Zion Williamson beats Clippers in 4th quarter | Even more trade rumors for the New Orleans Pelicans

Zion Williamson beats Clippers in 4th quarter | Even more trade rumors for the New Orleans Pelicans

All right it’s a big time win for the New Orleans Pelicans as they top the number one seed in the western conference with a victory over the Clippers it was a balanced effort but you saw Zion leamon close the game out let’s break down what we saw plus even

More trade rumors for the Pelicans in the leadup to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline we’re going to make sense of all of it here in a live episode of Locked on Pelicans let’s Go You are locked on Pelicans your daily New Orleans Pelicans podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome to another edition of locked on Pelicans the daily podcast covering your favorite team the New Orleans Pelicans in NBA part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day

Available wherever you get your podcast and available on YouTube I’m your host Pelicans Insider credential member of the media Jake Madison at Nola Jake on Twitter here with yall on a Thursday technically we’re live late on Wednesday night after the Pelicans beat the Los Angeles Clippers the then number one

Team in the Western Conference 117 106 Clippers not going to be number one anymore after this loss on the road start of a 4-game road trip Big Time Victory you saw the star players have a balanced scoring effort in this one saw some great defense we’re going to break

It all down plus the newest batch of Trad rumors around the Pelicans cuz there are more and of course thank you for making locked on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are here the number one Pelicans podcast every single day breaking down what we see on

The court the trade rumors making sense of everything going on around this team that was a fun Victory so be sure to become an every dayer if you’re not already if you are an everyday let me know in the comments I’m looking at them right now we might even do a little bit

Of a bonus segment for a couple minutes after we do the main show here hang out with y’all after this very big and impressive win for the Pelicans today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans is brought to you by prize pick the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy

Sports go to prize.com lockon NBA and use code all lowercase locked on NBA for a first time deposit match up to $100 okay so the Pelicans getting a massive massive win over the Los Angeles Clippers look there’s going to be people who try and discredit this win right

That first game back after a long road trip ippers were on on the east coast is actually tough it can be very much a trap game for many of these home teams the Pelicans face that against the Utah Jazz you know what they did they put up

A record number of points in that game after a long road trip coming back or maybe it was Charlotte whatever it was they crushed the opponent so there’s no real excuse for not getting it done at home for a Pelicans team that has maybe struggled a little bit against some of

The top teams in the Western Conference to come out and get the win over this Clippers team was very impressive they came out with the right kind of energy they were flying around on defense they were working in tune in Rhythm offensively guys were just straight up

Stepping up it’s exactly what you want to see from this team for a team that’s had questions around say their energy level kind of Readiness preparedness at times chemistry even though that’s BS they they quiet all of that down with this Victory here this is an impressive win and it doesn’t matter

If people try and discredit anything like that this was a game that the Pelicans took to the Clippers and the Clippers did not respond but you got to take it to them in the first place and the Pelicans did you saw balance scoring in this one right it was Brandon Ingram

Early then Trey Murphy in the first quarter CJ McCullum was consistently hitting shots hitting threes throughout all of this one and then Zion came alive in the fourth quarter I don’t have the fourth quarter numbers yet cuz it hasn’t updated on the NBA St stats website but

If someone could tell me in the chat how many points Zion scored in the fourth that would be great but he had a quiet game and on Twitter X whatever you want to call it I posted I said you know I posed a question here of what did you

Think of Zion’s first half everyone liked that he was active on defense and he was he was triy that’s some of the best like individual one-on-one defense we’ve seen from him in a while when he commits on that side of the ball he can be useful there but it was also like H

We’re running the offense through him they were going Point Zion lot and it was generating open looks for teammates but at a certain point you’d want him to just be a little bit more aggressive he was far too passive I thought in the first half in the second half he started

To come alive here and then I think you really saw him get aggressive start going and then just take over the game and that’s what you wanted to see he realized that he was Unstoppable someone says he thinks they uh Zion had 13 in the fourth that’s

How you close a game out he realized that the Clippers couldn’t do a thing to stop him and they was getting some space because CJ was hitting shots others were doing their job here even Brandon in was kind of taking threes took four it’s better than the two we were kind of

Expecting after something like this so for him to go out and just dominate the game and slam that door shut on the Clippers I thought was really tremendous and it’s the main reason they won this game when your star players playing like that look at how easy things were for CJ

McCullum CJ had 25 points he was the game high for the Pelicans in this one you know he was actually the game high overall for both teams he looked great you had herb Jones hitting some threes hitting his shots right you had Brandon Ingram getting into his spots taking his

Shots again in Rhythm he finished with 15 points six assists eight rebounds that’s a real good statline Zion 21 10 assists here was fantastic starting to get a little bit more active on the glass which was important he had a big time offensive rebound of his own Miss

Put it back up scored you want your star players to carry you down the stretch for a team that has had some trouble closing out games particularly against good teams here where there were questions about where do they kind of fit in the Western Conference hierarchy

To see Zion take over a quarter like that and just go and do his thing and slam the door shut on the Clippers is exactly what you wanted to see this was the Pelicans answering a question here right I see it’s Alexander Nukem says CJ’s a dog most consistent player we

Have like yeah he was great in this game too I I really thought everyone played well once Zen came alive and just decided to go to the rim and score that way 21 points on 16 shots is very good efficiency right there you’re going to be pretty happy with that kind of

Performance from him you know this is why the right players getting the right kind of shots is important you know we’ve seen the pelons not shoot enough threes and it’s not if they take 40 more threes they win games there’s not a target number I go on WWL and Bobby a

Asked me this the other time I was on of what’s the magic number it’s not a number they took 32 threes in this game and they still won the game and kind of won it handily right it’s 11-point victory but really for Midway through the fourth quarter it was like 15 to 16

Points that they were just leading by right they had a 17-point lead in this game they looked sharp they LED wire to wire the Clippers just never had anything and when the Clippers would go on runs the Pelicans would answer this says a lot about the team here they can

Win in a variety of different ways but when CJ’s Tak 11 threes when uh Trey Murphy is taking eight threes when herb Jones Goes two of three you can get by even with BR Ingram taking four but you like that number to be up a little bit

But in a win like this you’re not going to complain that much about how everyone played and it was just a strong allaround performance here so let’s get into some of the other guys because the defense was excellent herb Jones was a monster in this game Dyson Daniels was

Fantastic Larry n Jr was great Brandon Ingram Zion loms and I want to look at that and talk about their performances here in this game we maybe have a bit of an update on yonas Val chunis notice Naji Marshall I don’t think played a single minute in this game and that’s

Kind of surprising to see so all of those things we want to take a look at and talk about because that’s kind of surprising unless I missed something with Naji Marshall which maybe I did um because he’s listed as inactive which was a little surprising maybe I missed

Something with him here but yeah good performances all around let’s talk about the def everything else coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans right now I’m excited to tell you about Nissan are you the kind of driver that likes to push things a little further ever wonder what

Adventures could be around the next Corner our friends at Nissan have a lineup of SUVs with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level the 20124 Nissan Rogue is the per is perfect for city drivers and Great Escapes class exclusive Google Google builtin is all your always update an

Assistant to call on for almost anything and gone are the days of connecting your phone Google Assistant Google Maps Google Play Store are all built right into the 12.3 in HD touchscreen infotainment system the 2024 Nissan Rogue is a perfect midsize crossover for your next adventure there’s also the

2024 Nissan Pathfinder part of Nissan’s incredible lineup has room for up to eight in expansive cargo capacity and advanced available 4×4 capability with 284 horsepower and up to 6,000 lb of Towing when Adventure calls the Pathfinder is there to answer so take the Nissan Rogue the Nissan Pathfinder

Or the Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure shop nissanusa.com and thank you for making lockon Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are here Monday through Friday breaking down everything you want to know about this team including the the big victories like this one over the Los

Angeles Clippers they were the number one team in the west they’re not anymore after this loss at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans with everyone really contributing and really stepping up for this team was great performance a good win don’t take anything away for from

The Pelicans here so love to see what they did on this one not an easy win to go and get and they delivered in this one and we’re going to get into some trade rumors in the third segment of today’s show there’s even more so the trade deadline is fast approaching it’s

Literally like 12 hours from now or so and locked on fantasy basketball is your place for live reaction Thursday at uh noon uh Central subscribe to lockon fantasy basketball on YouTube today so you don’t miss Josh Lloyd the goat breaking down every NBA trade with analysis and insight you can only get

From locked on fantasy basketball part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and of course becomeing every day or to lock on Pelicans listen Monday through Friday we are the number one Pelicans podcast breaking down everything you want to know trade rumors the win like this was a great

Performance all around so let’s get back to the Pelicans victory over the Los Angeles Clippers 117 106 here the defense was good the defense in this one was good and again there’s some sluggishness to the Clippers probably their bodies being on East Coast time that’s true but look Kawhi Leonard was

Held to just 15 points he’s been excellent Paul George was three of 15 for just seven points you could argue it’s one of the worst performances of his career I would assume I would assume that’s absolutely one of the worst performances he’s had James Harden was good 19 points he was efficient there

But by and large the Pelicans really limited the Clippers they do what they do and played good defense on the perimeter didn’t let them get inside nearly as much as they would have liked to do forced them into bad shots and it’s why they won the points in the

Paint battle 54 to 38 that’s a significant significant Improvement right there the clip they also forced 19 turnovers on the Clippers led to 20 fast break points so the Pelicans were winning almost basic like every area you could possibly want the only real downside or negative I saw from the

Pelicans in this game other than a few nitpicky things was like at one point turnovers kind of crept up at the end of the first half then they ironed that out and this team just kind of cruised again to a wire-to-wire victory over the number one team the former we should say

Number one team in the Western Conference herb Jones was an absolute monster in this game in my opinion he looked so good he doesn’t have a steel or a block but his defense was outstanding he rises to the occasions and if this isn’t the year that he gets

On the all defensive team like if he doesn’t I I don’t know what’s going on there he he will it will have been wrong straight up it would have been wrong he was that good in this game he was outstanding and going out and playing so

Hard and was key for why those two three best players for the Los Angeles Clippers really struggled he plays well against to those guys for the most part you know you saw a number of different players on Kawhi Leonard you saw Brandon Ingram guard him you saw Zion Williamson

Guard him you saw herb Jones guard him too and Dyson Daniels and they just were just a Herer in this one right Dyson Daniels had four Steals and two blocks Off the Bench you know as we talk trade rumors there might be teams that want Dyson Daniels in there but if you can

Get out and get 20 points in the fast break and force 19 turnovers that seems like a piece that you probably want to keep on this team especially if he can get some offense developing here but it’s also why you can get away with playing Zion Williamson Brandon Ingram

CJ McCullum Jonas valent chunis where they aren’t known as good Defenders that you still have a good defense because of the exceptional play from herb Jones and Dyson Daniels one of those guys can be on the court at any given time that is a nightmare for opponents I think and so

Keeping those guys I think is going to be kind of key obviously herb Jones isn’t going anywhere you know for the right deal maybe they would include him in a trade sure but you’re not just looking to part with herb Jones he’s that good and he’s on that good of a

Contract and when Dyson comes in again with four steals two assists if he could just generate a little bit of offense here and look off the Ben he had 10 points I don’t hate those numbers from him right you know four rebounds he’s got good Elite defense that’s a guy that

Can become a a Difference Maker here and it just means you have a good defender on the court every single moment of the game and that was exactly what you want to see from these guys they’re they’re just stepping up in kind of one of the biggest games right the Pelicans have

Seemed you know at times allergic to Big Time games Big Time performances here and they didn’t in this one right they again LED wire to wire and this was their depth shining through so that’s I think a big part of why they won the defense Willie Green said after the

First quarter they’re like What’s the key to getting a win and he’s like well we got to keep playing defense if they can keep forcing turnovers like that and disrupting opponent’s best players whove played really well right Kawhi Leonard is going to start to be in the MVP

Conversation if he’s not already in there especially with the Joel embiid injury and he just had a not good game against this team you know if you get into a playoff series with this team you know who beat New Orleans pretty badly in New Orleans I think you could still maybe get a

Victory here because you have guys like Dyson Daniels and Herb Jones that are so disruptive that seem to be not not quite Kryptonite for Paul George and Kawhi Leonard but we’ve seen this before right we’ve seen Kawhi Leonard when he’s been on the Clippers have poor games against

New Orleans because of the defense that they throw out there so it’s been just some very good performances there and you know I loved seeing both those guys Step Up makes you reconsider whether Dyson Daniels her Jones won’t be in a trade Dyson Daniels could be after a

Performance like this you want to trade him I don’t want to trade him he looked that good in this one another guy who also looked pretty good was Larry n Jr you know he looked at times like a point forward for this team dishing the ball particularly in the first half you know

Jonas V chunis only played 10 minutes 10 and a half minutes in this game he left with a calf contusion didn’t return in the second half Larry n Jr really stepped up off the bench he was a plus of 13 they won won his minutes out there

He had a couple of really strong rebounds he was active on the defensive side of the ball fighting for things giving us that hustle we wanted to see you know he didn’t really score but didn’t need to in this game and was deferring and just being part of the

Flow part of the offense right this is the depth of the Pelicans shining through it works around the star players so well and then you have Trey Murphy who also looks great particularly in that first quarter 11 of his 13 points like to see a little bit more

Consistency coming back to him but look the fact that he kind of broke out woke up in that quarter I think makes teams very scared about what he could become and just adds another piece for the Pelicans that they really need as they look to try and build offensively on

Things you’re going to be good defensively with one of herb Jones and Dyson Daniels out there leaning more in on offense is the way to keep pressure on opponents they did it particularly with Zion closing the game out he had space to work in that fourth quarter

That’s rare shows all of the pieces out around him were exactly what you needed to LED you a good performance Jose being a spark plug Off the Bench giving you some offense as well love to see it from him just a great performance all around

Like this was a very strong win for the New Orleans Pelicans don’t let anyone take away from them and say this was the Clippers being tired yes there’s some of that but absolutely um this was the Pelicans won this game so loved seeing that from them

Let’s get into trade talks a little bit because there’s more trade rumors we’re about 12 hours away from the NBA’s trade deadline then we’ll stay live for maybe another 15 minutes after here on YouTube only and answer some of your questions interact with the chat because there’s a

Lot of y’all in here so save your questions coming up for kind of a bonus fourth segment here let’s talk trade rumors and all of that coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans right now though I’m excited to tell you about prize pick because prize

Picks is America’s number one fantasy Sports app with over 3 million members it’s the easiest and most exciting way to play DFS because it’s just you against the numbers you pick more or less on the stat projection for two to six players and you watch the winnings

Roll in so prize picks is super simple you can make your picks and submit your entry in less than 60 seconds they even offer an injury insurance policy here if you have a basketball player that exits the game in the first half doesn’t return in second that player’s

Projection won’t count against you and the rest of your entry stays alive price pick is the only daily fantasy sports platform with an injury insurance policy and they offer weekly promotions that can lead to Big payouts like taco Tuesday each Tuesday discounts on select players up to 25% gives you even more

Value and prize picks now offers Apple pay for quick and easy deposits into your account this basketball season so if you want to get in on the action go to preps.com locked onba use code locked on MBA all lowercase for a first deposit

Match up to 100 $ it’s up to $100 as a first-time deposit match when you go to priz picks.com lockon NBA and use code lockon NBA prize pick it’s daily fantasy sports Made Easy and thank you for making locked on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are here Monday through

Friday the number one Pelicans podcast breaking down everything you want to know whether it’s trade rumors which we’re about to get into the big wins the X’s and O’s the rationale the rotations all all that stuff we cover it all here subscribe wherever you get your podcast

And on YouTube become an everyday or listen Monday through Friday to the locked on Pelicans podcast part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day and do me a favor tell one friend about the show tell one friend about the show let’s grow the show this team is

Fun they’re going to be competitive all season long there might even be a bunch of news to talk about tomorrow we’ll see so make sure to tell a friends so they know what’s going on around this team for your second listen today it’s a channel I want you to go to lockdown has

Launched the first National Sports 24/7 streaming Channel on YouTube and now you can also find it on Amazon Fire TV locked on sports today is here for you 24/7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of locked on plus our national shows covering

Every League find locked on sports today the the locked on sports today Channel now on Amazon Fire TV so let’s get into the latest trade rumors around the Pelicans here we uh got a bunch of updates nothing that’s like hugely surprising but I think I can lend a

Little bit of insight into certain things here so first and foremost they still are and most of this comes from Jake fiser of Yahoo in a notebook that he just recently uh published today right so first and foremost they said they’re looking to upgrade the center position they had reached out to the

Cavaliers about Jared Allen and saying Cavaliers are not trading Jared Allen or Evan Moy nothing like that’s going to happen here don’t expect either of those two to come to New Orleans sounds like they also had called the Orlando Magic about Wendell Carter Jr we had listed

Him here as a potential trade Target that makes a lot of sense but sounds like the Orlando Magic aren’t looking to move him again Wendel Carter Jr is a downgrade from Jonas Val chunis but if you listen to yesterday’s show as we kind of did a uh trade deadline primer

It really was I think mainly because he’s under contract multiple years and it gives the Pelin kind of some security there because yonis funis is out of contract at the end of of this season you know it sounds like they’d also been in touch or it’s not sounds like they

It’s been reported that they’ve also been in touch with the Atlanta Hawks on two different fronts here first and foremost it was Clint capella Ana aong Wu uh their centers capella would be fine capella would be fine aong bringing him in you know as a young guy you know

Former first round pick high draft pick hasn’t really developed hasn’t ever been a starter bringing him in he would definitely be a downgrade Capella’s around the level could be around the level of JV just in terms of impact but aong Wu is definitely a downgrade he’s younger he’s cheaper that’s kind of what

You’re looking for he’s under contract I think for another year or two doesn’t really excite me I don’t think that would be the right move but you can see maybe the Pelicans are getting like slightly desperate when it comes to trying to find a center position and

Figure something out if you’re not going to get Miles Turner if you’re not going to get Jared Allen those are the two that you would really really like that make a ton of sense and it doesn’t sound like those are options whatsoever for the New Orleans Pelicans you got to go

And do something and that’s what they’re trying to figure out a kongu signed a big extension not a big extension after this year makes $14 million next year 15 after that 16.12 then 16.88 it’s not great for the production that he gives because I don’t think he’s been

Particularly good now the we’ll get to the other part of the Atlanta side of things here in a second there was one other name listed in there the Pelicans had reached out to the Detroit Pistons about not Jaylen durran you’re not going to pry him away from there but Isaiah

Stewart beef stew one of the better nicknames I think in the league I like the idea of this in theory he’s out injured right now so that’s obviously not ideal and he’s having a bit of a Down year for him he’s having probably you know a worse year compared to last

Year for the Pistons not being nearly as impactful and his per 36 minute numbers are like basically the worst of his career more or less he’s not shooting particularly as efficiently as he has at times you know there’s moments when he looks like he could be a good

Three-point shooter that’s there but for whatever reason the numbers just kind of are down because he’s not taking as many shots which I kind of like but it is a concern that the production is down here’s the thing with beef stew Isaiah Stewart it sounds great in theory but

He’s undersized he’s 68 he’s 68 he’s undersized and he’s not nearly as strong of a rebounder as Jonas found Tunis is he’s about let me compare his rebounding numbers to Larry Nance Jr again if you’re going to trade away yonas V chunis don’t do it for a player that’s

Like Larry n Jr who’s already on your team so Isaiah Stewart is actually a worse defensive rebounder than Larry NS Jr is I just don’t see that guy being the answer if his numbers in the one area you really need him to do are worse he’s not bad at blocking shots you know

He’s I wouldn’t call him a rim protector certainly he’s not horrible at all of that but he’s definitely not like Elite at that or anything his numbers are right in line with Larry NS Jr so I don’t know if Isaiah steart unless you just want to go with him and Larry as

Your centers but at that point it just doesn’t feel like you need to trade picks or other things like that to bring in a player that like to me is a downgrade if you get rid of Larry yeah bring in Isaiah Stewart that’s where we kind of stand

With a lot of the rumors other than one that is surprising but like not surprising and that goes back to the Atlanta Hawks let’s talk about Deonte Murray you know this is the rumor to be the big trade piece right Atlanta’s disappointing they need to do something

They traded a bunch of picks for him just a year ago and it just like hasn’t worked out whatsoever so he’s potentially going to be on the move and notice he did not play I believe in Wednesday’s game against Boston now I don’t know if that means anything Naji Marshall didn’t play in

This I don’t know if it means he’s getting traded or not in general teams don’t tend to hold guys out they play them and then if a deal is coming close they pull them and don’t play them like the remainder of the game that has happened I can’t think of one instance

Actually where a guy was like sat and then traded the next day when we didn’t know about the trade before him so Deon Murray you know is interesting because he’s the big name out there right this is a guy who’s known as a good defensive guard has good size is a good rebounder

6’5 and is shooting the three ball pretty well and can be a lead guard for you and in general it feels like the Pelicans could use more like lead guard to them 21.4 points per game this season shooting 37% from three on six attempts so here’s the thing it doesn’t

Make sense right Murray doesn’t make a ton of sense for a team with Brandon Ingram Zion willamson and CJ McCullum and I would assume You’ need to trade one of those guys for him maybe not you know but it seems like you you would need to and that’s a little clunky a

Little bit weird to me here so how does that really work out but say you can’t or say you don’t need to trade one of those three guys why not do this deal if you can get him for so cheap you should probably do it so I think the Pelicans

Calling about Murray is more to do with kind of like bargain shopping we’ve seen some of the reported offers out there for him no team is offering two first round picks for him the Lakers are offering basically trash in one first round pick right they’re not including

Austin Reeves in a deal if you can beat the Lakers offer and get him you can flip him later potentially for more assets his contract is absolutely fantastic so I’m wondering if the Pelin talking to the Atlanta Hawks about Murray is more just like hey we could probably beat almost any offer you’re

Getting we offer a little bit more you get them out of the East you send them to us there you go problem solved and I wonder if that’s just kind of like smart shopping in a sense by David Griffin and the New Orleans Pelicans they kind of

See an opportunity to get a good guy cheap you can probably then flip him this off season if you really need to for more you’re adding assets that way I think that would be really good you know if you trade Jonas Val chunis for him I think that’s a little bit clunky they

Could do that you know but I don’t know if that’s the move that you really want to go because now you’re kind of retooling your roster you’re going to be playing Larry Nance Jr Cody Zeller all your Center minutes with like maybe five minutes for Zion not great but you could

Probably get by by adding more Talent on if that’s the case and then you can really get aggressive this offseason with making some moves it makes sense and so from that perspective of just forward thinking let you know deal with it this year when you’re probably not a

Title Contender anyway go and make that kind of move let me know what you think about Deonte Murray here in the comments on YouTube there’s almost 300 of y’all in here hanging out with me so let’s do a bonus part of lock on P so we’re going

To end the show normally you’re going to hear me wrap the show up and then we’re going to stay Live on YouTube we’re going to get into your questions so start to put them in the chat here in a second and we’ll go for a little bit longer it’s getting late it’s after

Midnight though um so we’ll talk for a little bit longer here I’ll answer your questions in the chat this is the part of the podcast that ends for the people listening on audio okay so hold on a second here stay with me so thank you all so much for listening to locked on

Pelicans we are part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day the number one Pelicans podcast subscribe wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube tell a friend about the show as always I’m your host Jake Madison Nola Jake on Twitter be back with you all

Tomorrow to make sense of the NBA trade deadline and everything that happened or didn’t happen see you all next time okay we’re back we’re going still we’ll stay live for a little bit longer here on the locked on Pelicans YouTube Channel Please Subscribe wherever you get your podcast and of course if you’re

Here on YouTube with me let’s answer your questions tell a friend about the show all of those things if you’re in everyday or let me know in the comments down below here so let’s dive into some of your things we’ll go for at least 15 minutes and we’ll see how it’s going

After that so put your questions in the chat if I don’t get to it the one rule I ask is like don’t spam it I might be skipping you I might not be but if I just don’t get to it another time and it’ll probably get asked elsewhere here um draft season

Shack says Jake after after dark something like that right we’re into Thursday here so there is definitely we’re we’re not going to go off the rails here though Josh L says Jake is this a good trade Dyson Daniels Larry n Jr Naj Marshall and picks for Murray and

Aong wo yeah I don’t I don’t love it I don’t hate it either you know I don’t know you really need to move Larry n Jr for Kongo I think that’s kind of the issue there right like it’s more about lar it’s more about yonas V Unis having

Your centers be Jonas Val chunis and kongu doesn’t really kind of fix your problem and that’ss you Murray but again I don’t think you really need Murray so I don’t I wouldn’t kind of go out and and make some of those moves here Alexander Nukem says would you trade

Herb Jones and a first for Murray no I would not I would not do that the salaries wouldn’t work anyway so that trade wouldn’t happen here uh Mander frgo says every day appreciate you being here with me my man uh Tommy Jones Says Z should work on his mid-range even

Though he’s a monster down low yes and no yes and no I don’t want him taking tons of mid-rangers I don’t want him taking threes I want him just to have the court space for him to go to the rim and score I agree he needs a little bit

More of a mid-ranger just to take every now and then to keep defenses honest but I don’t really want him taking like a ton of mid-range shots or anything like that so I don’t think that’s really going to kind of be what he does he’s

Good at getting to the rim we want him to do that um Mike deflexa says could we package Nai and Nance I mean yeah in theory you could trade anybody right like you got to give me what that would be for I don’t think you’d get a ton in

Return for that you know that puts you at about what is that like 15 million-ish dollars in salary to bring back a player that could get you like a tyus Jones but if you get rid of Larry n Jr then who’s your backup center when you close games with him right Larry n

Jr is kind of key for what this team is looking to do I think and he’s been playing really good back basketball so I don’t think you can really go that direction you know if you trade a guy and then all of a sudden you don’t have

A replacement for I’m like I’m not so sure here right um Mr fro says where’s Carlo makovich you know it’s been reported that he’s going to be here in New Orleans we saw him at the facility the other day there’s been no official like he signed a contract with the team

I don’t know if they exactly have that sorted out but I’m sure there’s a plan here after the NBA trade deadline so maybe look for that on like Friday or so here but you know I don’t know if he’d get tons of minutes right EJ ldal is not

Getting tons of minutes I saw a couple of y’all asking about him here in the chat right those guys are aren’t NBA tested and I don’t think would see much of a role here at all this season this is a team that’s going to be competing for a playoff spot potentially competing

For seating in the playoffs and then get to a playoff series you’re not going to trust a dude who just arrived in February right or not you you know who’s not going to trust that guy the guy that makes the decision on that Willie Green isn’t going to trust that guy and I

Think that’s kind of part of the problem here fifth King Corner says hi Jake I understand we need to trade but would you stick with this roster moving forward I think we are capable this roster is undefeated playing with energy like this I mean I wouldn’t say they’re

Undefeated playing with energy like this we’ve seen them lose some games you know where they’ve looked good and then they’ve blown leads and other things like that this was a complete game from start to finish but they do that so inconsistently too that it makes you

Wonder you know all I want this trade deadline and if you’re in everyday are you know this is for them not to make a bad move don’t just force something because you’re worried about contracts or what have you do not downgrade the team in any capacity is what I don’t

Want to see them do so to me I don’t see a trade out there that makes a ton of sense for the Pelicans I really don’t you know I had y’all submit trades for Last Friday show and like to me there were maybe like three that like significantly improved the team that I

Would do that I thought was realistic too right someone traded for LeBron James that’s not going to happen yes that would improve the team but in the absence of something like that like yeah I just stick with this roster even if it means you’re not going to have some of

The playoff success that you want they’ll be competitive I think Jonas valunas will be a liability in the playoffs absolutely but look if you trade him and then there’s a gaping hole in the center position how does that impact your playoff seating and your standings and all of that so I think

That’s going to be something that you need to really you know worry about here and we’ll see you know how much this injury is it’s if it’s a calf contusion I don’t see this being a very big deal so I don’t want to I don’t think this

Team is going to like tank or really worry about anything with that here so let’s keep let’s keep going he uh height Lighthouse says why not keep JV and just pay the tax well they’re not in the tax right now they don’t need to pay the tax

They can keep this roster as is and not pay the tax so by getting rid of kyol Le Jr early they they handled kind of that problem and I think they’re in a good position here and it’ll be totally fine Todd with the fact says remember how

Long Trey sat his rookie year before he came along in the second half of the Season I’m assuming y’all are talking about Hawkins and him getting lack of minutes it just kind of goes up and down right like he’ll get minutes he won’t get minutes that’s kind of how Willie

Green does things here Tommy Jones says Jake the paint tightens up in the PlayOn Z will need a mid-range jumper well he’s not going to develop one by the time the playoffs come around so just put Shooters around him right now now and give him some space to work or make

Teams pay by Trey by CJ by Ingram taking a ton of threes and hopefully making a ton of Threes here um Sebastian Zia says do you think Murray would start or come off the bench if no starters are traded for him no clue that’s what I mean right

It’s like a clunky fit no no idea I would assume Off the Bench but you know if no starters are traded the only guy you’re going to drop is this herb and we just raved about his defense and Murray’s defense has gone down since his trade away from the San Antonio Spurs so

Like I don’t I don’t really see that being a smart like move and it was kind of weird with with everything so we’ll we’ll kind of see here um what could happen but I think they only do that move if it’s like so cheap you just kind

Of like have to do it if you ever bought something that like you don’t really need but you’re like wow that’s like such a good deal it would be stupid not to take advantage of this that could be a good and bad thing right like it’s smart shopping but if you don’t ever

Need that thing thing it can be a problem the good thing with NBA players is you can then just trade them you can’t always do that with stuff you just buy so I don’t know if it’s like the best analogy here um c not capap says

Would we trade JV for Claxton like yeah but would the Nets do that no and that’s kind of part of the problem I think Claxton is he’s an expiring right so like he’s going to get paid and so you kind of run into a similar position with

Thing I think you know I like claxon he not as good of a rebounder but he’s definitely in there so I think you could make a move like that I just don’t think it’ll be all of that easy to go and get that guy you need to give up picks let

Me see what his contract is here he’s probably on so he is not on an extension so he’s out of contract ever this year he might get much more bigger offers and that puts the Pelicans in a in a tough position they’d have his Bird right so

They can go over the cap to resign him but those are the kind of things you got to think about with some of the trades here when it comes to you know looking at other guards and things like that Josh L says does bi get paid next year

He could be like how comfortable are you giving him a max deal with some of his play you know he has those moments where he looks Unstoppable the other night against Toronto in 3 quarters 41 points but then he has other games where he just feels a little bit clunky and

Doesn’t fit and that’s where things get like a little bit weird for me here with everything so um going to be interesting when it comes to that in a year and what they do with his contract and extension and what you know he’s under contract for one more

Year after this so he’s extension eligible this summer we’ll see what happens like look if they can sign him for cheaper than a Max like you should do it but then you start to have some questions about team building and all of those things here Ryan says kozma

Doesn’t make sense for us I didn’t see the kozma question but yeah correct like kuzma makes no sense for this team uh with his contract it doesn’t make sense either for for everything here so no we don’t need there’s a reason I haven’t talked about Kyle kusma at all for this

Team here uh do you think more experience would make our current core Ingram on CJ herb yonas better um they haven’t really played that many games together so yes and no right I’ve talked about this a lot someone was like is it just as simple as patience right you

Know after losses people tend to like freak out sky falling we need to blow them up you know the starters have a negative net rating all of those things same point this teams winning games they have 30 wins already they’re in a good spot when it comes to that sort of stuff

Do you need to make dramatic changes not necessarily however you’re you’re H how many games into the season at this point right like if it was going to kind of click it feels like it would have you’re 51 games in and the starters still are struggling now they might have a

Positive net rating after this game so it might be getting better so you can say like yeah patience is important for this team and you know they should figure it out but also they probably should have figured it out by now now I’d like to have seen them look better

And less clunky at times could still change I just wouldn’t completely Bank on that and say that that is going to be an absolute fact so yeah that easily could but I don’t think that’s necessarily going to happen I hope it will but I can’t tell you 100% jh5 says

Mark Williams no like they’re not none of these young centers that y’all want are available for trade at all right Jaylen durren isn’t getting moved by the Detroit Piston so you know I don’t really look at those because I think those are just not going to happen uh

Whatsoever JJ hurricane this is a good question uh any good player in free agency or the buyout Market not free agency right like if there was anyone you could sign right now that’d be good a team would have done it we’ll see about the buyout Market but New Orleans

Has never been an actual like player when it comes to that they’re also pushing close to the luxury text too so that’s you know in mind you got to keep that in mind with everything so that’s also a factor into this you know as well

Like if a guy’s like I want 5 Mill million they’re not going to give a guy 5 million because that puts him into the luxury tax and that’s definitely not going to be great uh Chris Gray says great to see Zion take this game over

When it uh was close yep I agree that was awesome to see here Simon watt says dude I’m here live yes finally thank you for being here thank you all for being here we do these live shows for you so I can interact with yall I know you’re

Excited right after the games I want to share that excitement with you talk about what we saw answer your questions here it’s why we’re doing this sort of stuff so we’re having a lot of fun here on the live show Marley G says Miles Turner no he’s like untradeable

Basically like none of those guys are getting moved this year like I don’t I think you’ll see a lot of minor moves right Boston had a trade today Detroit was making a couple of deals today like those are minor moves in the grand scheme of things I don’t think you’re

Going to see like bigname players in like explosive de details in the next 12 hours I mean we’ll see but I just doesn’t feel like that’s going to be the the case here and so it could just be this team rolls forward as is and I and

I don’t hate that idea for everything here um seeing some love but not love for King cake baby in the chat you’re saying trade the King cake baby Ryan no I actually love King cake baby think it’s really unique really fun and I love the idea of what they’ve done with him

And so no do not trade King cake baby I would be furious they actually traded King cake baby You’ get a whole show about that about me saying how it was maybe the worst move that this team uh could do here for everything so one or two more questions here and we will

Start to wrap up some of yall are just saying names okay uh J5 says Drummond yeah if you’re if you’re getting rid of Valen chunis like I wouldn’t hate Drummond coming in he’s a very good rebounder he’s having an awesome season actually like if you’re just trying to

Be cheap at that position Drummond could be like way way worse here for everything Tommy Jones says Walker Kessler would be perfect fit for the PS in my opinion yeah but he’s not getting traded like he’s not getting traded he has a role on a on a decent team that

Wants to win and he looks like a starting center for the future right like he has looked really really good at times particularly his rookie year and there’s no way that they’re going to move him this is a guy that is averaging 2.7 blocks per game this year sometimes

Starting sometimes not is still a raw Prospect like he’s not getting moved none of those good young centers are are getting moved so you’re not going to end up seeing those guys traded uh Kelly Ock for cheap like yeah that makes sense you know if you want to go that direction

That’s fine you know you could definitely get him away from uh the Utah Jazz with everything so like sure that makes some sense here I don’t know if that’s who you really want to roll in with as like your starting center in the playoffs but certainly that could make

Some sense he shoots the three ball very well doesn’t do it on tons of volume this season but with a bigger role he would this is a guy who for his career is 37% from three he’s shooting 43% from three this year like that makes sense I want more shooting with everything so

Like yeah you know there there you go with with all of that stuff um Aaron Herbert says AAR says thoughts on tyus Jones love him just doesn’t really make sense for a trade to happen like love the idea of a stronger backup point guard on this team but I just don’t

Think that’s going to end up being the direction that they go I think if any anything they if they can’t make a move for Center they probably just don’t do much maybe you see you know maybe you see um Naji Marshall moved something along those lines here um so we’re going

To start to wrap up the show here Simon watt says chemistry is too good on this team no trades yeah but chemistry doesn’t win you titles if there’s things that need to be addressed and there definitely still are things that need to be addressed so that’s worth keeping in

Mind too good vibes are are great but they don’t necessarily win you titles talent and your roster does and that’s the most important thing so you know definitely want to see that get upgraded but Todd with the fact says curious to see what this team does in the playoffs

Before making any major roster moves I’m with you on that I want to see what this team does kind of as simple as that I think it could be really good so we’ll find out look we’ve gone a little bit longer here I appreciate you all hanging

Out with me on a little locked on Pelicans after dark this was a lot of fun great win for the Pelicans here so we’re going to wrap up the show here let me get some sleep it’s going to be a long day tomorrow waiting on all the rumors waiting on things to happen

There’s Marty grow parades I’ll be out at Muses that’s going to be a lot of fun so I appreciate yall hanging out with me here on lockon pugin live after a big time win do me a favor be coming every day or listen Monday through Friday to

Lock on pelicans and you know we hopefully get a some news tomorrow and it has a lot of fun here so I appreciate youall being with me as always I’m your host Jake Madison

Behind a strong performance from Zion Williamson in the 4th quarter the New Orleans Pelicans beat the best team in the Western Confernce. Jake Madison breaks down how Zion close out the Los Angeles Clippers. Plus, he looks at the strong defense from the Pels. And there are even more trade rumors! The Pels talked with the Atlanta Hawks about Dejounte Murray?? Jake makes sense of the latest batch of rumors.

Join the Locked On Pelicans Insiders: https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonpelicans

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPelicans?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

#NewOrleansPelicans #ZionWilliamson #NBA #pelicans

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Nissan
Our friends at Nissan have a lineup of SUV’s with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level. Take the Nissan Rogue, Nissan Pathfinder, or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure. Shop NissanUSA.com.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNBA. Terms and conditions apply.

eBay Motors
For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.

BetterHelp
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month.

PrizePicks
Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.

FanDuel
Make Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your best bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)