Pelicans’ Offseason Plans Take DRAMATIC Turn | Giannis Out, Porzingis In?

Pelicans’ Offseason Plans Take DRAMATIC Turn | Giannis Out, Porzingis In?

There’s a lot of talk about the Pelicans getting involved in a Giannis trade, but I’ll tell you why they should be looking to get Chris’s Porzingis from the Celtics instead. It’s a Tuesday episode of Locked On Pelicans. Let’s go. You are Locked On Pelicans, your daily New Orleans Pelicans podcast, part of the Locked On Network. your team every day. Welcome to another edition of Locked On Pelicans, the daily podcast covering your favorite team, the New Orleans Pelicans and 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, JakeMadison, Nola Jake on Twitter, here with you on this Tuesday and we’re going to get into some trade talk, some draft talk, and some not trade talk as well. when it comes to Herb Jones at the end of today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans. And of course, thank you for making Locked on Pelicans your first listen today and every day. We’re here Monday through Friday, the number one Pelicans podcast, covering everything you want to know about this Pelicans team. So, please subscribe wherever you get your podcast and join over 11,000 Pelicans fans on YouTube as well and become an everydayer. That means you listen Monday through Friday to the Locked On Pelicans podcast. So, we’re going to get into a Giannis no trade actually and it said the Pelicans need to be shifting their focus to someone much more attainable. So, let’s start with that. Let’s say why they should just not even be worried about anything when it comes to Giannis being traded from the Milwaukee Bucks. And while they’re likely not going to be a team that gets in the mix for Giannis, he’s not going to want to come here. Let’s just be realistic about it. They don’t need to have their off season held up by waiting for that domino to fall. Now, while they control the Bucks future drafts in a sense, so you’re going to need to be involved anyway, if you’re going to use one of those kind of future Bucks picks or something like that, swamps, whatever, to try and facilitate a trade, that’s kind of your big move this off season, it sounds like you’re going to be waiting a while. And that’s why the Pelicans maybe need to pivot some of their offseason plans. So, this is per the Bucks zone on Twitter who’s aggregating this from Sam AI of the Athletic, right? quote, “The Bucks front office wants every scenario to get the other team in any potential Giannis trade and John Winhorse is going to go for blood, their GM after getting a new contract extension.” Quote, “John is not going to just try and be on good terms with Giannis. He’s trying to do right by the Bucks. And if that me and that means that if every trade scenario in play leaves the other team so gutted that Giannis might not actually be that in that much better of a situation, then maybe that’s where he looks at the room and says, “All right, let me stay put.” End quote. So, this makes sense. Giannis likely would get the highest trade return we’ve ever seen in NBA history if he gets moved. That’s really what it should be. And I think it’ll come close to something like that. like that’s a hall is what you’d be looking at for Giannis. So, if that’s going to be the case, other teams are going to be scared and it’s going to take a minute for this trade to get resolved. While it’s still maybe likely he gets moved, especially if Giannis does want out and requests that and they’re meeting this week, so it’s very timely and relevant, I don’t think it means a trade’s going to get done anytime soon. So, if the Pelicans are waiting on that to be like, “All right, now we can reshape our roster.” you might be waiting for a while and that’s not what the Pelicans can afford to do. They need to be proactive in remaking this team because look, you’re not bringing Joe Dumar in to just run it back entirely with what David Griffin did. You’re bringing Joe Dumar’s in to do something different, I think. And so, you’ve got to get active when it comes to it. So, if a Giannis trade isn’t happening anytime soon, well, then you need to go and just get the guy that you want to get or someone that’s call it more attainable, right? Attainability is probably a key word when it comes to this. Giannis is attainable, but not right away. So, that’s going to hold things up. But a team that should be and likely will be to a degree open for business is the Boston Celtics after a very disappointing series against the New York Knicks and the injury to Jason Tatum that’s going to keep him out for most of if not all of the year depending on kind of where they fall when it comes to, you know, the playoffs and all that next year. They need to make some moves. They’re in the dreaded second apron and I’ll do a whole show on what that means, how the collective bargaining agreement and salary cap works. and we need to do that show this off season anyway. When you’re in the Second Apron, like things are expensive. The Boston Celtics probably have one of, if not the most expensive roster in history when you get into the luxury tax and Second Apron and all of that stuff, and they’re doing that. It also leaves you very few ways to try and actually upgrade your team. You can’t aggregate players in a trade. Like, you can’t trade two players out for two players back. It’s got to basically be you send one guy out, you get one guy back. They also can’t take more money back in a trade. they have to cut salary and if they’re not going to be a true title contender next season with Jason Tatum likely being out injured all the year knowing that they’re going to have to dismantle and and change the the salary structure of their roster. This is probably as good of a time as they’re ever going to have to be able to do that and go with a smaller reset than they would have had otherwise. So that means guys that make a lot of money being traded away from the team. And I think a guy that the Pelicans need to go and get is Chris Porzingis. Look, there’s risk here with this for New Orleans, but Chris Taps last year in 42 games averaged 19 and a half points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and also a block and a half per game. He’s also a good three-point shooter. On over six attempts per game, he shot 41.2%. For his career, he’s 36.6% from three on over five attempts per game. His career averages are 19.6 points per game, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.8 8 blocks, almost two blocks per game. This is a dude who’s a good player. He’s also going to be on an expiring deal, so they could just let him walk. But what if you try and find a way to help the Boston Celtics reduce some of their salary right now? And that’s something they likely need to do. And Porzingis with his injury history, and he’s got some weird health issue going on right now that he says he doesn’t even know what it is. You know, there’s a risk of that him just not playing a ton. and Boston with the salary they have can’t really take on that kind of risk. Now maybe it means the Pelicans shouldn’t, but they at least can take you can justify it more than the Boston Celtics can. If you’re looking for a good stretch five to pair next to Zion Williamson, like this is the dude. It’s really as simple as that. Like this is the guy you want. He’s a good enough defensive rebounder in the low 20s usually um when it comes to defensive rebounding percentage. That’s exactly what you’re looking for here. He shoots threes and he can be a rim protector. Kind of like the dream trade target here. So, let’s find a way. And I got a trade up to try and make this work. And I’ve got the basic framework of it. I don’t exactly have it all figured out just yet here. But the crux of the trade is the Boston Celtics, the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Utah Jazz. I’m trying to get some cover here for Dejante Murray being out for the beginning part of the year. And I’ll go into that in in the next segment here on why we’re so kind of guard focused with that, right? Like Dejonte Murray’s not dead. He’s going to play again. His career is not even close to over and he’s going to be a good player in the future. But if the Pelicans, the crux of it is you want to be competitive next year. You can’t miss him for a couple of months, which is likely going to happen. So the Celtics acquire Kelly Lin is kind of like a cheap replacement for Chrisaps Porzingis. The Pelicans get Chrisaps Porzingis, Colin Ston, and Jordan Clarkson. And the Jazz acquired Dejonte Murray, Jordan Hawkins, Jose Alvarado, and likely a first round pick from New Orleans in some capacity. A future first, you know, I would probably just include that Indiana Pacers pick next year in this. It’s top four protected to Indiana, I believe. Um, and everything else I would just give to the Utah Jazz. Simple as that. to try and get this done. Boston shaves $17.3 million in just salary off, but basically like double triple that for what that would impact their books on because of the luxury tax payments. At least double that, right? That’s a significant cost savings. The Pelicans are adding about $10 million here. So, you need to probably make some other moves. And the Utah Jazz with no clear direction here can take a flyer on Jordan Hawkins. Jose Alvarado is a guy that they’ll be able to move at the trade deadline. Milwaukee was looking to try and get him and potentially offering a first round pick. You know, Murray will get healthy, come back. They don’t need to worry too much about him because they’re not going to be competitive next year and that’s that. You know, the Pelicans get Chris Sporzingis. You get Colin Saxon to be your new point guard and then Jordan Clarkson to be some instant offense off the bench. I think this is a good deal for New Orleans. I’m I’m probably off on I I could see the Celtics doing this. You know, maybe you need a pick or something in there for them. I can see the Jazz being like the toughest one to try and figure out would they do this, but it makes some sense there and draft picks can always kind of compensate for that sort of thing. So, New Orleans gets the pieces they need to remain competitive in the Western Conference here and you’re not waiting on a Giannis trade anymore. And now, if a Yiannis trade does happen, that’s just lane yapping. You’ll be able to improve your team even more than that. You could redirect Jordan Clarkson, Colin Ston, something like that to get a more impactful player or a different type of player that you want. You solidify the center position. It seems to make a lot of sense to me. I think Chrisaps Porzingis is the East big man that the Pelicans should be going after. Let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments down below. So, coming up next, let’s go into a player that I think is rapidly rising o up draft boards and someone that I think teams are really going to be looking at and is certainly at this point now in the top 10 of the NBA draft and probably a guy the Pelicans are going to really look at and that is Jagor. I’m going to pronounce his name right. Jaor Dean got it right this time here. We want to get the pronunciations right out of BYU the point guard. incredible combine. Let’s break down what we’ve seen from him, why I think he can fit for the Pelicans, why I think he’s going to be a target for the Pelicans. That’s coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans. Today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans is brought to you by Car Guru. Shopping ship for a car should be exciting, not exhausting, but between the confusing prices, hidden fees, it can feel very overwhelming. And that’s why I love using Car Gurus. They help you cut through the noise and show you the best deals with full confidence. And with over 4 million listings, Car Gurus has more new and used cars than any other major online marketplace in the US. They verify dealers, provide real price analysis, and give you the tools and data you need to make the right choice without second-guessing yourself. You need a deal you can trust. 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Find Locked on NBA Big Board on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast. And we’re actually going to reference locked on NBA Big Board in today’s show. So, I want to look at Jagor Dean rising up draft boards. NBA big board Raphael Barlo has him as the 11th ranked pro prospect right now, but I think this is someone who’s going to jump up even further because his numbers in his combine was really really eyeopening and he’s young. That’s a great thing here in let me let me pull up the numbers here in shoes. He was 6’9 and a half with really good drills, good athleticism, good agility, all of that. And when you look at him kind of filling out his frame, the strength and just looking at him at the combine versus playing at BYU, he looks, you can see the dude has put on some muscle and has gotten just bigger, stronger, and he’s someone that I was not particularly high on in his lone season at BYU. He played worse in conference play than he did in non-conference play. And if you were listening to the show, The Everydayers did when Rich Stamon was on the show and we were talking about him, he was not high on him either. Again, conference play and not playing as well is a big concern. And the fact that he shot poorly all season long, 27% from three, 41.2% from the field overall is not particularly great. You know, when you look at a point guard like this, 5 and a half assists to almost three turnovers per game is not a particularly good ratio there either. But with that size, with that athleticism and everything that you see from him, all of a sudden that kind of changes it because you start salivating in a sense, right, over those kind of numbers. And I’ll be 19 years old on draft night here. So, his appeal, the reason that he’s so interesting is all of those things. You know, as a point guard, having that level of size is very, very rare. The Pelicans have needed to add size. You know, when you look at his passing though, he is a special playmaker. Originally from Russia, played for Real Madrid before coming to the US and going to BYU. You know, his reads and his passing are very advanced for his age. He looks like a guy that’s going to come in and make some of those Nicola Joic Luca Donuch type of passes that you’re just like, how did that guy do it? And with that height, you can survey the court really, really well. And you can use that height to really kind of drill down on angles and make the right pass in a way that opponents can’t even get to the ball or make a play on it whatsoever. And being that unselfish is something the Pelicans I think could really use. You still have Zion to run point. We’ll see what happens with DeJonte Murray, CJ McCullum, Jose Alvarado, but more playmakers, more ball handlers is a massively important thing at the NBA in this kind of current trend of what we’re seeing. So you need someone like this. You know, he can be kind of an offball secondary jumbo playmaker who can do different things and that’s going to be rather important. Now there’s concerns about him, right? And these are the the simple things. It’s the shooting is number one. Those numbers in college absolutely terrible. Absolutely terrible. But when you watched him go through the combine making basically every single shot in the individual shooting drills, that’s eyeopening. I watched it. The mechanics are really good, really fluid. You look at him shoot and you’re like, “Oh, that dude’s going to make it in the NBA.” The other thing that was so great about that, not just the mechanics, his release is quick. guys with a slow wind up three-point shot. The mechanics could be good, but that’s going to get blocked and not be a real threat in the NBA. Someone like this who can just immediately go with the ball. That’s what someone who’s a threat that NBA teams really need to kind of have on the scouting report and are going to pay attention to. This is why he’s rising up draft boards. It’s a combination of the size and what he showed in drills. You’re like, “Oh, he’s done some work from the end of the season to just today.” I like that already. That shows a work ethic. It shows he knows what he needs to try and improve on that he’s willing to go out and do that. Now, part of this is it’s a combine, right? Like he’s doing this for drills and things like that. It’s not exactly the, you know, a realistic scenario. And maybe he’s only doing this just to improve his draft stock, get some money, maybe you see a lack of it, but there’s no reason to think that. So, he is kind of rising up draft boards in a in a big way. You know, I think one of the things to really keep an eye on from him though is how some of these individual workouts go. He’s going to get brought in and I would imagine the Pelicans are going to work him out too unless he gets a promise from the top five, which the way it’s going maybe he does. But you’ve seen some quicker guards in college give him trouble and if you pick him up full court, he seems to turn the ball over at a high rate. He needs to tighten that handle up and be able to deal with just on ball defensive pressure a little bit better than he’s done in the past because that is not great and he won’t see the court under Willie Green if he’s turning the ball over. Now, here’s the thing, you know, and he’s a fine defensive player. He’s not an elite defensive player, but I do think he is just fine at this point in time, which frankly, you know, that can that can work. That can be good enough for what this team needs. I’m looking for one thing on him here. Give me one second as I try and find it with just again how he is rising up draft boards here. And that’s kind of influencing a lot of things that you’re seeing with him here. Here you go. You know, I think a question a lot of people are going to ask is like, well, why draft him when you had Dyson Daniels who’s kind of similar? He is taller than Dyson Daniels is. He’s a significantly better passer than Dyson Daniels. you might just be looking at a tall point guard and calling it that. That’s not it here. I think with him, with Demean, you’re looking at someone who is much more of a Josh Giddy type playmaker and potential scorer. Whereas Dyson Daniels is an elite elite elite defender, but the offense isn’t great. Still isn’t great. Even in Atlanta with kind of the breakout year that he had, it was really the defense is what’s put him on the map. That’s an entirely different archetype than Igor Deamine is here. Uh, sorry, Jaor Demine is. So, that’s something that it’s not like, well, you could have just kept dicing Daniels. One, that trade’s done. There’s nothing you can do about it. And I think we would be looking at that trade a little bit differently had Deontay Murray not gotten hurt multiple times throughout the season. But, Deme is a guy that I think really needs to be considered for this pick here. Maybe not the pick, but someone to be considered for with that type of size passing kind of something that is very rare and if you had a chance to get one of those guys, it could be worth it for New Orleans. What do you think about him as a prospect? What do you think about him compared to Jeremiah Fears to someone like Coniple? Different type of player. They’re all different type of players. Let me know what you think in the comments down below. So, coming up next, Herb Jones on the move. Let me just shake my head at that right now. I’ll tell you why. That’s coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans. Today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans is brought to you by Skiims. 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That means you listen Monday through Friday to the Locked On Pelicans podcast. And if you’re an everydayer, I appreciate you. Let me know in the comments down below. I see y’all down there. The for your second listen. If it’s not locked on NBA big board, it’s got to be locked on Saints. Ross Jackson, host of the Locked On Saints podcast. Looking at all angles here, the new schedule’s out. Where are they going to what’s the offense going to look like with a new QB? all of those things. Locked on Saints, your second listen today. Part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. So, let’s start to wrap up the show talking about something that is trade talk, but not really. I’ve seen Herb Jones’s name thrown around a ton in mock trades, fake trades, all of those things. I don’t think Herb Jones is really at all going to be traded by this team. So if you see that, especially in what’s looks like a terrible deal, New Orleans is not having a fire sale. Disappointing year making a change with David Griffin certainly, but it’s not like open for business here in New Orleans. Let’s go pick them clean. That’s not how this is going to go. And so if there are good players here, and there are plenty, they’re going to go for high cost or be involved in a larger trade. Herb Jones is one of those guys. When you think about the type of things that Joe Dumar wants on this team, the mold that he wants this team to kind of be, Herb Jones fits that tough-nose defender, right? Who doesn’t complain, just kind of bluecollar guy, goes out and just works hard, barely even takes vacations. And on the contract that he’s on, two more years, basically $14 million next year, $15 million the year after that, this is a steal of a deal. even when he’s injured and not shooting particularly well, he’s that good of a player that that cost with what he can do as a defender. You don’t even need to worry about this whatsoever. He finished fifth in defensive player of the year last season. First team all defense, right? He was the first non- big on that list for defensive player of the year. That’s an impressive showing from him. He’s that good. And on that contract, you don’t just give that guy up for nothing. Now, if it’s a deal that brings Giannis to New Orleans, yeah, you might see Herb Jones included in something like that. Devin Booker, absolutely. Those are the type of trades that you’ll see Herb Jones included in, but doing something that just shakes up the team. Well, I think there is going to be plenty of shakeup when it comes to the roster and it’s going to look very different next year. I don’t expect Herb Jones to be one of those guys. You can bring him off the bench and it would be fine. You can start him also good. He doesn’t care. he’s just gonna go out and play basketball and do what he does. So, this is not the type of guy, you know, I saw Sam Vini was talking about it on his Game Theory podcast in a couple of, you know, other areas. I’ve seen trades where he’s just kind of like thrown in as a team that like Memphis or others need to go and get. It’s going to need to be a very good trade for New Orleans to try and get him away. That’s how important he is. That’s how good he is. So, you’re not going to just do that. So, I think that’s those are just silly trades, right? Like, look, there were a few trades I’ve put out here in the past that are not my best and you look at that and you’re like, this is just so biased for New Orleans. You’re going to see a lot of that. You’re going to see Herb Jones’s name in a lot of trades. And I don’t think he is even remotely available for just nothing. The right trade, sure. I don’t think there’s really anyone who’s truthfully like untouchable right now in my opinion, but Herb Jones is not a guy they’re just going to like get rid of for no reason here. He is someone that you could honestly argue is a little bit of the like heart and soul of the team in a sense. So, he’s not going anywhere in my opinion. He’s going to be someone that the team is still looking to have be like a core piece going forward with it all. I look, I just bought a new Herb Jones jersey this year of the City Edition jersey. So, I really hope he’s not gone. He’s one of my favorite players on the team with just the way he plays and all of those things. There’s a right trade where you give him up. There absolutely is. But it’s not in a deal for Porzingis. It’s in a deal for a Giannis, a de, you know, one of those names. That’s not going to happen here in New Orleans. There’s other guys you can salary dump. There’s other guys you would move to try and figure all that out. And on such a good contract, it’s just not happening. So, there you go. Don’t worry when you see Herb Jones’s name and trade rumors cuz that’s not something where they’re shopping him. All right, that’s going to do it for this episode of Locked On Pelicans. We’ll probably do a live show Tuesday night. I’ll probably schedule this. Check the YouTube page uh if you want to join in on that. Those are a lot of fun. We can do some draft talk during all that. Answer your questions live in the moment. And as always, I’m your host Jake Madison at Nola Jake on Twitter. This is the Lockdown Pelicans podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. And I’ll be back with y’all tomorrow.

Could Kristaps Porzingis Transform the New Orleans Pelicans? The New Orleans Pelicans are at the center of trade discussions, with Kristaps Porzingis emerging as a key target. Could his addition be the catalyst for the Pelicans’ success?

Jake Madison, a Pelicans insider, examines the potential impact of acquiring Kristaps Porzingis and how it could reshape the team’s dynamics. He also touches on the buzz surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo and evaluates NBA draft prospect Egor Demin. Madison delves into the significance of Herb Jones amid ongoing trade rumors, highlighting his importance to the team’s core.

Join us for this episode to gain exclusive insights into the Pelicans’ trade strategies and player assessments. Discover how these moves could influence the team’s trajectory.

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