Speaker 1: What is up Fellasiko's I'm Dampa Valley coming at you
with another twenty twenty five twenty twenty six NBA season
look ahead. We're on to the New Orleans Pelicans, which
means I am joined by Schmidt Dua of the In
the Know substack the In the Know podcast. The links
to both of those things can be found in our
podcast and YouTube description of this episode. Follow him on
the social machines at Fear the Brown spelled exactly as
it sounds. Schmidt, How the heck are you doing? Thanks
so much for coming back, Dan.
Speaker 2: I'm doing well. I love that this has become an
annual tradition and I genuine look forward it forward to
it before the season starts. But I'm doing well. How
are you? Uh?
Speaker 1: I'm doing well. I am gonna say I'm a little
I don't know if it's sick and tired or just
exhausted from I feel like each season we enter this
with the Pelicans as being one of the most confusing
teams or toughest teams to pin down, both in terms
of their short term priorities and direction and potential, and
then also big picture stuff. It's gonna be another one
of them. For me, at least, it's just gonna be
another one of those seasons. And so I have to
start by asking you, what do you just make of
their direction following everything that happened this offseason.
Speaker 2: I think, if we're being truthful, there is no real
direction here. I mean that genuinely, because on one front,
they have a very public and vocal commitment to Zion Williamson,
and when you do that, you have to try to
be a good team, and you have to try to
win because that player is very good despite everything else
that comes with Zion. On another hand, they are investing
heavily in young players and rookies that they very much
like and are excited to have in their building. And
so you know, we just saw the Warriors try this
two timeline sort of thing and it didn't work out
well for them, and I don't anticipate it really working
out for the Pelicans in that I don't think they
can thread the needle of being competitive and developing the
young players. I think they have to pick a direction.
What I do think is that if they reach a
point where they're like, we have to move Zion Williamson,
and then we're just gonna lean into the youth movement.
That's not something they're gonna be.
Speaker 1: Upset about, which I guess is fine. But when you
trade for Derek Queen by giving up an unprotected pick
in twenty twenty six, that complicates the whole like, oh,
we're gonna go lean into a longer term approach, and
you had a fantastic piece in the on the end
of no substack about like all the events surrounding that trade.
We're two much removed from this situation. Now, have your
thoughts or intel on that changed at all?
Speaker 2: No, I wish I wish my thoughts had changed. I
wish the intel has changed. You know, it's it was
a very tough situation in the draft in that I
think they made a poor trade. I think they didn't
properly assess the risk associated with that trade. However, you know,
their belief is is that they did the homework with
regards to Queen extensively. Troy Weaver spent a lot of
time while he was in Washington watching Queen. While he
was in Maryland, Troy Weaver's son was a graduate assistant
on that staff. So they have a very good idea
in their opinion of what kind of player Queen is,
and they're betting on that upside, and they believe that
they got a top five player in this draft and
he would be a top five player in the next draft.
So they're just taking out in advance and getting this
player and now. And so obviously I think the majority
of the basketball world doesn't agree with the expenditure to
go get Queen, you know, with regards to that unprotected
first round pick the following year, which is the best
of New Orleans and Milwaukee, so there's there's two futures
kind of tied to that pick. And and frankly, I
don't think the team anticipated there to be such a
big back with regards to their trade. I think they
thought that this would be a fairly standard trade and
you know, there'd be people that have opinions on both
sides of it, but you know, that's how trades work.
But I think the basketball universe kind of collectively coming
together and reacting in a way that was so strong
it was like, oh my gosh, like what is going on.
I think that caught them off guard, and you know,
so they're gonna have to deal with the consequences of
that this coming year, whether you know, if they're trying
to be a good team, hopefully they make the playoffs,
and that's not a good pick they're giving up. But
if they're not a good team, then hey, that's that's
the route they chose.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we hammered them on this podcast like everybody else.
And I'm not even trying to relitigate just so much
as I'm still trying to wrap my head around, like
what would need to happen with Derek Queen for this
trade to be worth it? Because it could be the
Luka doncch trade, Like the Mavericks could have won the
championship this season after making that trade, and they still
would have lost the trade, because why not yet a
bigger haul or why is this the asset you gave up?
And I know they liked Jeremiah Fears, but I kind
of landed if you thought Derek Queen was the top
five player and he was available when you had another
high draft pick, why not use it on him? And
so I just like, how good would Derek Queen need
to be out? And that he's dealing with the wrist
injury too, so like that's going to be another variable
in this. But I don't even know how good that
he could be right out of the gate for people's
I guess the team itself could just be better than expected.
And if you wind up giving the seventeenth pick or something,
is a lot different than we just sent like the
ninth pickout.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I want to be very clear. People should
get used to separating the outcome from the process with
regards to this trade, Like I think Derek Queen could
become an MVP, and I would still say the process
of what they did was wrong because they could have
reached the same pick. They could have drafted Derek Queen
for a much cheaper price. All they had to do
was put protections on it, or you know, try to
introduce a different pick, or just do any kind of
thing that protected them on the backside. Because I think
if you were to take this exact pick that they
traded and you were to shop at around the league,
and you'd be like, all right, we're trying to trade
this pick, the value that they could have gotten back
would have been greater than the right to jump from
twenty one to thirteen, which is what they did. So
with regards to that, it's like, yes, it was an overpay,
you know, It's like going to a sandwich shop and
you spend one hundred dollars on a sandwich and you're like, man,
this actually was an amazing sandwich, But it's like, why
do you spend one hundred dollars on that sandwich? Right?
Golda got it for six. But what I think is
that there is a world. At the same time, it's
not fair to judge Derek Qlean by this trade, either
because I think a lot of people are going to
place a lot of expectations on him, or just tie
like the management's decision making to his career, which I
think are two separate things. Again, he can become an MVP,
he can become an All Star, he can become a
really good player in general. And you know, like at thirteen,
if the Pelicans just had the thirteenth pick and they
selected Queen, I think that's a perfectly fine selection. I
don't think that's a reach. I think, you know, if
they hadn't arrived at thirteen the way they did, no
one would be talking about this, right And so yeah,
so I don't think you know his career or his
like I guess next season or next couple of seasons
really change how this trade is going to be viewed.
But I do think there's gonna be some like bad
faith actors who like, if Queen has a strong career
to start or he has a really bad career to start,
they're gonna like talk about the trade in a certain light.
And I just don't think I just don't think those
two things are particularly relevant given all the information that
was available at draft time.
Speaker 1: No, we need to do a better job. Everybody are
just attaching. It's the same thing with contracts, where if
there's a good player but they sign a contract that
you don't deem a good value or that they're overpaid,
and people all of a sudden can't admit that they're
still like a valuable player. That's just a paid for sure.
So moving aside from the actual trade and then also
now with this risk injury, he's dealing with what are
like sort of your early impressions of Derek Queen.
Speaker 2: I was a big fan watching him throughout the season
in college. He was just one of those players who
every time he stepped out on the court, it's like,
oh my god, he's doing something incredibly fun at his
size that a lot of players just typically don't do.
He also just produced in terms of like points, rebounds,
like assists, and he had a really good impact on
that Maryland team. And obviously you know he hit that
game winner. Hold on, am I blanking who it was against?
But anyways, he came up big in moments that mattered
against that team, and he was a very fun watch. However,
he he comes with a lot of we're gonna frame
it as improvement areas because we don't know what is
ultimately going to look like. But a big improven area
for him is conditioning, and the conditioning allowing him to
run that motor hotter than it's a bit in terms
of getting back in transition or simply getting down in
the stance and guarding someone or making a rotation, you know,
going after making making multiple contests on a single defensive action,
things things of that nature. I think he's gets really
excited and really involved when the players are going through
him on the offensive end. And you you kind of
see that a lot with the young players, like okay, like
they have the ball, they feel engaged, they're doing things.
But in the NBA, the system is not going to
be built or built around that player, and so it's
going to be imperative for him to find ways to
contribute and contribute with a ton of effort when in
Italy the ball is going through Zion Williamson or Jordan
Poole or Trey Murphy or whoever right, or even Jeremiah Fears,
who is his rookie classmate.
Speaker 1: The my impressions of him are just based entirely off
Summer League, and I go entirely off vibes during so
I don't care about the efficiency, I buind large, don't
care about the turnovers. I'm excited about the stuff that
as just a big man with his size that it
looks like he can do with a live driple, even
if there's room for the handle improvement, even if there's
room for the processing speed on his passes, I think
that he's gonna end up being a really, really good
offensive player in the NBA. And if there's you know,
if he has if he's able to expand out to
the three point line consistently, that's going to make him
even more dangerous. I'm curious about the conditioning stuff, just
because I know everyone was not happy with the transition
defense or defense overall in Summer League, but as like
an actual player. I am super intrigued by him. I'm also, though,
just curious, like what do you make of his fit
with Zion Williamson. And it's not to say you already
mentioned the top that the Pelicans view Zion as the
entire future of the organization. Necessarily, I go back and
forth on like there feels like I don't want to
say redundancies, but problem areas, and then I go back
and look at all like the other bigs that Zion
has played alongside his career, and then part of me
is can't bring myself to care.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're spot on with that assessment that
I think Zion is so talented that he finds a
way to make it work and not just make it
work like Excel with any any kind of big And frankly,
I think we haven't really seen Zion with a true
stretch big, so we can't know that for sure what
that looks like. But I think Zion to this date
has been at his best when he's paired with a
big that can rebound the crap out of the ball,
like just someone that inhales rebounds. Because that is a
weakness for Zion, and that is a strength for Derek Queen.
He was one of the leading rebounders in all of
Summer League despite being out of shit. You know, I
think he averaged a double double in the short time
he had before his risk got injured. And it was
mind boggling watching him. You're like, oh my god, this
dude's like not moving on the court and you look
up and it's like, all right, he fell into fifteen
and thirteen. Like you know, it's like, so that that's
the level of talent that you're working with. So I
think offensively, it's going to be just fine. Zion has
had no issues with the spacing with regards to those bigs.
And what's Gonnaevi'll be happened is I think it's gonna
be it's gonna force other teams to play bigger and
it's gonna be tougher to guard Zion with smaller players
because when they run actions evolving those too, you're not
to switch it. And that's a lot of physicality that
you have to deal with because both players love, love,
love just banging around in the pain and it's not
from standstill positions like they're posting up. They like they're
driving and throwing their shoulders around, you know, and so
it's gonna be tough for a lot of teams to
deal with. And I don't think we're gonna see it
for thirty minutes tonight, but it'd be nice to kind
of introduce that early on and grow into it. If
Zion is your future, which I think is more of
a marketing scheme than anything else. If Zion is your future,
and those are guys you invest in heavily, then it
is like an organizational responsibility to play them together and
go through the trials and trivia of figuring out if
they work or not. Because ultimately, what you're doing is
these are bets on extreme right tail outcomes. The right
tail outcome that Zion is going to stay healthy and
produce at the level that he's capable of. The right
tail outcome that Derek Queen is a top five player
in both of these drafts, the right tail outcome that
Queen is I mean, sorry, Fears is someone that is
also a top five player, because that is a valuation
they had on him. And so it's like, cool, if
all of these ceilings hit, yeah, this could end up
being incredible, And now you're locked into a core that
is frightening the match up again, but it's the floor
is just as low like it is, if not lower,
the floor is just as low with this grouping.
Speaker 1: What I also find fascinating about this is because they're
at least incentivized. I won't even say internally, it just
seems again the trade, the read is that they think
they're going to be pretty good. What type of role
do you expect when he's healthy Derek Queen to have
on this team out of the gate during his rookie season,
knowing that there's at least a mode of of immediate
expectations in the building.
Speaker 2: Well, it's super tough because there is a whole Willy
Green factor that is going to come into play here. Green.
Speaker 1: You tell me Willy Green doesn't always want to play
his young players. Is that.
Speaker 2: Surprising, especially if they don't play defense, which is like, Look,
Green is in a tough situation heading into this season.
He is entering the final year of his contract.
Speaker 1: And didn't he just get an extension in twenty twenty
four too? So was it just like we tacked on
a year? I thought that was the reporting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they had some like option Well the extension, I
think the report came on in twenty four the extension
like happened like in the past before that report came out,
and it was just like, oh, by the way, he
got extended, But it was one of those things where
when they made the playoffs, they like triggered like additional
years and things of that nature. And so like, he
has one year left and there is another option actually
at the at the end of this year, so they
could technically pick up that option and have it two
years left. But to my knowledge, that option has not
been picked up, and so he's heading into the season
as a lame duck to my understanding, and I'll stand
by this reporting. He has been mandated by Gail Benson
to Joe Dumars that you have to keep him around
for now. For now is key because I can see
world where things don't start off great in the middle
of the season and Willie's gone. And so I think
Willy is probably aware at this point he's coaching for
his job. And if he's coaching for his job, is
he going to play the rookies? I don't know, because
coaching for your job could also mean listening to your
bosses and playing the rookies. Because they're telling you to
play the rookies. So he is in a very I
think he's in a no win situation because he has
the expectations of delivering wins and being a competitive team,
especially because they don't have their pick this year, and
he's been handed these two rookies that are not the
style of players that he typically enjoys playing, you know,
the rookie that he's given a lot of minutes to
at the Gator, like the Dyson Daniels and Herb Jones
of the world, where he's like, I'm gonna throw you
out there, and I know you're gonna be great defensively
and we'll figure out the rest where it's it's now.
These are two very, very very talented, offensively talented rookies
that you know. Typically Willie Green's approach on offense holistically
has been We're just gonna let our stars cook, and
that's not uncommon in the NBA. Likely that's a lot
of times that's what it boils down to. But he's
going to be tasked to bring more out of the
roster offensively, which I think has fallen short with regards
to the talent that's been on the team in years past,
and so yeah, if he can't deliver on that, I
can just see a you know, you're three weeks into
the season and the seats getting really really hot.
Speaker 1: Jeremiah Fears early impressions of him maybe extending beyond I mean,
like that dude just has a lot of on ball thrust.
Like that was clearly Evan and I come in with
very little priors on these guys, so seeing him in
I don't think it was like almost revelatory for me.
And they should hang a banner for him playing in
every summer league game. No other H Robbery pick did that, right,
So I was not a Jeremiah for Hears guy coming
out of the draft, But I think he's gonna end
up being fine as a finisher around the rim, and
some of the shots he can get off are incredible,
and just again, that odd ball speed is insane.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I think the theme with Fears and Queen
is that they've taken these talent plays on dudes who
aren't traditionally like in terms of like their size and
position and role successful NBA players like right now, like
they're not in like in vote, like like teams are
moving away from the small guard who can't really shoot.
Teams are moving away from that positionless big who doesn't
really play defense at either position, so like they want versatility,
they want size, they want mobility, and these two players
are very much bucking that trend of like, no, we're
gonna we believe that these players are going to be
so good that they're going to contribute it with fears.
I'm actually pretty optimistic with him. I think there are
two trades that are really inspiring to me, one of
which we didn't see too much in some league. But
the first trade is he gets to the free throw
line like a menace, and he shoots really, really well,
and I think that is a prerequisite if you want
to be a star in this league. But as a prerequisite,
if you're a small guard, you have to live at
the line. You have to find a way to score
points that inevitably doesn't involve you shooting a bunch of
touch shots over seven footers with insane wings fans. The
second thing is, which was more prevalent in college than
it is that it wasn't summer league, is that he
was extremely good in the floaters last mid range area,
and it was more so like seventeen feet in in
rather than like the long too, he would get two
feet in the paint. His drive threat would be so
potent that you know, he'd go defenses back pedaling. And
he was able to play in such a shifty manner
that he was able to get a good like eight
foot or nine foot or ten foot shot like in
the paint, and he converted on those at a relatively
high rate for how young he was. And so I
think those are two promising markers of the deep ball
eventually coming around. And if that comes around, he's going
to be a very very good player. If that doesn't
come around, it's gonna be tough. I think there's pathways
to being someone who stays in the league very long time.
You look at Dennis Schroeder, He's not a fantastic shooter
by any means, but you know, he gets to the rim,
he scores, teams are still giving him money. Shout out
kings Bro like good job. But you know, that's more
of the prototype you're looking for at that point. But
what's gonna happen is that that three ball I think
will eventually make or break his career. And look we
look at deer in Fox, I think Fox is a
bigger and a better athlete than Fears, but just in
terms of like they're now no presents. What really unlocked
Fox's career, in my opinion, was not him making threes,
but shooting a ton. And when you are on the
ball so much, you have to have like a little
bit of you go under. I'm just gonna pull the
trigger and you're gonna do it seven eight times a game,
because when you do that, you will have knights where
you hit five and you're just gonna be unguardable, like
for that game.
Speaker 1: What do you have any like kind of strong or
any impressions at all about what you think his ceiling
might be as a playmaker, or the ability to develop
some chemistry with with Zion, who again is best on
the ball. But like if you have someone like Jeremiah
for years, like I would assume the idea would be
a run some stuff with the two of them together.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that is Honestly, I think I have
more questions about that fit than the queen fit with Zion.
I've seen Zion make it work with bigs. With regards
to guards who can't shoot, they can, Zion is not
the most willing pick and role player as a roleman,
and he doesn't because he just doesn't view himself in
that role. And so I think, look, this is completely
me psycho analyzing, but it's not, uh, it's not reporting.
It is a complete guess. But I think if Zion
thinks he's better than the guard that he's playing with,
like that's not something he wants to do because Zion's like,
I'm the best guard, you know. But if he was
playing with like Steph Curry, you'd be like, yeah, cool,
like screens where you yeah, exactly. But so with Fears,
I think Fears is going to have to learn a
set screens. Number one, if you want to play with
Zion and you're small, you have to learn a set
screens because that is a favorable switch waiting to happen.
If there is a center that's on Zion and you
run an inverted pick and roll, and then now you've
got a mismatch on two ways with someone as small
as Fears, like then you can really like work a
two man game. But with regards to playmaking, I think
a lot of fears is playmaking is going to be
derived from his ability to penetrate and to score. So
if at the next level he is an automatic pain touch,
then he will be able to expand on his playmaking.
Do I think he's gonna be some genius level like playmaker. No,
But like, can he get to like six seven assists
a game just off of gravity and just driving kick stuff? Yeah,
I think so.
Speaker 1: Him. That's like the low hanging thrus if he kicks
out like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think I think he's actually a better
interior passer than than he is, you know, a pure
driving kick guy. And I think like he's actually pretty
underrated because he gets again, he gets two feet in
the paint, he'll go with like a little pump fake
or he has a lot of shiftiness in a way
that's like, you know, again, this is a terrible comp
because this guy's the MVP of the league. But like
you know, shake Gillis, Alexander has a very herky, jerky,
catch you off balanced style, and you see that trait
in a lot of again guys who live at the
free to aligne Fears has a hurky, jerky, I'm gonna
catch you off balance use. He has that change of
pace that a lot of like speedy young guards don't have.
So he utilizes that Ada gets the line with b
to make into your passes, and so if you were
a big man playing with him, he'll hit you on
those pocket passes or throw a lob to you because
of he'll get those two feet in the paint. That
defense will come at him and then they'll throw a
pump fake and get someone in the air and then
that's either free throws or an easy dish. You know
someone underneath and it's a dunk. So with that regard,
I can see it working with Zion. But the SHOT's
gonna have to come. I think that's that's that's really
what it comes down to. The SHOT's gonna have to come.
Speaker 1: The Trey Murphy hype train is soaring. I went back
and watched some stuff with him. Because we're like so
far removed from the season, I feel like I forget
about players that I thought I had a good feel for.
The drives popped, the ability to finish like at the rim,
like on looks that he created for himself sort of popped.
What popped for you the most from him last year
when he.
Speaker 2: Was healthy, The big thing, I think you kind of
touched upon it, But like I guess, holistically, it was
this idea of like, cool, there's no Degonte, there's no bi,
this is this is my team and with Zion of course,
and so and you know what's funny is Zion even
kind of I think there's a postgame press conference. He
was like, yeah, like me and Tray are the guys now,
and he embraced that additional responsibility and offensively he delivered
in a way that his efficiency didn't really dip, because
I think the concern with guys who typically take on
a greater offensive load, especially in non winning situations, is
that they're getting a bunch of filler or garbage volume
up and the efficiency is middling, and so it's like, yeah,
they might be scoring twenty something points a game, but
they're doing on like league average or worse true shooting.
And that never really happened with Tray. And I've talked
about this concept with Tray for a while. Is that
there's kind of this again, we talked about organizational responsibility,
but there is an organizational responsibilities when you have such
an efficient weapon on your team is to find the
threshold where that efficiency drops. And they just really haven't
pushed those boundaries yet, in my opinion, last year we
kind of got a taste of what that could look like.
But yeah, I think there's just so much growth still
left where it's like we haven't really hit the points
of Okay, he's taking too many shots and they're not good.
You know, I think it's just cool he's getting a shot, great, great,
love it.
Speaker 1: So what it's like the area of growth specifically that
like you're still kind of waiting to see if they so.
Is it just raw volume in general? Is it something
with his own shot creation, passing? What is it?
Speaker 2: To be honest, it's more help from the coaching staff.
It's it's drawing up because you know, it's a lot
of it's like he's had to create for himself and
and just read and react off of what's going on
in terms of flow. But they don't draw like you know,
you spend fifteen seconds watching Golden State and you're like, oh, yeah,
they just grew like seven threes for staph Or. Like
when Clay was on the team, it's like they had
these set plays that you can always you know, like
when they needed a three from Clay is what they
were going to do, and they that just doesn't exist
conceptually on the Pelicans. They have like one thing that
they do. They run this little ghost screen at the
top of the key, and you know, like Trey flairs
out and like maybe he gets maybe he gets it
from the ball handler, maybe he does it, but like
that is it. There's no creativity with regards to the offense.
So I don't think he's been fully weaponized in terms
of I just don't think the Pelicans offensively like work
in terms of pick your poison and so like I
would love for him to be truly put in a
position where the defense has to choose between you know,
some Zion Williamson action happening here or helping offer Trey
Murphy there or vice versa. And then that is when
I think you will see not only the Pelicans succeed
a lot, but like Trey, off course be a big
beneficiary because the number team's number priority's going to be
stop zigning every single time. That's gonna be stop the
guy that shoots sixty percent from the field.
Speaker 1: Have you become exhausted by the trade trade Murphy, the
Trey Murphy trade hypotheticals that it seems like he's been
identified as that next player that's not going to be moved,
but that everyone's going to cycle through the rumor mill
of the intel very much feels like it's just coming
from another team where it's like, yeah, they've made, they're
interested in so and so, they've made, they've requested. Like
I just find that he just seems like the next
player that that's going to be that other teams are circling,
that's just not going to be moved. And I feel
like Herb Jones might have been that player too at
one point.
Speaker 2: Everyone wants talented, multi positional wings, especially in Trey's case
that can shoot fifty forty ninety. Everybody wants those. And
I think just covering a team like New Orleans, you
just get used to, oh, yeah, New Orleans sucks, like
where can we send their best players? And so it's
part of the business. And I think for anybody that
listens to this, if a team wants to acquire Tray Murphy,
think Desmond Bayne type Hall if not more. He's younger.
The Pelicans view him as a pellar. Again publicly it's Zion,
but I tell you, internally very much urban tray Or
like the Foundational Pillars. So just putting that out there,
what would you.
Speaker 1: So I get what you were saying about the Zion stuff,
and it maybe be more of a marketing ploy. We've
seen what Joe Dumars has said, really building him up
and then talking about challenging him. What would you like?
What would you do with Zion if you were running
this team?
Speaker 2: Is that before the draft day trade or after this draft?
Speaker 1: They the Pelicans as they lay right now? What would
your beer approach to the ZIONI.
Speaker 2: Because my approach would have been just ripped the band
aid off prior to that and commit to being bad
this season. That would have been my approach. But now
that they've positioned themselves in such a way that they're
not going to have the liberty of falling into their
own pick this next coming year, I would say the
approach needs to be go very strongly in the other direction.
You have now made this enormous bet on Zion that
this guy is going to be healthy and good for
the majority of the season, enough to drag you into
a playoff consideration playing consideration. I think it's delusional to
think if they're going to be anything more than that,
but you should make the trades that make this team
projected to be more than just playoff consideration, just go
all in at this point, Like, I don't think.
Speaker 1: You wrote something where you made the case for them
to double down and trade for Walker Kessler, right, I
remember reading that that you did.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, yeah, and look it doesn't have to look
Kessler's not this exciting name, right My my transcendent though,
trans That's my big thing is like I'm not a
believer in the center position. The talent they have in
the center position on the Pelicans, I think it'll be
one of the worst center rotations in the league and
so solidifying the rebounder or rimprit Hector, which I think
if you look at the Pelicans projected starting lineups outside
the center positions, there is zero plus rebounders. You know,
and if if Fears is your future, like again, he's
a small guard, you want the guy that to parent
with that is gonna block everything and rebound everything. Like
that's just how to make it work with the small guard.
See Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler and you know, see
Darius Garland and what's going on in Cleveland. Like anytime
you have a small guard, that's just what you got
to do. But yeah, so Kesler was just like cool,
just you get you get him. He you know he's
extension eligible or I think he's gonna restrict a free
agent next year. Pay him. You have your your defense
pretty much set for the next five years or how
long you know. You give him that money for Zion
can absolutely work for him. You'd probably be the best
offensive reminding team in the league, and you probably would
with with Kessler and Herb, you'd probably be a top
ten defense like forever. And so that was my pitch
with Kessler. It doesn't have to be him, Just go
get somebody, some multiple somebodies. I think they're close. I
think they have like seven players by my account that
are can be positive NBA level contributors. If you can
bump that number up to nine, I feel a lot
better about this team, especially if there's some injuries down
the road. I think when they won forty eight a
couple of years ago, it was because they had a
ton of players who could just step in when someone
got hurt, so like Dyson could step into a starting role,
Note could step into a starting role, Larry was there,
and there's these defensive minded dudes who again competent NBA
players that you can trust be like, all right, they're
not the most exciting guys, but they're not gonna mess
things up and they're gonna play very, very hard. And
so I think that's just the Pelicans are not far
from being a team where I could I could see
myself be like, yeah, like this team could actually compete
for you know, the fifth or fourth seed, and you
could be very exciting, but they're not at that point yet.
Speaker 1: Through the lens of this coming season, I totally understand
or that I'm just wondering, if you gave Troy Weaver
and r Joe Dumar's truth serum, is the hope actually
that Zion Williamson is this long term tent poll for
them still or is it more about the hope of
just again because what they did investing in these youngsters,
is it Zion, We're gonna be good enough this year.
Zon'll be really good and he will have trade value
after that season so that we can lead into more
of a wholesale overhaul again. That's what I find fascinating
about this team is it just feels like there's warring agendas.
You can call it two timelines, but it feels like
warring agendas at play.
Speaker 2: No. I think if you gave him truth serum, I
think they would truthfully tell you that everybody's job is
easier if Zion is that guy. Everyone wants Zion to
be that guy. I mean, look, they from a business standpoint,
you're gonna you're gonna sell out this this stadium, You're
gonna get sponsorship deals, you're gonna get all that you know,
associated merchandising stuff. From a winning standpoint, when you have
a superstar, this roster construction so much easier. You don't
have to worry about, oh, how do I go get
the guy? You just have to worry about how do
I fit pieces around this guy? So yeah, I do
think that everybody would love Okay, from here out, Zion's
just a guy that plays seventy games, and he's a
top fifteen player in the league, and he's gonna make
All NBAS and he's gonna start All Star games. Everybody
would love that. Dude. Adam Silver would be like, oh,
I can get these guys back on the national television.
Speaker 1: You know, you can get the back on highlights.
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly, And then you know you could like just
have crazy divisional matchups where with Wemby and Cooper and
John and KD. Now you know, like uh in Shangoon,
but there's a lot of star power in this division.
And you know it's like that meme with the the
three Dragons and the fourth ones just kind of dirty
right now. The Pelicans are that dirty dragon, and I
think I think you know there's a world where they
can realize their actual dragon form, but it's gonna take
some time.
Speaker 1: I'm just already on record ruffle the time just saying I'm
going down with the Zion ship on the court. I
just his peaks. Ion is just the odds of you
finding that and someone you've already drafted or anytime soon
is I'll go down with the ship on it, which
is why I just also why I didn't love their
off season because it's just like Derek Queen and jeremih
Fears might work with him, but I would have preferred
to have doubled and tripled down on guys that I
feel better about, like, oh, I know these guys are
gonna work and that we're not try because one of
Joe Dunmares's uh justifications, I think in one of his
recent interviews was these guys we can bring them along
slowly like they don't need to shoulder too much. I
didn't see or hear the interview. I remember like reading
a recap of it. And if that's the justification, I
don't I don't know what the I just don't know
what that says about. What is your investment in Zion
to that point? But I'm I'm going down. I'm sinking
or swimming with Zion like I just I know he
hasn't been healthy enough, but peaks Ion is just one
of the most prolific basketball players in the league.
Speaker 2: Barn it would have been exciting, you know. You you
think about what they traded away. They traded away next
year's pace pick, which is twenty twenty four or which
is top four protected. Just that's it. That in and
of itself is a potentially absurd thing that they traded away.
And then you know their own unprotected pick. So and
then you have C. J. McCollums expiring contract and Kelly
Olynox expiring contract. If you took all of those things
put them together, and you're like, all right, I have
forty three million dollars in expiring salary and those two
super valuable picks, and I'm trading what could they have
gotten if they were like actually big game hunting, or like,
you know, if they were trying to build the most
competitive team around Zion. And that's a question we'll just
never have the answer to. But I do think there
is a road not traveled where that's the route they
went down, and they're like, all right, we're going all
in on this this current core, Like we believe in
Trey Murphy, we believe in Herb Jones, and we're just
gonna go and make some crazy noise. And I think,
you know, I think there is a world where where
that team was going to be very, very formidable, and
at least the people in New World and they wouldn't
have cared that you traded those picks. They would have
been like, we're a playoff team and we're super excited
to go attend these games. And this is finally an
exciting time in Pelicans basketball where it's like, you know,
they're just going for it.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the center rotation before. What were your rookie
year thoughts on Eve's mecI and what's to come for him?
Speaker 2: I thought there is it was interesting because I think
he's both ahead of schedule and really really far away.
I didn't. I didn't think that he would even be
able to play the minute load that he played with
the Pelicans because of all the injuries and still look
like he had pathways to contributing. I thought he was
just going to be completely lost. Where I think he
stands to improve a lot, which worries me because historically
these are not things that you see guys really improve
over time. Is again, defensive rebounding is a big, big
issue with him and Zion together, those units were I think,
like zero percent talent defense. I'm not even joking, like
I swear it like bottom five percentile when it comes
to like you go to clean the glass, it's like
the deepest shade of blue you will see.
Speaker 1: Yep, thirteen percentile defensive rebounding with those two on the floor.
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah there you go. Great? Yeah not great. Yeah,
So it's it's it's it's a struggle there. And I
think Eve also his style of like contributing offensively. He
doesn't have the best hands and he doesn't really catch
the ball well in traffic, and so it's difficult for
him to operate in those short roll spaces, which I
think is so important because inevitably, like Zion or somebody's
gonna get doubled off the ball, and if he gets
thrown a pocket pass, it just takes a step too
long for him to do something within By then, like
the defense is converged and he doesn't have the physicality
to score over that. And so he is someone who
will if he can get stronger and just become a
better finisher at the rim. I think he was very
below average finishing at the rim. He will have ways
to contribute. I just am. I think he's more of
a high energy bench big than he is someone that's
gonna be a long term starter and the great rim protector.
I think if you look at a lot of like
advanced rim protection metrics, he was bottom three in in those,
and so again a lot of it's just this constant
changing of lineups around him with bad defensive talent, Like
you can only do so much when you know the
perimeter players you have to work with. Are you know
Alfred Payton found off the the you know the retirement Heap,
you know the Brandon Boston junior, Jeremiah Robinson Earl, like
you know those guys are not in the league anymore.
Like for this season, and they played a ton of
minutes for the Pelicans, and so it's it's really tough
when you have a rotating door of guys just just
going in and out and you can't build any kind
of defensive cameracry. So I will give me see a
lot of grace in that, especially being a rookie BigMan.
It's a tough, tough responsibility. But it's just that again,
impact wise, it was so bad with him that onas
were so bad with him that it doesn't give me
much hope moving forward that this guy will be a
positive contributor. I think he can get to be a
rotation level guy who again of the off the bench,
like you play in ten fifteen minutes a game. You
can come in and change the energy of a game,
but you know, the starting center in the Western Conference,
that's a tough ask.
Speaker 1: The finishing stuff bothers me, Like his rim percentage actually
increased with Zion on the court, which just lends further
merits to Zion can play with any type of big really,
but even if you say he gets better hands, it
feels like maybe in some lineups he won't be But
there's always going to be traffic when you're looking at
the Pelicans like supplementary spacing right now, And I don't
know how they create like he can be table set,
but I just don't know how much easier his looks
at the rim can get until they again some of
the lineups. But like even on some of like the
better looks he had, it just didn't I don't know
even what it was, Like what is like do you
have any do you have any theories behind like, well,
why is this dude like so below average finishing relative
to other bigs.
Speaker 2: I just think it's simple as touch. I just don't
think he has the touch around the rim, especially if
there's someone between him and the rim. But there was
like again, there's plenty of times I don't know like
what the genesis of it is with regards to his hands,
but there's plenty of times where he's throwing like the
most pitch a perfect lob, or he's going for a
dunk and he just whiffs it. And so maybe it's
a grip strength thing, maybe that's something he needs to train,
or maybe there's some sort of more neurological thing that
they need to work on with with you know, like
like mindhand connection or whatever it is. They should employ
people that that can work on this stuff and that
make a lot of money. But and I think they
and I'm not saying they don't. They do, to be
very clear, they do. Uh. But yeah, that's something they're
gonna have to figure out over time.
Speaker 1: Can you explain the bet on Jordan Poole to me?
Speaker 2: Troy Weaver knows him, like, let's move on. I mean,
I think I think there is there is some some
more merit to it. I think they just think that
he has more burst and wiggled than CJ, and that
he has more he has his best basketball is ahead
of him in their opinion, And and he was in
a situation in Washington where he was the primary advantage
creator on a team that did not care for winning,
and his play numbers kind of reflected that. And now
you're gonna task him to be someone that is more
of a secondary guy playing against the bet defense with
Zion out there, there is a world where he has
the best year of his career. I could, I can
see it. But I think they just thought, like we
need we need someone that is capable of breaking down
a defense off the dribble, getting to the rim, and
that is younger than c J McCollum. I think that's
really what it came down to.
Speaker 1: That's always been an understated part of his game too.
He's always been a really good finisher at the rim
for someone at his position. If he's hitting off the
dribble threes like he did last year in Washington, that
adds like a whole new element to the But like
who is the last like bet, like who's the last
best off the dribble three point shooter that the Pelicans
have had, and like brandon Ingram really shouldn't count. I
guess Trey Murphy has a chance to graduate into that role.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean it was it was CJ. CJ
when he would have because he scored fifty with the Pelicans,
I think a couple of times he said it definitely forty,
multiple times fifty ones, And anytime he had a big
explosive scoring night, it was CJ just going crazy off
the dribble, like that's what it was.
Speaker 1: Anything on the Dejonte Murray timeline.
Speaker 2: They haven't sent a firm update on him, but he's
been posting videws of himself dunking and doing you know
one on zero basketball drills, So I think that's promising.
I would not expect him to return prior to Christmas,
you know, even if this calendar year. But it doesn't
seem like there's been any setbacks, which is promising.
Speaker 1: Who gets whose role gets impacted the most if and
when he does, we're turn when you're looking at Jordan
Poole and Jeremiah Fears specifically, what does it say about
Murray's role on this team that they have both of
these players on the road.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I think that's a great question, because that is,
you know, if you're really green, you're going to bring
one of those two guys off the bench regards to
Pool or Murray. And I think it's gonna be a
tough decision because historically he doesn't like to bench his vets. Well,
who he does like the bench is Tray Murphy. And
I don't think he can get away with that this year.
I just don't think there's any world he can get
away with that if he's still, you know, the head
coach of the Pelicans by the time that Johnaton Murray
comes back. The other thing is that when they acquired
Jordan Poole, like Dumar has kind of said something along
the lines of like he's willing to do whatever is needed.
So I wonder if there's some sort of like implication
there that if they need him to come off the bench,
he will, because CJ. McCollum very much was not willing
to come off the bench for the Pelicans and that
as a conversation they had with McCollum, and McCollum was,
you know, I think he wasn't wrong for this because
he was like, look, I've been like the most reliable
guy in terms of like actually showing up this stuff
and not being heard and being available and been like
like the role model of like every you know, all
these kinds. I've been like the most professional guy, like
I'm not going to come off the bench, and and yeah,
Willie Green was like, okay, Like I guess you're not
going to come off the bench. Trade is, you know,
And I don't think that's fair to Trey Murphy, but
I can see why. Also, like McCollum being the president
of the Players Union, I guess former now there's a
new one, right, But h mcoumb being the president of
the Players Union, knows very much that it okay anytime
he's going to get into his next contract talks if
he's a guy that's coming off the bench, like those
contract talks are going to be meaningfully different than if
he's still a starter in this league, even though you know,
any team that's going to be competitive is going to
bring him off the bench. So I think there is
some some smart politicking by CJ to ensure he wouldn't
come off the bench. And I think there is a
world where they're like, cool, Pool, You're gonna be the
guy that comes off the bench, which, again, that's just
setting yourself up for tough conversations unnecessarily in my opinion,
like the way your roster's constructed, you should proactively seek
to solve these problems before they even become them, right,
So that's that's would be my approach on it.
Speaker 1: The secondary wing rotation on this team feels like it
could be rough because after Herb and after Trey, there's
not a lot of bankable bodies of Sadik Bay coming
back from the ACL injury. Uh is Jalen McDaniel is
gonna make this roster? Are they going to pull the mic,
push the micro peebe button? Like what is this like?
Not that there's a solution, like what is the secondary
wing rotation or beyond Sadeek Bay, whom assuming is the
third most important wing on this team, Like what is
the what happens here.
Speaker 2: For thoughts and prayers? They they I do think they
believe in PVI a good bit. Again, this is a
Troy Weber selection.
Speaker 1: He's and defensively, he'll get Willie Green's attention maybe like
he will play.
Speaker 2: He will And I think they need more TV types
on the team who are not gonna need the ball.
They're gonna be low usage offensive players and they're just
gonna go out there and play hard. They need more
of that, the guy with the dog mentality. And so
I do think TV is gonna get run. I think
he's gonna get his opportunities. The beyond that, You're right,
it's it's very thin and very sparse, And that's where
I'm just like, going back to our conversation earlier, I'm like,
if they can just get like two more dudes that
are just kind of slide in that, you know, like
all right, they can function like rotationally, you know that
that would be really beneficial for them. There was you know,
there's been a number of free agents that have gone
for like around the minimum that I'm like, you know this,
this guy could have like helped the Pelicans. Wait, what
did a mere coffee sign for?
Speaker 1: He didn't even get to get he had a training
camp deal with the Bucks.
Speaker 2: Wow, there must be something going on there, like with
with him as a person or just like in the
locker or something. But because like it's hard not to
see like that guy being like oh yeah, like you're.
Speaker 1: Our Discord calls him negative Tatum because of his off split.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, yeah, maybe that's it, right, he's just a
very negative player. Okay, yeah, I didn't look into his
on offs, but yeah, so I don't be a team.
Speaker 1: I'm like very much trying to get Justin Champagne out
of Washington because of how many wings they have. This
would be a good Justin Champagne.
Speaker 2: That would be a good trow we remove.
Speaker 1: That would be a good I don't know, I would
like it. So I'm not sure if it would be
a good. Try come in favor of it. So I'm
not sure.
Speaker 2: It depends on what the cost is. Right, if it's
an unpertected first.
Speaker 1: Round, first round picker, yeah, wait.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, look what's Kelly Ubrey up to these days
bring him back to New Orleans. Uh, yeah, I don't know.
I mean I just think, like, yeah, if they had
just like two more wings or I think the most
ideal solution, in my opinion, is they just again the
Attasis picks to the Jonte and they find a way
to break that salary apart into multiple playable guys, preferably
one at the center position and one at the wing position.
But it doesn't have to be done all at once.
You just go get one and then whatever that remainder
salaries you can work with at the deadline or something later.
But like, I think that would be the most ideal solution,
but require trading more picks.
Speaker 1: That's sound was gonna ask, because what do you think
their appetite is for making whether it's one way or
the other, like reacting to what's happening in the middle
of the season and either getting better or either selling
off certain talent, especially when we know that they're not
going to spend a ton of money either, Like do
you think that this front office is going to be
willing to look at the results and then like react,
could they even be maybe like what you're saying is
like be proactive and maybe try and go do that
now before you and see what's happening. What is going
to be their appetite for making transactions, especially after witnessing
the reaction to the transactions they made over the offseason.
Speaker 2: I honestly think that this will be a change from
David Griffin's time. I think would have just like let
the roster sit for a little bit and you know,
either try to find I think we have tried to
win the deal a lot and and so if it
wasn't a crazy like win for him in terms of
a deal, like he would just let that roster sit
until it absolutely could not sit any longer and then
they would be forced to make a move. Or I
think with Joe and Troy, I would not be surprised
if like December fifteenth comes around, you're like, oh, they're
making a move, Like you know, it's like like, oh,
they what Willie Green, Like James Rago's the head coach,
and they're gonna go after this guy, Like you know,
I think this group will be way more willing to
fiddle with this roster, especially because most of these guys
pre date them and so there's not that same attachment
to to to the moves, right, They're like, to them,
Degionnty is just a guy on the roster, not someone
they move Diyson Daniels and the other picks, you know
what I mean? Like, so I would think that I
would I would expect them to be more active.
Speaker 1: Do you have any like strong feelings on the of
the only two younger players we haven't mentioned, or Carlo
Makovic or Jordan Hawkins, who seems like he's eventually gonna
get the ceremonial salary dumb from this team, right, Like
that's where we're headed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know Hawkins, I think there's a really really
good case for him to be made that they should
not pick up his fourth year team option. I think
the deadline's coming up on that soon in the next
month or so. And the case is that that's a
seven million dollar option, and there's a ton of guys
this summer that signed for six million a nunder that
are just way better than him. I mean, Delo La Ravia,
you know those guys in Brooklyn that that got those
twelve and a half million dollars deals, Sharp and Zaire
and all that kind of stuff. He there's his skill
set as a shooter as a movement shooter theoretical because
he's not been a good shooter since in the league.
A ton of those guys went for the minimum this
summer and last summer. You know, you have Gary Trent,
who is just a better player than him, and he's
going for the minimum. You know, Tim Hardaway Junior didn't
get a great you know what I mean, Like it's
like that ar tackle player. I think they should just
make that bet free agency and not commit seven million
dollars to him unless they're just very much like, we
need this seven million dollars in expiring salary to match
this trade. That's that's what it is. But yeah, I
would hate for it to be, oh, we got to
send you another second round pick to get this guy
off the roster because we're trying to do some other
moves and no one but wants him. Carlow is super intriguing.
I just struggle to see where he's gonna get minutes
now that Queen's on the roster. I think that's that's
that's like every bit of investment that could have gone
to Carlow, which I'm not saying is is the right
thing to do. I'm personally not the biggest believer in him,
but like, if you were to be like, all right,
this guy's an interesting athletic big who can shoot and
do some hubstyle stuff at the top of the key,
like we're gonna give him, you know, ten minutes a
game or something. All those minutes should go to Queen
in my opinion now, like like there should be no
conversation about who gets those minutes because if Ion's healthy
and MEC's healthy and Looney's healthy, there's not gonnay minutes
to go around. Because I do think there will be well,
it's something we haven't talked about us. I do think
there will be a fair amount of small ball being
played with no bigs on the court, and it's it's
like Sadek bay as the center or who you know
the center.
Speaker 1: My final question here before getting in the lightning rounds,
what is their defensive ceiling? If you're leaving this roster alone,
I actually think they're going to be I mean, they
were dead last per clean in the glass, so I
think they're going to be better just by virtue of
if you make more of your shots at the rim,
you can get your defense set and they were one
of the worst teams defending after missing shots at the rim.
But like in a vacuum, they are not making any
more major changes. What is the defensive ceiling of this roster?
Speaker 2: If you told me Looney is the starter, I would
say they have a top fifteen defensive ceiling, if not
top ten, because Willie Green is actually good at making
the team perform better than expected than on defense. I
don't think Zion. If Zion's in shape, it's not fair
to calm a bad defender anymore. I do think that
that as a narrative people need to catch up on
in terms of when this guy's in shape, he makes
the rotations. He's actually very much committed to defensive event generation.
Herb and Trey, I think you'll see a big bounce
back from them. Trey's like impact matrics took a huge
hit because again I think a lot of those are
highly sensitive to the quality of teammates that you play with,
and the quality teammates that he played with wereres It's
Abusino last year, and so I don't think I think
you'll see a bounce back from them. And then Pool, Honestly,
I just don't seem functionally different than CJ. And Willie
Green made a ton of lineups work defensively that featured CJ,
Ingram and Valentiunis, and they were a top six defense
in back to back years when most of them are healthy.
So I do think if Looney is the starter, I
feel like they can be adequate on defense, mostly because
Looney will get rebounds. That's the big one you get,
Like if you're decent, if you're I mean average, you know,
defensive reboundingly, I feel so much better abou him becau.
I do think they will generate a ton of steels
and turnovers.
Speaker 1: Are you ready to enter the lightning round? Cookie cutter
a portion of the podcast. So we've talked a little
bit about various needs they have, But when you're looking
at the roster today, what do you view as at
single biggest need the center position.
Speaker 2: They need a legitimate starting center who can play thirty
five minutes a game and compete with all the other
strong centers in the NBA, who can rebound the ball.
Speaker 1: You know, I get it, but like after you gave up,
like to go get there a queen. It's just that's
weird to say.
Speaker 2: I think Queen is like and at his peak, I
think Queen will function as like a hybrid four or five,
and I think you will see him work like he
did it in Maryland all the time. You know, he
played the four, and he played very well off of
his his front court partner. And so he is someone
that like you press the small ball or like I
guess Queen at the center button and like lineups that
you need the juice. But like over the duration of
the game, you start him with a center, and I
think you'll have the necessary play making and stuff to
get that same thing with Zion, Like I just that stuff.
Speaker 1: I'm not that concerned with What is something about this
team that's flying under the radar that you think deserves
more of a spotlight.
Speaker 2: I think this is actually probably not all that interesting
to basketball fans. The thing that's that's flying under the
radar is that they are doing really poorly on sales
and sponsorships, and so they have a lease coming up
for the stadium in twenty twenty nine, and that is
something that they have said over over and over again
that they will address to after they're done with the
Saint side stuff. And on the same side stuff they
just agreed to one on the Superdome, even though it's
not been like signed, sealed and delivered yet. And so
there's this very quickly approaching deadline on to do something
with the Smoothie Center. And they did this assessment study
on this whine King Center shout out Christian Clark for
his incredible reporting on the subject while he was in
New Orleans, and they found a ton of stuff in
this Wine King Center that has just passed it's like
life expectancy, and those are like critical systems that are
past their life expectancy. Because this is a building that
has been around since two two and three, so you know,
most of the functions in there that are built to
last ten to fifteen years most and well well pass that.
So there's no real clarity on what's going to happen
with regards to a stadium. There's not real room for
renovations in that building because it's built like a coffin
almost like it's just there's there's you can't there's no
room to expand. So from the business side of things,
I think there's a lot of key decisions coming up,
culminated with the fact that they've lost money on their
RSN deal transfer transferring from Valleys to Gray and they're
not doing so well in sales and sponsorships. So I
just think that that is going to be a big
underlying story this season and like the next couple of seasons.
And I just until there is a more clear directive
from ownership or the state or whoever, and what's what's
going to happen here?
Speaker 1: Everyone's healthy? What's you're building a ten man rotation for
this team? What to who's in it?
Speaker 2: My starters? Everyone's healthy? Oh wow? Uh starters? I would
go Dejonte, Trey Herb, Zion Looney bench. I would go
Jose pool Bay. So I need two more now me
see Mysie can get in there. And I think that
tenth guy I would give. I would toggle between Queen
Carlow and Peev depending on what they needed. But I
don't I really don't feel good about that.
Speaker 1: Did you have fears in there? No?
Speaker 2: He said, everyone's healthy. I can't crack him into the
guard rotation. If there, if my goal is to win
as many games as possible, Jose is playing. Yeah, he's
an on off god. And and that's the minutes, you know,
like that's that's again you're talking about like warring agendas.
That's gonna be a big one this this year. You know,
Willie's guy in Joase Alvaradola has a very close relationship
there versus management s guy and fears. Who's going to
get those minutes? Because you can't play those two together
you shouldn't.
Speaker 1: This question is of course matchup dependent, but what do
you think will become their go to crunch time unit.
Speaker 2: I think it's going to be the small ball unit
of Pool, Herb, Tree, Zion and Bay. I think their
go to configuration will be closing with no real big
on the on the on the court.
Speaker 1: I think that makes that. I mean that lineup could
be devastating offensively, and like you said, off it's peaks Ion,
you probably get enough defense out of it.
Speaker 2: I would think it's just the rebounding, so they have
to live off turnovers.
Speaker 1: Is there a weirdo lineup that you want Willie Green
to try this season?
Speaker 2: Pretty much anything featuring Zion and Queen. To be honest
with you, like I just go, just go humongous, right,
just go. I'm trying to think how you can.
Speaker 1: Go Trey, Herb, Bay, Zion and there Queen there done.
That would be I guess that. I mean Queen for re. Yeah, honestly,
i'd watch it aside from Zion. I don't know what
the creation looks like. But that's where you give Trey
Murphy some extra license and.
Speaker 2: Just not hand off the queen and stuff, right, like,
let let Queen cook a little bit with that, and yeah,
and and honestly like, yeah, it'll be a lot of points, Zion,
it'll be. But I really do think you can let
Queen cook with Like, if you want to send something.
Speaker 1: Up around Zion and Queen probably yeah, yeah, if Herb
is shooting the ball like he's done, uh not last season?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Is there anything before I get some predictions from you
that we haven't discussed that you think needs Warren's conversation
before before we move on?
Speaker 2: No, I think we touched on the main stuff here
for sure.
Speaker 1: So how many games do you see this team winning
and where do you see them landing in the Western Conference?
Factoring in the totality vet everything, injury risk, potential, trades, development,
all that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw the Vegas over Runner was like thirty
one and a half and I was like, man, that's
really fair. I think I'm gonna stick with that I
think that's that's ultimately where they end up factoring everything.
But I do think it's more likely they exceed that
than it is likely that they're just an absolutely terrible team,
like bottom three level team most for two reasons. One,
I think to be a bottom three level team, you
actually have to intentionally try to reach those lower wind totals,
and that's not something they're going to be doing at
this junk. And then the other thing is there is
this hidden like, Okay, what if there is a panic
trade where they go just go get a dude or
somebody you know, or multiple somebodies in the the season
might not be enough to bring them to the playoffs,
but I think it's enough to take them out of
the bottom tier of teams in the league.
Speaker 1: I already see myself getting suckered into hitting me over,
even though I basically said after everything happened, I was like, oh,
this will be the first year I don't hit the
Pelicans over and get heartbroken. But it so is there
a team in the West, presumably a playoff team non
Oklahoma City thunder Division that you find is a if
we're putting them in the Pelicans into a playoff series
with them that you find a particularly compelling matchup, or
maybe a team that this team matches up better with
better than people would expect.
Speaker 2: Who are we putting in the playoffs?
Speaker 1: First of all, Well, I mean there's the Thunder, the Nuggets,
the Rockets, I mean the Clippers. Harley Grizzly is in
the playoffs.
Speaker 2: What I'm saying, like, so, so you got the Clippers,
and then I guess you put the Lakes in there,
Lebron and Luca, Right, yeah.
Speaker 1: Golden States, Like even if you were a pick of
the Spurs or that a lot of people just have
them penciled in for a playoff spot this year.
Speaker 2: I would say of those teams, probably they match up
the best against Golden State just because there's no interior
protection on that team. The teams that I would look
for the Pelicans to match up better against are the
ones that have bad centered rotations and they don't rebound well.
And I think I think those are the ones where
But you know what's funny is Zion's teams play Minnesota
better than they have any business playing Minnesota. And I
think part of it is just like he just takes
that rudy match up personally and he just goes and
scores over and over and he loves he loves playing
against hand. I think those two are very close when
they view each other as high level competitors. So if
I had to pick a legitimate good team rather than like,
I don't know, but the Warriors, I would pick Minnesota,
all right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's fair. I don't really have a good answer
for the Pelicans. I would find them semi intriguing. If
they're gonna play Queen and Zion together against Houston would
be an interesting matchup for Meston.
Speaker 2: Scares me because they have so many guys that will
turn you over and the Pelicans lack of ball handling.
It's just like, man, this gets Houston always comes in
and you just you recognize, okay, like outside of like
the main couple guys in the Pelicans, like they just
don't have anyone equip to deal with higher level of physicality.
And the Immoka teams are just like we're gonna beat
you up. We're just gonna the Terror Twins. They are
gonna come after you and snatch every single possession that
they possibly can. And you know, meanwhile, like if reed
Shepherd's in the rotation, he's gonna be run around causing chaos.
And yeah, Houston, it's like you would think that they
might match up against just because people are like, oh,
sing who's not a good rim protector? And I just
think Houston's just this is a good team. US is
a really good team.
Speaker 1: And there's the whole don't want to play Luca or
Lebron thing, But like the Laker center's rotation isn't just
like solved because they have DeAndre Hayton. Yeah, now that
would be interesting, Like that'd be a team that I
think that New Orleans could really exploit in the pain,
especially depending on what version of DeAndre eight and you
get right? Can I get one final Pelicans prediction from
Yu Shimidt. It can be for this coming season, it
could be wherever you want to take it.
Speaker 2: My final Pelicans prediction is Willy Green is fired before Christmas.
Speaker 1: It seems like fade a complete almost. I feel like
they've set him up to fail because of their expectations.
Then I know you said he's been mandated to be there.
I also feel like that's never a good recipe, is
to install a new leadership regime and not give them
say over the head coach and you end up in
these situations then where you're getting rid of him at
like the quarter season or the one third season mark.
Speaker 2: Yeah, legitimately, I think it's all like financial, like financially driven,
oh okay, from ownerships, Like I just think ownership is
very much Oh wow, we had to get rid of
Griff and these other executives swin. There's so much money
that we have to pay because of this, and we're
paying Joe a ton of man. Joe's contract is crazy.
They're paying Joe a ton of money. And so there's
just like, well, if you get rid of Willie, then
we have to go through another search and then you know,
hire another guy that's gonna potentially want more money than
will he wanted. Willy is one of the cheaper coaches
in the NBA, and so I think it's just like
keep him around and then if you got to fire him,
we just slightly bump up the interim and you know, legitimately,
that's how I think they operate like there, And I
don't think I have been proven wrong, but we'll see.
Speaker 1: This was great as always, Thank you for giving me
so much of your time. You're just able to tell
our listeners slash viewers where they can fine you in
all the great work that you do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can find me on substack at endthenoet substack
dot com. All of our podcasts get uploaded on YouTube
under that same channel, but I write on the substack
as well, and then you can find me on the
various social media's, primarily on Blue Guy to Fear the brown.
Speaker 1: Links to all that stuff being the podcast YouTube description
love in to know when you do podcast you, Jeremy Mason,
whole crew do a great job. Thanks so much for
coming on again and as you know by now I'll
be past joining you down live love it.
Speaker 2: Thank you again,