I think it was
a really good match for both and I was excited I did that they like
it was the numbers that they got him at. I expected it to be
something like two years seventy. I didn't expect it to be a declining number.
And the fact that it wasn't more than two years, I think is
another big win. So I'm not I'm not at all concerned about that,
you know, what it's going to do with the cap space or or anything
like that. I think I think it's gonna be great. My initial reaction
was the number didn't take me back at all, But I was like,
oh, with two full years left on his deal, it's where this happened
now. But the two points that I hung onto aside from my just I
believe in this team was Zion must really like him, and the way that
stuff blew over after CJ said he hadn't talked his eye on yet because the
way CJ handled it, like that's exactly what this team needs. And then
also, as you mentioned, like now you don't have to the extension is
not longer, Like if you would waited till next summer, how far is
that extension going out? Is it going a year later? I was still
just a little bit. I guess again, two full years left on his
deal. I wasn't just kind of surprised that it got done. Well,
there's this other thing. And it's not like CJ has been able to like
draw free agents to Portland or anything, but there's this other thing where like
players around the league really respect him. Like this year when the Kevin Durant
drama was going on, like New Orleans was considered a suitor. It was
in the conversations why because of like the respect they had built over this past
year in terms of success they had in the playoffs and the assets that they
had, and CJ was a big part of like creating that success and him
getting on TV being a vocal advocate for this team literally every single chance that
he gets is I don't think that stuff can be understated because there's a lot
of teams that I could tell you would love to have a player of his
caliber on national TV, on podcasts, you know, in the media,
like just putting on the cake for them like the way he does, and
it doesn't have to be one hundred percent genuine. He could go off TV
and like tell his like you know, close friends, like I fucking hate
this place, but it doesn't matter like the like how he really feels doesn't
matter because of what he's doing in the public space. And I do think
for the record, like he genuinely wants to be here and enjoys the team
and everything that comes with it. I don't think it's one of those like
I'm just being a good soldier type of things. But he knows the business
like he he knows what he has to do. So is there an actual
battle for the fifth starting spot or is it okay that I have this tattoo
on the back of my neck that says Herb Jones starter twenty two, twenty
three. Oh yeah, yeah that that dude is gonna be safe unless there's
like some catastrophic injury clich which knocked on what you know, no one's no
one's open for I don't think you have to worry about Herb Jones losing his
starting spot that you know, he made a two threes last night. Hopefully
his shot keeps improving. He was a decent you know. I don't want
to say good, I want to say bad. Uh what it was like
around thirty five thirty six percent? Last year it was between thirty five and
thirty six, which is just like it's not great, but it's it's fine.
If he could maintain that on like five or six attempts a game,
I think that would really help out this team in the half court. Yeah,
it's just I think, you know, seeing seeing a volume bump would
be nice on on those threes, just just so defenses are honest. And
then I think what they see internally is more increased responsibilities on the ball,
just grabbing and going off of rebounds, just initiating offense because if he's on
the ball, then someone has to account for him, and then that opens
up lanes and you know, spacing for other players. So yeah, I
think I think he's gonna start, and I'm hoping for a big year from
him. He was better too on drives and going down hill in general last
year than I even remember, and so like that's big, especially if they're
gonna have lineups out there that have more space, whether it's getting out in
transition or in the half court. If he's just able to pump out of
a three and drive, like maybe he can learn that from Jonis at this
point, so he I don't and he can't get better on defense at this
point. Like what does a better version of Herb Jones on defense even?
Look like? It looks like pain for a lot of people in the league.
It looks like people coming into New Orleans and be like, ah,
fuck, you gotta go get herv Jones. I mean they've got already be
happy already do It's like okay, okay, Herb's going on the bench.
Who's up there? Oh god it Tose? Oh yeah, some of the
lineups on this team are gonna wreck lives. But Trey Murphy I'm fascinated by
him. He was so good to close the year and then he really had
some big time playoff moments for them. What are you looking to see from
him in year two? And is this someone who's going to play like a
prominent role off the bench for them this year. I'm a huge Tray Murphy
fan. I have been from the draft and that's that's my guy. Like
the trade trades is awesome, and I I think this is an unpopular opinion,
but like, I think it's not long until Tray surpasses Herb as as
someone who you really have to consider starting and just like in overall skill set
and just impact, because one, I think he's going to be one of
the league's like ten best shooters. Two, being six nine six ten and
being able to defend multiple positions and play multiple positions offensively allows them to plug
him in anywhere, And so I think this is a big year for him
to sort of showcase those skills, especially with Zion drawing all the attention that
he draws. Like when you when you think about how do we build a
team around Zion, Well, a six nine elite shooter that can play defense
is kind of the exact player you need and and so you know, it
was unfortunate he didn't get to play the last game here because of some foot
soreness. And you know, like I said, the Pelicans are pretty cautionary
with with how they handle this stuff. And I hope, you know,
I hope that doesn't like bother him in the future. But this what I
would like to see from him is uh a uh now that he's going to
be on opposing scattering reports and it's probably gonna chase him off the line,
off the three point line. What what what do you have? What can
you do when they when they chase you off that line? Are you going
to be someone who become someone who doesn't really impact the game, or are
you going to be someone who can like put the ball on the floor and
just like dunk it on someone because he doesn't need many dribbles, he needs
like one, maybe two dribbles to get to the rim. Is he gonna
be able to make decisions off of closeouts that kind of stuff? And I
think I would love to see more added like on ball responsibility, will see
you know where the Pelicans go in that developmental direction. But I think the
biggest thing is like when you have guys like Duncan Robinson, Like, yeah,
in the regular season, they'll get their shots off, right, being
a movement shooter or being elite shooters, Yeah, they'll get their shots off.
But in the playoffs, when they lock you down and you're not getting
your shots off, what else do you do? And I'm really excited to
trip for Trade to showcase his skills in that area because I really do think
a like he has enough on ball equity to like to do some dangerou stuff
downhill with his athleticism. Be I think you can use him as a traditional
big name, like I think, like what I mean by that is like
I think you can do a pick and roll with him and use him as
a roller and he will be a lot there. I mean, he's six
ten, he's the same size as John Collins, and he has a least
guy on that as the ball handler. Let's that's what I'm saying. And
then then with Trade, Okay, you have Trade setting the screen and you
don't want to use him as a role use him as a popper, like
like he can pick and pop is like easy, easy basketball, basic basketball,
and you do that with him in Zion they're either gonna have to switch,
which like I guess they're like size and so like maybe the switch doesn't
matter, but like Zion's gonna punish any switch. And you know, if
you're either gonna be too too slow for him or too small for him or
both. And if you have trade drawing all this attention off, like you
clear out one side of the court and you just run like a basic like
two man game with them, like you have to respect trade shooting. And
I'm just excited for for for those kind of like small games to develop between
him and the other stars. Yeah, I am curious to see how his
offensive development comes along, because I almost wonder if there's sometimes a danger of
like younger players that have more skills to plumb when they're already on teams that
are so entrenched and you have this hierarchy of Zion and CJ and Brandon Ingram
and Javante Graham is gonna factor in the full of view of Jannis that they're
not going to be is inclined to like just explore the depths of his offense.
But I think it there, like you said, there was even it
might have been like the only step back jumper he hit all of last year,
but it was the game I was watching. I'm just like, this
guy looks just so fluid doing all sorts of different things. I'm with you.
I think he's going to be really ridiculously good. And this probably isn't
a hot take, but he feels like their best non Big three or Big
four player long term, just by looking at the skeleton of his game,
what we saw again specifically the second half of last year and then some of
those playoff moments. I'm a big believer. I think it's all there.
It's just a matter of time. Dyson Daniels any sense of whether he's gonna
get a shot to crack the rotation regularly as a rookie, and like,
what does he need to do? Is it just about Oh, the offensive
fit isn't complicated with him on the floor, because you build lineups in your
head where it's like, oh, if we put Herb and Jose and Dyson
Daniels on the court at the same time, does anyone ever score ever?
Again? Including the Pelicans. I you know, everything I heard throughout the
summer and through training camp was like, Dyson looks really good and he's probably
Lea gonna get minutes sooner than people think. Willie Green is a big fan
of players who played defense, and Dyson is already looking like he's going to
be one of the most problematic defenders for opposing players, uh for quite some
time. Last night he was matched up against Zak Lavigne and he was sliding
his feet so effortlessly, and and not only that, like his help rotations,
like he seemed to be aware of like, Okay, this is my
where I need to rotate. He got like a one to help block on
Vussovic, which is pretty like pretty impressive. And I know he's big,
like you know, six seven sixty eight, but like just as a rookie
to like like recognize, okay, this is the action that's happening, diagnosed
it, and then like realize, I this is my rotation. I'm gonna
come come here and block the shot. It's it's it's you love to see
it, you know. He led the team in deflections last night. He
had three steals, two blocks, Like it's just stuffed stuff, you know,
and he rebounds the ball, so he does all that stuff. The
question mark with him is like how is his offensive game gonna progress? And
I think from a playmaking standpoint, like it's it's there. He's clearly sees
the floor well and the more opportunities he has to play with talented offensive players
like that area is really going to shine. But I think is his finishing
at the rim is going to be a question mark early and then his shooting
is probably gonna be hit or miss. But he's another one of those Fred
Vincent projects. And we'll we'll we'll see. Uh, we're just gonna assume
he gets a thirty eight percent at some point because Fred Vincent is there.
That's where that's I have a husband jang pencil then for that eventually in no
casey with Jeff Anglin. Now with the thunder that I'm that's the level of
like you have those guys, that's just what you assume him at this point.
Yeah, I mean, that's certainly the bet the Pelicans made right there,
Like this guy can do literally everything else. We just got teaching to
shoot? Oh who do we have? We have Fred Vincent who teaches people
how to shoot. And so that's that's the bet they're making, and we'll
see how long it takes before he's a consistent shoot or if he's a consistent
shooter. I'm watching him in practice, and it certainly seems like they have
him on that Lonzo Ball progression of like like changing his mechanics, like working
on his at least point working on this is release speed and simplifying things.
And his release looks great, man, Like, I think the only thing
is like, maybe it needs to be a little bit faster, but it
looks. It looks smooth. He doesn't hesitate like off the catch and shoot.
It might be one of those things where it's only a matter of time
for him. But as far as him cracking the rotation, the Pelicans are
so deep right now in terms of and I don't want to say like they
have like, you know, like a ton of talent, but they have
enough players that like deserve NBA minutes and not one of them though, I
just like Temple is not one of them. And he was leading the Pelicans
and minutes played last night for like three fourths of the game. I didn't
even realize that. My god, oh my god. Yeah, well,
I mean part of it was like Trade didn't play, Brandon didn't play,
and Herb didn't play after this in the first half because he got like hitting
the rip or something. But obvious he won't get it during the regular season.
I hope so. But Willen Green is definitely one of those coaches who
makes their rookies like Earn earned their minutes, like you're not he did anything
just because of who you are or where you drafted. And I think also
like internally, like the Pelicans wouldn't mind, you know, if if Devonte
Graham had a bounce back season, if Jackson Hayes continues to be better,
because that's better for them a like on the court, be like for trade
purposes. So I think the bench as it is right now, it's probably
Jose DeVante, Trey Jackson, and Larry Dance, like those are your first
five off the bench in some capacity, and I'm sure they're going to stagger
units and stagger lineup, so some of those players might be squeezed. And
I'm specifically looking at Jackson. I think Jackson is probably gonna get squeezed a
little bit because this is Zion is going to take some of those bench minutes
and you know you was gotta give you on thiss minutes, and I think,
you know, one of those guards might get squeezed whoever's aving an off
night, whether it's DeVante or Jose and and so I think Dyson does crack
the rotation Eventually. It might take an injury or two to get there,
or might a trade of two to get there. But I think this start
the year they will give their like last year's players, like their returners,
a fair shot. The next two question step on the toes of what you
just said, you have Larry Jr. Zion, I'm saying you want to
vaunc Tunis factor in some like Herb or Trey at the four minutes, Where
does Jackson pays Jackson Hayes excuse me, fit into all this both in the
short and long term. Yeah, that is a question he's probably asking himself,
he and his agent because he is up for a contract, actually he's
up for an extension and they have until the first day of the regular season
to secure that extension. And obviously if that's not secured, then he will
go into restricted free agency this coming summer. And so Jackson Hayes, if
he continues to play the way he did last night, which is to hustle
on the board's hustle and on the open court, just kind of create chaos
be the athletic freak that he is. He deserves minutes and he will get.
He will get minutes because he is just an absurdly efficient player at the
rim and as such a huge catch radius. He does things that like my
brain doesn't comprehend sometimes in terms of like what he's capable of athletically. Uh
So that player is useful and and he showed the flash last year ability to
switch out in the perimeter and contain guards and even navigates some screens out there.
So I like that version of Jackson. My ideal version of Jackson is
like, just let him be like Roshard Lewis or Channing Fry in addition to
all that, just let him jack up like five six threes, get name?
Okay? Yeah, Like you know, honestly, if he wants a
role like he's gotta, he's gotta define it somehow. And the way he
does it on this team is to provide shooting. And they say, you
know, they've said for like the last two years, like, oh,
his shot looks nice. His shot looks nice. He has great touch,
like he's been working on it, so like let him showcase it, like,
let him let him shoot five or six. If he hits thirty three
percent of those thirty four percent of those people will think he's the next Miles
Turner because that's what Miles Turner shoots, like thirty four percent, and and
you know, like that's that's all he needs to do. And if he
hits that, but he needs the volume. Like if you shoot like two
or like one every three games, like hitting thirty four percent is like,
yeah, like who cares. But if you shoot five a game and you
hit thirty four percent, you're like, well, some night that guy's gonna
hit three threes or four threes. And and when that happens, like your
your variance just goes up. And when that happens, he will get everything
he wants at the rim, which is what he's good at. I can
confess I did not realize he shot very the volume thirty five point one percent
on threes last year, think it was twenty of fifty seven, That is,
I didn't. I that did not even register with me. Can't even
lie and fib there. And I guess that's kind of mission critical to him
sticking then though, just because it doesn't seem like they would view him as
a primary big necessarily, and like a lot of the lineups they would build,
you're not going to flesh them out so specifically where you just surround him
with all the shootings so he can rampage his way towards the basket. And
so it feels like if he wants to stick with this team or even not
get sort of squeezed out of the road, that's a shot that needs to
not just come up in vogue, but they probably needs to hit in a
semi consistent clip. Yeah, I mean, I think that just bodes well
for him in his future in the league period, Like, no matter what
team he's on, Yeah, he can be a rolling cutting five, But
I don't think he's ever going to be a plus rebounder. I don't think
everybody's going to like be able to defend the behemoths of the league. So
like, do you want to be a rolling cutting five, they'll wheel roll
for you. Like I think there will absolutely be like, you know,
JaVale McGee still in the league and has now earned a starting spot, so
like he will you know, I think, sorry, I'm just in there,
you know. So they'll they'll be a you know, a role for
him, and then he can get like really good in that role, and
but it depends on his card play too, Like if he has dynamic guards
that enable him to to be like the best version of the pick and roll
man, he is, sure, But what will make him from being you
know, like your your I guess, exception level player, whether it's like
one of the smaller exceptions to the mid level exception, to being like a
fifteen to twenty million dollar player. It's the threes. Like if you if
you shoot five threes a game and shoot thirty four percent, you're getting twenty
million next year. Like I don't know, maybe not twenty million, but
you're gonna get a lot more than then. I mean, no, you're
not wrong, And especially with the progress he showed defensively, being able to
trust him defensively more in that four role than the five roles. Almost impressive
when you look at just his size and the way that he's built. So
yeah, if he shot, if he takes one hundred and fifty threes this
year and it's been like a thirty four percent cliff, you're abolutely right,
he would get paid to syllable paid. Yeah yeah, yeah, Like he
won't get twenty million. But what I like what I like, Mobama didn't
get much this year, but he got he got like two years, twenty
million, twenty two million, twenty one million, I think, right,
so he got like eleven million years slightly above like mid level money, but
just like right around mid level. Like I think if he with Jackson he's
a free agency right now, he wouldn't sniff mid level money. Like I
don't think any team is like coming like, hey, we'll offer you four
years forty five million, like Nolan's doing that right when not when they can
get Andre Drummond and like Dwight Howard to do all the dirty work for like
two and a half million dollars at the league minimum, And so so for
Jackson Hayes to like reach like those those dollar amounts even to like get the
Maxi Cleber money, Like he's how do you separate yourself outside of being an
athlete? And I think it's it's shooting. You've sort of already answered this,
but I think it's harder, especially because neither one of them is starting.
Is there room for DeVante Graham and Jose Alvarado in the same rotation nightly
or like you said before, do you think it's gonna be more matchup dependent
or maybe more It might even seem more just contingent upon how is DeVante Graham
playing. Because when you're looking at the way the bench is set up,
you can stagger your stars, and you showed his Sapelicans they will. But
he's like more of the traditional come off the bench and if you want someone
to create, he would make more sense in that role. But he had
such a down year last season. So is this something that's gonna be a
matchup dependent or are they both going to factor into the rotation each night it
just so they don't have a log jam. But just because both of them
are coming off the bench, it's just a little weird to me. Yeah,
I mean, I think they'll probably try to play him together initially.
If it's a disaster, they'll move on. If it's like Willie Green definitely
rides the hot hand a little bit, and so sometimes he can be very
like results oriented, and so if if Jose is just being a particular pest
that night, which he always is, maybe Jose, we'll we'll get more
minutes and they'll try someone else. But I think it's gonna be one of
those things where if DeVante's hot. He's like he's playing like as long as
he's hot, they're gonna they're gonna ride that wave and and they'll give him
enough opportunities to fail it. I don't think it's gonna be like like a
quick cook with him Willie. Willie has a really good relationship with his vets
to a fault at times. Garrett Temple, Yeah, yeah, parts of
Garrett Devil averging twenty two minutes per game by by mid December. So I
think a lot Kyra Lewis junior exists. So let's make that clear come back
from the ACL injury. Does he like he hasn't been cleared for five on
five yet. I don't think they've talked a lot about his speed. But
what is like, how do you even is there even a scenario in which
you can juggle his development with this roster? Now, I guess there's a
lot of G League he could play, And now it doesn't seem like an
issue because it's very out of sight, out of mind. But like,
this kid was supposed to be good. He's a former lottery pick, he's
super fast with the ball. What are you envision happening with him? Both
short term and long term once he is fully healthy. Man, I feel
so bad for Kia. You know, I think he was like really hitting
the stride before he got hurt. He is someone that possessed I don't I
don't know what he looks like post injury, you know, but he is
someone that possesses an outlier traite, which is his speed. You know,
his his zero to sixty is is insane, and especially in the full court.
But I think where the league is trending hurts him. The league is
trending away from small guards, and he is a small guard and especially small
guards who cannot shoot. And so I think the jury's out on if he
can or can't shoot, because there just isn't the sample size on that with
him. But that's going to be something that you know, takes him from
being a third string backup to like a solid backup or it's not starter.
I think is his is his shooting ability, and so I think he you
know, there is like a world where he turns into like a Dennis Schroeder
type offensive player where his shot isn't there, but he can still be impactful.
But as you can see with Schroeder, there's like a limit to how
far you can go with that archetype of player. And and and I certainly
think from like a locker room standpoints and a mental standpoint, he's like in
a much better space than than where Schroeder is. And I would argue he's
a he has a better court vision too, but just there's a limit to
what that archetype can accomplish. And so I think I think for him,
his future really hinges upon on how well he's going to be able to shoot.
And sometimes that doesn't necessarily mean from three. If he can get like
a good mid range too, like that that'll be helpful because I think some
with like with John wall a lot of his best years came when he had
like really good years from the mid range. And and when you have like
like I was saying with Zion earlier, when you have this like otherworldly ability
to get to the rim, you just need small stuff that makes it easier
for you. You don't need the whole like you don't need a dribble dribble
step back three every single time, like James Harden. You just need small
stuff and get good at the small stuff, like Chris Paul at his age,
like part of the reason he's so successful is because he is like the
league's best mid range shooter, and he has been for the last fifteen years.
And but he wasn't that when he got into the league. That wasn't
his game, you know, And and he slowly developed it over time.
And and I hope, you know, Kira developed some somewhat of either a
mid range game or something from three, something off the dribble where you can
consistently get to that opens up his his driving lanes and and you know,
that's that's my hope for him. But yeah, dude, I don't know
where they're going to fit him in this season. That's definitely not an open
spot at the moment, especially because if they think Dyson's gonna side into some
of those guard minutes too. Yeah. I mean, I'll ask you about
the ten man rotation a second, but building that is hilaciously difficult. But
so this setup is more for the listeners benefit. And might not know this
because I'm sure you've sided these exact stats, but after the Pelicans are three
and sixteen, they end up being fourteenth in points out for possession outside garbage
time. They had the best or second best transition defense in the league.
At that point, they forced turnovers, dominated the glass. Are they still
built to have that defensive identity? And how good can this team when you
look at the sum of its parts, actually be defensively this year? Well,
it can Herb Jones guard everybody? Yes? No, maybe, who
knows. On the bright side, when they play Chris Paul Hosley Alvarado was
totally like, he'll be able to handle that. Yeah. I mean,
look, I think I'm them a little more optimistic on them defensively than most
people because of two reasons. One, I think they will I think they
will capitalize on the low hanging fruit a little bit. So what I mean
by that is, I think they will be one of the best defensive rebinding
teams in the league. They have been with or without Zion, and I
think it they will be with with Zion as well. So there's step number
one. If you're a good defensive rebuding team, not allowing these second chance
points is will will help them on their defensive assions. I think because they're
such they're gonna be an offensive rebounding superpower. They were last year, they
were the year before, and again adding Zion to that. Who is the
best owned rebounder in the league, perhaps as the best second jump in the
league, Like they are going to be an offensive fourth jump somehow his second
jump, right, So, so I think that they are going to be
an offensive rebounding superpower which is going to impact opposing teams transition games. And
they were one of the better transition defensive in the league last year. I
totally cannot remember the stat off the top of my head, but I could
have sworn they were top ten in transition defense last year at least, you
know, past that that date when Herb Jones became a starter, they were
according to Quen the last they were one or two depending on the category he's
after that three and sixteen start, so that exactly comfortably top ten. Yeah.
Yeah, So so they were one of the best transition defensive teams.
And I think a lot of that does have to do with with how but
they are on the offensive class. But a lot of that is is that
like the defensive discipline that Willie Agreements instilled, whatever whatever he said to them,
whatever rules he's put in place in terms of who's supposed to leak out
and get back, you know, when when the shots above the break or
whatever it is, like whatever rules he's put in works for them, and
I don't see that slipping. And the second thing is like, if Zion
is going to give us any semblance of effort that he gave like last night
in a preseason game like that alleviates a lot more of my concerns because that
was the thing when Brandon Ingham going into last year. It's like, which
Brandon Ingram. Are we getting the one that the Lakers fans like like loved
and talked about, like this guy, like you know, is someone that's
gonna be like a problem defensively, or we get the one that we got
with the Pelicans, which just was disinterested in playing defense. And it was
similar to what happened to Zion last night. The first preseason game of last
year. Brandon Ingham came out and had like four deflections like right at the
gate and like a block or something, and we're like, Oh, he's
realizing this guy he's a seven three wings fan. He just has to put
his arms out for the most part, and he's gonna like create problems in
the passing lanes. And so I don't think Brandon Ingram was like an elite
defender or anything. Last year. But I think he was good enough,
like he put in an enough effort to where like him being as big as
he is and in the length that he has allowed the Pelicans to be okay
defensively, like they didn't hurt while he was on the floor. And I
think if we can get the same kind of effort and with Zion, there's
gonna be less issues because I do think the bench is gonna be a lot
better defensively, especially then they started incorporating Larry Trey, even Jackson and Jose,
Like you know, once once those guys start playing, like I think
the Pelicans bench units are, I hope they're gonna just demolish opposing benches,
like just just like off their defense, Like my goal for them is to
generate a ton of events like steals and blocks and then just play fast in
the open court and try to play the least amount of half court is possible.
And I think they had the person all to do that. Do you
figure see on their offense could skyrocket just because if they're really going to enforce
like those take fouls this year, like you're gonna get a lot of opportunities
and free throws with the amount of time they're in transition. And I think
you were one of the people that mentioned this. If you're a team that's
gonna generate steals and the Pelicans were, I think they were seventh last year
and steals per one andred, that's gonna benefit your offense now too, with
the way that the officiating is supposed to change, and so there could I
mean, like, now you're adding Tyson Daniels to a team that already had
herm groans in there like in brand everywhere, Like that's not fair. Yeah,
man, I'm I'm excited for them to hopefully put it all that together.
Are there any underrated or under talked about strengths or weaknesses of this team
and during the regular season, that's a good question. I think one thing
that isn't going that doesn't hasn't gotten much attention is this is going to be
a team that lives at the free throw line. Uh and and that's going
to be in large part due to Zion, but it's also going to be
in large part due to the fact that they score like ten million points in
the paint, like like they just live in the paint. This is not
a team that takes a high volume of threes, though I wish they would
at times, especially when they're losing games. That's that's a I wonder if
that's the philosophical chains will make this this year is attempt more threes. But
because of the force they play with, they're they're going to be a team
that just lives at the free throw line. And I think we're going to
see a lot of instances where Zion just like puts them in the bonus,
like very early, and you have guys like seconds left in the first quarter
and they're just in the book, right, And then you have guys like
Jonas and Bi and and and even CJ wh who benefit from that when the
shift comes in. And so I think that was something they were really good
at to like understanding Dundee and it was because of Zion, And I think
that's something that's going to happen again this year. Are there any like specific
weaknesses that are standing out more than most that you're you're watching for as the
season begins. Yeah, I think I think just I touched on a little
bit. I think there's still a questionable shooting team at best. They don't
rely on three point shooting, and I think you just need to introduce enough
volume to where when some of these games get out of hand, it becomes
a math problem. And you can't win games when the opponent has made eighteen
threes and you've made nine and and and that's because you've taken twenty and they've
taken forty. And it's like, okay, well nine out of twenty,
it's a great percentage, that's forty five percent. But like you've only made
nine and and and when you're continually at at a deficit from three, it
becomes an uphill battle. I mean, I think they're going to be one
of the most offensively potent teams in terms of points per possession, just because
of their offensive rebinding points in the pay. But there are games where that
require you to take threes, that require to take more threes than you're probably
comfortable with. I would like to see brandon Ingram get back to six or
seven attempts a game. I want to see c J around nine or ten
I do, I mean, especially if he's playing with Zion. I want
I want like eight of those to be like catch and shoot, you know,
I would love to see trade like pushing ten attempts. Obviously, he's
coming off the bench. It's probably not gonna get ten, but I would
love that, you know, if trade can get ten attempts, like you
want your best shooters taken that DeVante, I'm fine taking six or seven attempts,
like he's gonna be your X factor, Like maybe he gets six bricks,
but there's gonna be some nights where he hits five of those. And
so I just want them to embrace the variants that comes with three point shooting,
especially when they need it in some games. And then and then I
think again, like you said, it's gonna be a question, I'm curious
to see what happens when teams space them out and start isolating some of their
weaker defenders. I'm curious to see what happens. There isn't a ton of
traditional rim protection on this team. A lot of their rim production is predicated
on perimeter defense and preventing grim looks, which they didn't do a fantastic job
of last year. I think if you look at their defensive shot profile,
like they were not great when it came to rim and three looks given up.
But they got better obviously as as Herb Jones started, they got better
across as the year went on, but they weren't fantastic. And that's an
area where it's like I would like them to prioritize limiting three point looks and
limiting looks at the rim, and I don't care about like if you're giving
up higher percentage looks in order to accomplished that, it's a volume game for
me, and I would like to limit the volume of high percentage looks or
efficient looks as possible. Looking at their ten man rotation, it does feel
like they're deep, but it feels like they are just nine locks when you
have CJ Bi Herb Zion, Jonis, Trey Murphy, Jose Alvarado, Devonte
Graham, Larry Nance. So would you agree that all those players are locks?
And then who would you give as of right now if you had to
pick that like tent and final spot too. If I was in charge,
it would go to Dyson, but I'm not in charge, and I suspect
it will go to Jackson Hayes, And I think it's that's Oh my god.
Please know somehow they're gonna dig up like Tony Snell or Gary Clark,
and they're gonna get these minutes where's Trey Murphy. I don't know where here's
Tony Snell. It's like, oh my gosh, but yeah, I think
it's gonna be Jackson Hayes. And and I'm not upset at that by any
means. I think. I think, uh, I think he's earned the
opportunity to showcase what he has, and he's earned the opportunity to prove them
wrong, right right, Like given minutes, allow him to fail, and
if he's not good, cool, then you have options. But yeah,
you know, it puts Dyson in an odd situation. He's in love of
man. It puts your old basket MVP Billy Hernan Gomez in in a weird
situation. And that man is efficient. That guy is really effective. Every
time he gets minute, He's like a permanent monster. And it's like,
yeah, I wish, I wish they had the space to give him a
bigger role. I mean, he's a limited player. He is what he
is, but you know, really fun guy. This is to some extent
matchup dependent. But I also think it's a fascinating question for this team.
What would be your go to crunch time line up here? And if it's
just the starting five, where do you see the biggest potential for them to
futs and fiddle. Man, that's a great question my go to closing lineup.
And this will never happen because it's Willie Green. And I say this
because like I don't want people to like assume I don't like WILLI I love
Willie Green, but I know how he thinks. So they pick this year,
I'm just born. Yeah, I know. Yeah, I think he's
been exactly what this team needed. And I'd like wonder, like what would
have happened if they hired Willie Green like a year before instead of Staymon Gundy,
Like where would this team be? But in any case, this will
never happen. But I my opinion, it should be something like Zion and
Brandon and they're definitely there, herb Jones definitely there. So you have three
locks in my opinion, So the other two fluctuate. I would like it
to be CJ. McCollum and Trey Murphy. Just lean all the way in
on offense, Like just just lean all the way in. You're spacing them
out, like the only like like non shooter is Zion. I mean,
I guess hers like a non shooter. But at that point you're space out.
He has enough lanes to attack with. You could use him as a
screener and like teams are gonna be screwed and and yeah, just like lean
lead all the way in and like forced teams to keep up with the offensively.
And I think there'd be enough switchability on that to like, you know,
like all right, maybe they're not giving up one hundred and twenty points
for a hundred possessions on defense. That would be my preferred lineup. I
think what's probably gonna happen is instead of Trey, they go with Larry to
close those minutes and maybe a little bit less offense, but like I guess
more of betterancity. I mean, you probably maybe even at this point,
get more like bankable rim projection from Trey Murphy than Larry Nannswer's like very much
a perimeter big at this point, so I understand. Yeah, I mean,
I don't mind Larry. I'm excited for some of the small ball looks.
I'm just a big Tray Murphy guy. I want I want the team's
best shooter who was also an enormous wing to be out there with Zion when
the game really matters, Like I would love that. Uh, you know,
I also I also think there's an argument to be made for for Yonas.
And you know, there's all of this hullablu, like teams go small,
like they you know, like these like Yonas side Biggs can't close out
games. But really, how many teams are going that small? Like obviously
against the Clippers and the Warriors, you have questions, but like who else?
Who else is like really pushing you to the point where you're like,
you can't play one of the most offensively talented to Biggs, And I think
Yonis is like where teams aren't singling you out as much an attacking exactly.
And I think Jonas is actually underrated defensively. He's had positive defensive impact across
three different teams now for the last few years. And he also provides one
of the most important things in defense, which is terminating a possession via the
rebound. He's one of the league's best rebounders. And historically the pale small
ball units have struggled on the defensive glass. And I can't imagine certainly the
lineup I pitched struggling on the defensive glass. No, there's no like one
like tremendous remounder. In that lineup, there's like decent months, but like
none of none of them really stand out. So I think Yonis should get
opportunities to close games, especially where he's like cooking. And there was like
there's been games in the past, like the Clippers trying to space him outs
and he just like brutalized them, like Willie stuck with him and in the
closing closing lineup and he just was like yep, I'm going in. I
mean I think it was one of those games where like he hits seven threes.
Uh, he hits seven threes and they chow us the right out ride
it out with him, and he wasn't shooting threes in the fourth when they
were closing out, but he was like he was making their small look small,
like he was just like cool, like there's an easy like you know,
they space around around Yonis, they like early post up pitching him in
there and he's just like dropping it in or getting fouled. And I think
Yonis is very, very good and people don't realize that, yeah, he's
able to punish even people that are properly sized, let alone that yes,
yes, what is and you probably don't have a hope for you're a weird
old bonkers lineup being rolled out by Willie Green. But if you're Willie Green,
what is the quirky out there of left field lineup that you that you
want to try this season? Oh? You know what? Okay, so
the lineup I'd pitched for the closing lineup, but you sub c j out
and put Larry in there, so it's all wings. So it's it's it's
Trey Herb, Zion, Brandon and Larry just the six six six seven lineup.
And then you're like, okay, maybe you have enough rebounding here,
but see what happens then you switch everything. That would be wildly interesting.
I wonder what the offense would look like in that scenario. Mine was Zion
plus the kids. Basically I want to see and I guess Zion's a kid
himself. Give me Zion with Dyson, Trey Herb, Jones and then he's
not a kid. But just I'm gonna throw Jose Alvarado in there. Yeah
what that does the street? But Zion plus all these dudes are gonna you
know, whoop ass defensively and let's just see yeah yeah, and just just
create chaos. Just one of the best units two years ago was was when
they would have Kira, Nikkiel, josh Hart, Zion and Jackson, and
it was essentially that Zion plus the kids, and and you look at those
lineups, like none of those are individually good players except like except for Zion,
and then like obviously like josh Hart is like a pretty solid player.
But those units would demolish other units. It was there was like they had
like a plus twelve or thirteen net rating, and it was because is defensively
like they were solid. They would just fly around as a bunch of athletes
and they would generate events. And then offensively, either they were playing in
transition the whole time or it's just like Zion's got the ball and you can't
do anything about it because these players like maybe they can't shoot, but they're
like all cut so fast, like there was enough like movement off ball to
where like Zion's doing whatever he wants. Yeah, I would love to see
it. I would be shocked. I mean maybe if like it was a
garbage time situation, I guess by age it'd be Jose Alvarado plus the kids.
So if we need to coin it, that lineup as we record this,
and I'm a little bit shocked it didn't move after their first preseason game.
They're over under a set at forty three point five, or you're smashing
the over the under on that and wherever and where. I'm with you,
But I've been hitting so many overs on these podcasts. I need to go
back and look at I have every team win going like fifty and thirty two.
Apparently, where do you see them standing relative to the West of the
rest of the West? Dude? I made a Bowl prediction on our pod
in the note Mason, I said three seed, and that's I had him
as as a home court team. I leaned all the way into it.
Now, I think if you scale it back on like a real sense,
uh Like, while I think it's attainable, I think that's like they're like
absolute feeling more so than than the most most likely scenario. I believe it.
I think they're gonna hit it. But yeah, I mean I think
you look at the West oddly enough, I feel, you know, the
teams that are really solid in the West right now, Golden State, I
think Denver, especially getting jamal An Mpja back. That's forty eight games without
those two, and I think people are just however you feel about them.
In the playoffs, that team won forty eight games with a much shallower and
worse supporting cast than Yoka Chaz Right now, that's gonna be a machine of
a team. And then after that though, you know why I had him
at the three seed is because I don't believe in the Suns. I think
they're mentally bankrupt at this point, and I think they're just an implosion waiting
to happen. I think they're gonna be a solid team. I think they're
be a good team, but I just don't think they're gonna have this year.
Uh and who's who knows what's gonna happen with Jay Crowd. We'll see,
We'll see about that. I don't believe obviously. I don't believe in
the Lakers. Give us, I mean you can't. That's such a best
shot at getting Wemby and New Orleans. Yeah, give me Wemmy, give
me School, give me any of those players. The Clippers. The Clippers
are going to be a problem if if Kawai and Paul George stay healthy.
So like, I think I'll grant the Clippers they're due but again it's that's
on paper, right, Like on paper, I don't believe in the Mavericks
this year. I think Brunson was a huge part of what. Hey,
there's just they're gonna be so good, But there's an like the degree to
which they're dependent on Luca now, and I know that they have other options.
I know Christian Wood is good. I know it doesn't work this way.
I don't think he's good. I don't believe it Christian would. There's
something objectively funny though, regardless that they lost Jalen Brunson a guard and they
picked up two bigs this offseason, like didn't even try and like fill that.
Yeah, it's like you you watch the success you had against the Jazz
and the Suns, and you signed Jevelle McGee to be your starter. Like
that was your answer. Yeah, I just so there's something funny about that.
I don't trust the Grizzlies either, but this is my fourth year not
trusting the don't trust them because of one Jaren Jackson being hurt. But I
also think, like Melton and SloMo, we're important players for regular season.
Yeah, definitely the regular season, like just generating wins, Like I think
It's cool, very cool that they are actively clearing minutes for their younger players,
something I think more teams would commit to because that was what raises your
ceiling eventually. But I think that's going to hurt them. I don't think
they're gonna be the fifty five win team that they were, especially if if
Job plays all these games and it's not fucking Tis Jones starting, Jones is
starting probably over. Yeah, I feel like they've leaned, just not too
far. Like you said, it's animal, they did it, but it
feels like they leaned into their development at the cost of wins. But this
is where we cut two zay hear Williams making the Desmond Vane jump and everything
being I think you have to like if you're a market like Memphis, market
like New Orleans, like, yeah, I mean it's cool, you get
you can you can resign SloMo for for another couple of years, or or
you can figure out who you have with Jake la Ravia or you know,
David rod I'm so intrigued by David Roddy. I have no idea who the
fuck he's supposed to be as a player. Yeah, I think that's gonna
be fun. So I'm excited to see, you know, for those players
to get opportunities in a winning environment. I think that's that's a good way
to handle it for them. But like I said, I don't believe in
them for the regular season for that reason. I think they'd a good team.
They'll make the playoffs, just not what they were last year. So
who who do we have? We have? You have the Warriors and the
Nuggets and the Clippers. I think you said is the teams? Yeah,
and so like this is this is the tier of teams after the Clippers.
And I think even when the Clippers, I would argue, is is where
I'd slide the Pelicans in, Like Okay, Like I think they can hang
with any of those teams. Oh, Minnesota, I think Minnesota's gonna be
good. I'm a big Minnesota believer. I'm a I'm a big Minnis to
believe in the regular season, and I think the concerns regular season are founded,
but like overrated a little bit. But that's where you start to run
into proms. I went on Mad Boosts a quick segment. You can check
it out at NBA dot com. I think it's where it's hosted, and
I predicted the Pelicans, we're gonna get the four seed. I like at
them as my five seed, but there are like they're just like between Minnesota
Golden State. I think Phoenix is going to be a regular season machine.
Again, do you think so? I'm concerned about their bench, But just
like DeAndre Ayton is gonna be better, Cam Johnson is as a starter,
that offense is going to be potent as hell. I think this is the
year that maybe based off what they were trying in the preseason, can they
get more half court rim pressure from Michael Bridges. If Chris Paul you know,
gets old all of a sudden, and there's the potential to clod But
I think that they're gonna be a regular season machine. But there are six
teams in the West just and Memphis would make it seven. The way it's
it's so fucking hard this year. I don't know. If you don't believe
in the Blazers, Uh, prove me wrong, like I think the way
you believe in the Blazers, No I don't. I don't they have to
prove me wrong. I like I think Dame has always obviously dragged a bunch
of teams to the playoffs before, but this ain't the same West, and
I have them as like a playing team, and I think that I really
do think Memphis is going to be a playing team this year. Dallas I
think is gonna be a playing team, but like after that, and I
don't really I mean, the Kings will fight for the plane. I don't
really care about the Lakers and until or unless they make a trade, I
just can't believe in that. I just why would you? I just it's
not Darvin Dam's fault, it's just why why would you? So I don't
know Lonny Walker is going to change everything for them? But yeah, is
there anything else about this team that I did not ask you about that you
think needs to be discussed? Man, I think you did a really good
job of covering it, and I can't think of something else. Let me
let me see who is there. You are higher on them than I am,
which I think is like very important to know it because yeah, but
I'm supposed to be right, I'm I'm the Homer, so I can do
this well. I think people think that I'm just bat shit out of my
mind with how high I am on the Pelicans. It was good to see
someone who like didn't even let me finish, just smash the over. That's
one of my like best bets if you I don't bet, but that would
be one of my best bet forty three point five. I just feel like,
how is this not a forty six, forty seven, forty eight win
team unless you think Zion just not gonna play again this year. That's the
thing is like there's no other team that's adding I guess you could say the
Clippers technically with Kauai, but like a top fifteen, top ten level player,
there's there's no other team that's adding that talent that was a playoff team
last year. And we'll also care about that, I guess maybe, and
we'll also care about the regular season. The Clippers are just very much I
think they'll don't win a bunch of games. But what gives me pause about
their regular season over under is they don't give a fuck about the regular season,
Like they just just care. Yeah, I was built for the playoffs.
That man is that. I respect everything he does. They also have
like fourteen players that should be getting minutes too. That roster is deep,
and so that just makes me think that they might ter'bly a lot of maintenance
there. But Schmidt, thank you so much for coming on. I really
enjoy these discuss every year. You're giving me a bunch of your time,
which I'm very appreciative of. In case anybody skip the intro, you're able
to tell our listeners where they can find you and all the fantastic work that
you're doing. Yeah, you can find me at Fear the Brown, which
is my Twitter account, and you can find my work at boot Curmedia.
Will do YouTube videos, podcasts, all the above. Make sure to check
out that YouTube channel which is boot cre Media. Thank you so much again,
And as you know by now, I will be spamming your dms in
the future of course, of course, anytime