Jeremiah Fears! NBA Draft Expert REVEALS Pelicans’ Must-Pick at #7 | Zion Williamson’s Future?

Jeremiah Fears! NBA Draft Expert REVEALS Pelicans’ Must-Pick at #7 | Zion Williamson’s Future?

nba draft expert Raphael Barlo tells you exactly who the Pelicans have to take with the seventh overall pick and a bit of a juicy tidbit on Khan Canipple today’s 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 Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day available wherever you get your podcast and available on YouTube i’m your host Pelicans insider Jake Madison at Nola Jake on Twitter here with y’all on this Tuesday we’ve got Lockdown NBA big board host Raphael Barlo coming on the show here to break down everything Pelicans in the draft by the way today’s episode of Lockdown Pelicans is brought to you by FanDuel new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins look we’re just going to get right into it here with Raphael Barlo joining me now in Locked on Pelicans I got Raphael Barlo from Locked on NBA Big Board and the Big Board newsletter which you should absolutely subscribe to raphael thanks man for coming on and talking some draft here with me yeah no problem usually if I’m on that that means um the season didn’t go as as as planned so I’m happy to talk sports man yeah look after a 21- win season for the Pelicans it certainly did not kind of go as planned but but that actually leads like the first thing I kind of want to ask you about here where you know the Pelicans want to be competitive next year last season didn’t go like they wanted due to injuries mainly to the team here when you’re picking in the top 10 and you’re trying to balance you know getting a long-term player right with a high ceiling but also trying to be competitive next year does in your opinion should that impo impact and influence who you end up drafting yeah without a doubt i just think New Orleans is in a very unique situation i don’t think there’s another team in the NBA that has a situation similar to the Pelicans i mean you got your your point guard is hurt do you draft another point guard at at number seven i mean Zion is supposed to be your cornerstone but this is like they’re they’re in theory still building around him not just next year but like the foreseeable future I guess yeah so this is almost like year three where his name is you know been floated around in trade scenarios i’ve always thought that as unique of a talent as as as Zion is and I I had the my first time watching him healthy was back in March and man he’s incredible when he’s special like he’s special there’s no getting around it man like and seeing it on TV is one thing but seeing it like up close and personal but I’ve always thought Zion was a difficult guy to build around even when he’s healthy because he’s not spacing the floor he’s not grabbing 10 rebounds so ideally maybe you need to find you like a a sevenfooter that’s like a rim protector a rebounder and a floor spacer and those guys are hard to find so many of them all around the NBA and in the draft right and so with with that with with Zion being your cornerstone it’s it’s just tough but I mean Trey Murphy’s really really good and and so I just think with with the Pelicans man you you have to take the player that you think is going to be the best player long term even if that means trying to move up and and get the guy that you really want but like I said they’re they’re just in a really unique situation this summer yeah so okay so let’s let’s let’s talk about the trade up because that’s kind of the big rumor going around right now and you were on with Kevin Oconor over at Yahoo and he asked you about it where he’s hearing the Pelicans maybe trying to trade up to three to get Ace Bailey before we even get into that give me your thoughts on Ace Bailey because it seems he’s I don’t want to call him a polarizing prospect but I think people have like different opinions on him yeah he is and a lot of times man you you read stuff on social media and on Twitter and it’s kind of like it’s that may not be real like Twitter may not be what GMs are thinking and we’ve even seen it a little bit with some of the green room invites that that came out today like there’s guys that everybody’s mocking including myself going in the lottery and they haven’t received the green room invite yet so with that being said I mean I I love Acea’s talent coming into the year I thought I was one of the ones that believe like man he has a chance to compete with Flag to go number one it only took like two games for me to see being overzealous there but there’s a lot to like about him he has good positional size may not be the 610 that Rutgers listed him at but he wasn’t a guy that was like a fivestar recruit as a ninth grader he didn’t become a fivestar till he’s a senior in high school when he’s on he he might be the best player in college basketball when he’s on because he had a game where he was like 13 of 15 from the floor had another game he was 13 of 20 but sandwiched in between those games it might be a four for 15 a little inconsistent but I mean you’re just talking about a gifted shot maker that has a really really high upside and I think that’s the reason why New Orleans is rumored to be interested in trying to move up to get him is he the type of guy you would give up future draft capital or a Herb Jones like player to go and get do you view him as a guy that you’re like “Yeah that’s that’s the type of player or that is the player you want to kind of build around going forward.” I’ve had this discussion with with my brother and it’s risky but I look at what the Pelicans did with Trey Murphy what was he like the 17th yeah 17th pick he averaged five a game as a rookie and then he was what 21 a game this year so if you look at Ace who’s younger than what Trey was as a rookie and if their skill sets are similar if you can turn Trey into a 21 point per game scorer in what four years four years from now Ace will only be like 22 and if you can get the same progression that you got with Trey and Ace then you have like two big wings that can shoot and and knock down shots and if Zion is your guy then you’ve provided the floor spacing for him at least with two of the positions and Zion is a very good passer so that’s my thinking behind that you get you two two wings that can knock down shots that are plus athletes and again if if you can get Ace on the same trajectory where you had Trey Murphy you really got something there and and there’s been a couple of rumors the past day or so about the Pelicans really wanting to invest more in player development than maybe they have in the past even though I think they’ve done a decent job with that but that certainly seems to be an emphasis that Joe Dumar’s coming in now running the team seems to put on it so trading up for a guy that you think has that high ceiling you know and you can develop him but it also gives you a little bit of Zion insurance right you know Zion’s contract is still one they can get out of you know for whatever reason maybe in the future they just decide they want to do a reset and I agree with you that building around like a non-shooting big man that isn’t elite at rebounding or rim protection is is kind of tough despite all the talent that Zion has you could probably do worse than two kind of elite shotmaking wings in Trey Murphy and Ace Bailey as the start of your rebuild going forward yeah and I like what the Pelicans have done i mean Herb Jones coming out of Alabama was not a shooter jose Alvarado was not considered an NBA player i mean that draft he was in I didn’t have him in my top 100 players so that’s two guys that they’ve really like developed or have outplayed where they were projected to go in the draft or where they went and then like I said Trey Trey Murphy’s been really good so if they can get one more like really big like developmental plus and I think Eve is is a guy that I mean he’s he’s a late bloomer he’s pretty raw still so like I said it’s a weird situation but they have some some talent and some pieces to to complement Zion yeah um final thing on Ace Bailey do you think he and Zion fit at all i think that’s one of the things that I think has been a little bit of the concern at least for Pelicans fans of there’s probably you know I I don’t think Brandon Ingram’s the NBA comp for Ace Bailey but there’s some of that in terms of the shot selection I think and you saw the past two years maybe Ingram and Zion didn’t fit too well together yeah I’m I’m a big Brandon Ingram fan i was like the guy arguing online in 2016 he was better than Ben Simmons so um yeah I mean I never thought of it from that perspective i think that Ace’s shot selection the the crazy shots is due to limited handle but he has this unique ability to where he can stop pop and fire and shoot over the top of guys and so I think with with Ace sometimes the bad shots are because he gets in trouble trying to put the ball on the floor but I think that can easily be worked on brandon is a guy that I thought the Pelicans had some real success with point forward with Brandon i really wanted that to work i don’t know why it didn’t work maybe I didn’t watch enough Pelicans games but I think also in injuries right like they you know they played they didn’t play enough together i think that’s a big part of it too yeah i mean I I would have loved to see more Ingram and and Zion picking roles or even like some inverted Zion Ingram picking pops or something like that but I don’t think there’s I don’t think Ace is going to be the point forward or the password that Brandon Ingram ended up becoming maybe I’m wrong but right now I don’t see any of the the flashes of it yeah so coming up next here on Locked on Pelicans Raphael had the scoop on some of the workouts that the team is doing and I want to ask him about one of those players in particular i’ll let you know who it is coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans is brought to you by FanDuel we got the finals here and it has been fun so far every game highlight worthy performances major momentum swings and can’t miss moments so whether it’s a game-winning shot or a breakout player there’s never been a better time to get in on the action and you can do that with FanDuel fanduel makes it easy to stay in the game before tip off and live with player props performance trends and same game parlays fans have more ways than ever to play smart and win big if you want to get in on Finals MVP you can get in on the betting for that as well whether it’s Tyrese Hallebertton or Shay Gildas Alexander feels like one of those two guys whichever one wins the series it’s another way to get in on the action over at FanDuel now it’s the best time if you’re new to FanDuel it’s the perfect time to sign up head to fanduel.com place your first $5 bet and if it wins $200 in bonus bets again that gives you more opportunities for same game parlays and to bet on the biggest moments so make every moment more with FanDuel the official sports betting partner of the NBA and thank you for making Lockdown 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 join over 11,000 Pelicans fans on YouTube as well now you can watch Lockdown Pelicans on GF Coast Sports and Entertainment Network every weekday at 10:30 a.m joined by Raphael Barlo of Lockdown NBA Big Board here in your newsletter you put out the scoop that the Pelgans had a big group work out and one of the big names in there was Derek Queen and I think he’s a really interesting prospect because it’s kind of the that prototypical big man that would work next to Zion Williamson someone who has a pretty good handle who can make shots from distance and show some evidence of spacing how do you view him in this draft and like kind of compare him to Cayman Malwatch entirely different kind of player but which one on your personal big board do you have higher i have Miley Walsh higher quinn is a better player right now but Miley Walsh is easier to plug and play low volume guy sevenfooter rim protector in theory like if you look at the the numbers they weren’t like you know they don’t just jump off the page as a shot blocker but he’s young man like I think he just started playing at 15 massive wingspan it’s definitely like an up upside swing it may be a little bit redundant to you know your first round pick last year and and Missy I I don’t think that drafting Mi last year would stop them from taking a big this year that’s just kind of the sense I’ve gotten from talking to people around the team yeah I mean just from what I’ve heard is that nobody knows what the Pelicans are going to do if you look at the workout that I mentioned that’s a wide range of guys that are all projected to be in the first round so the first thing I thought of when I saw the list or when I heard about I’m like “All right they must be making another move because only one and it could be a stretch in that mix was Queen and and maybe Dem only guys that you could see even in I think it’s a reach at at seven the rest of the guys are mid first rounders maybe late first rounders.” I thought that was a very very interesting workout i mean it was what Derek Queen Jaor Demon Will Riley Clifford and Liam McNeely i think I’m missing one more person um but anyway Queen is a guy that I like i don’t know about the fit with Zion but is he actually going to end up being a floor spacer at the NBA level the numbers don’t support it right now like not at all do they but he has great touch i mean if you saw like that game-winning shot against Colorado State that’s a shot that one for the coach to draw it up for him means he believed he was going to make it and that takes an incredible amount of skill you know the NBA is weird today like on paper you don’t think that Alprin Shenon and Steven Adams you don’t think that lineup would work but they were successful with that lineup so maybe Queen and Zion could work together i mean I just can imagine all the jokes i mean social media would have a field day with with those two but um but I like Quinn i mean skill for skill man he’s one of the best he’s a very good passer he rebounds soft hands he I think he’s just a guy that’s going to be like a I think fit is important for everybody but I think he’s one of the guys that fit is really going to be important for him for for Queen are there worries about like his motor the the defensive side of the ball and everything cuz watching him like you see him at least defensively either not know where he’s supposed to be or almost like taking possessions off it seemed like but I mean also that’s the case of a lot of guys too at that age i mean Queen has some good footage of him like defending in space i remember talking to a scout a few months ago about Derek Queen he was like “Yeah our guys are going to like him but we’re gonna have a hard time around the draft showing his film to our coach and saying this is the guy that we like.” and he was saying like if you don’t watch a lot of film with him you’re going to see him jogging you’re going to see him with the mouthpiece hanging out of his mouth you’re just gonna assume that he’s not bringing forth a lot of energy but then you look at the box score and you’re like “Dang he had 18 and 10 and and two assists.” So he was even saying that he thinks like at first glance he may not be appreciated you’re just going to have to watch him over time to really appreciate what he can do but it’s going to be a hard cell for some coaches who are looking like “All right this guy doesn’t look like he plays hard what am I going to do with him?” Look in and in New Orleans with head coach Willie Green like if you’re not def trying on defense and and putting forth that effort you’re going to get buried at the bench right there’s a reason Trey Murphy as good of a player as he’s become like didn’t was up and down in terms of the rotation his rookie year and it had a lot to do with the head coach as you said like it’s not just fit in terms of on court but like on the personality side of things and going to the right like situation I guess is the word that I’m looking for rather than than fit in particular i want to ask you about Jeremiah Fierce because this is a guy that I think you’re you’re really high on and I’ve from reading your stuff on him and watching your show have really come to appreciate like if he’s there at seven is that just a no-brainer pick for the Pelicans especially with the Dejonte Murray injury to me it is and maybe I’m a little biased because I really like him he’s a guy that I’m going beyond the numbers and the measurables what I love about him is out of all the point guards in this class and you can make a case that all the players that are projected in his range they were all were kind of slotted in to be the guy they were given the keys he wasn’t even expected to be Oklahoma’s starting point guard this season he didn’t begin the season as their starter oklahoma hadn’t made the NCAA tournament in like four or five years and the SEC was incredibly tough so for them to ride the coattails of a freshman that was actually supposed to be in high school four and four to me that’s an intangible that I think like a front office would appreciate like all right this young freshman in the tough SEC literally carried his team to the NCAA tournament something that hadn’t been done in four or five years probably saved the coach’s job those are the intangibles that I would look for in a guy that I think could be my point guard of the future and I think he has the alpha mentality he’s tough i was talking to a scout who went to watch him play and he said that there was a game that he just got knocked down on the ground continuously and he kept getting back up and he was at the free throw line talking noise back to the to the bigs that were knocking him down but by the end of the game they were in foul trouble and he was just relentless and he just thinks that that he he can carry a team and so that’s what I would look for in in in a young point guard then I mean the stats were good at least you know maybe the efficiency wasn’t as far as three-point shooting but he shot 85% from the foul line so I think the touch is going to I think the touch is good but if I’m looking for a you know a a point guard to be an engine for my future I mean without a doubt I would take Jeremiah Fierce do do you worry he’s you know I think a lot of my listeners have worried that he’s maybe like a little boomer bust kind of player you know he’s a little bit undersized is that something you’re concerned about with him or do you think he’s maybe even going to be able to come in as a rookie and make an impact on winning because the Pelons are going to be looking for that too this is you know a rookie is not walking into a rebuilding situation where there’s no expectations right it’s is weird how many games did they win last year 21 games not It’s not a rebuilding situation i I honestly I just think everybody in this class is boomer it’s crazy that’s the draft too right like that’s kind of how it is they’re all 18 or 19 years old teams have only had 30 games in college film to scout them i think the top 15 picks are going to be either freshman or one European player that just turned 18 in December so I think there’s high risk with with everyone i mean I think Cooper Flag is pretty safe i think Kanipple is safe but I don’t know if he’s going to bring you the type of I’m gonna ask you about him in the next segment actually he’s one that I’m interested like he’s an interesting player i think he’s he’s very interesting but I I understand the hesitancy but I just think that Fierce has what NBA teams are looking for there was a game I saw where he got in the paint like seven or eight consecutive possessions two feet in the paint and with his ability to draw two defenders and find an open man I I think his game is just perfectly suited for today’s NBA but he has the mindset that that I really value i I think that’s something that they’re looking for you know you’ve heard Joe Dumar’s a lot in interviews and things like that talk about getting to know everyone can see the stats they can see the measurables it’s about getting to know the person the player in that sense and given his past right like Joe Dumar is the type of guy that that values that toughness that relentless attacking and all of those things so those kind of intangibles those kind of qualities seem to really match up with something that Joe Dumars even Troy Weaver is probably kind of looking for um when it comes to their their next kind of big player here so coming up next I’m going to ask you about Coniple that’s coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans and thank you for making Lockdown Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are here Monday through Friday follow us on YouTube wherever you get your podcast and now on GF Coast Sports and Entertainment Network for your second listen go check out Ross Jackson and the Locked On Saints podcast mini camp still going on he’s breaking down the QB battle who’s it going to be make sense of everything black and gold with the Locked On Saints podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day i teased it coming into the break here i got to ask you about Conanipple because it just got reported that he worked out for the team he seems like the safest pick it seems like and you kind of even said that like his floor seems to be pretty high he’ll be able to come in and fit around Zion really well i think when you’re looking at this and drafting in the top seven the question then becomes like how high is his ceiling and what level could he reach at the NBA and look he was overshadowed on a really good Duke team next to Cooper Flag and a lot of other guys there too and still put up some really good numbers how do you how do you view his NBA career kind of going in and his role yeah i think best case scenario he’s Desmond Bane which is pretty good i’m a big Desmond Bane fan so like he went for a lot of picks in in the trade so I think that’s his best case scenario oh man like is so how’s this is he a number two on a championship winning team or is he the third best player i don’t I don’t think so i mean I don’t I don’t think so i mean if he’s Desmond Bane Desmond Bane was you can say he was the Grizzlies third best player like and I mean when they were healthy they were good the thing about Khan that scares me a little bit and this is just me personally i’ve heard that he was supposed to be in that big workout but he’s only working out by himself yeah that no that’s that’s actually something like I get what you’re saying there that’s like I’ve heard multiple agents tell me that they don’t think he can defend that they think that he was a good defender at Duke because he had Molly W and flag behind him and so there are some agents that were were hoping to work out against him they wanted to put their guy against him and and see and from everything that I’ve heard he’s not working out against anybody it’s it’s only solo workouts you can look at it two ways you can look at as that’s a great job by his agent that is like you know hey man my guy is already high enough we’re not gonna put him in position to work out with anybody against anybody then there’s some reports that he had a sprained ankle at the combine but he seems like he’s been hidden like he’s been like hidden it’s almost like ducking things or something like that like that’s what you say not me but yeah no no i mean that’s that I get what you’re saying here like I I I understand that right like I’ve I’ve heard stories from different workouts and things in the past of like you know you’ll have a lot of agents of these players like not want their guy to go do a whole lot during this process cuz they’re worried that something bad comes out or or they have a bad showing look this is how the Pelicans drafted buddy healed over Jamal Murray they got Jamal Murray in for a workout and his agent wasn’t around so they got Murray to play one-on-one against one of the assistant coaches and the assistant coach lit him up in that workout you know Murray was bad defensively that swung how the Pelicans were gonna make a draft decision so that just shows you how scary it is to pick a player because like kind of crazy right like that that completely swung things based on that workout so these if you’re not I I get what you’re saying on that that that is going to put something in the minds of front offices probably when it comes to that and probably makes people doubt him uh a little bit more when it comes to it you know in terms of like the top 10 it does seem like we re you don’t have we have some idea maybe of how this is going to go but could you see a guy like Trey Johnson falling a little bit here and maybe ending up at seven or do you think given his scoring ability in the SEC as you mentioned earlier and how tough that conference is he seems like not going to be there at seven yeah I mean that would be a big big win for the Pelicans if he falls that far i mean personally I would take him at number three okay talking about a guy that led the SEC in scoring and he shot 39% from three on six attempts per game and a lot of those attempts were heavily contested i want to say that he was like the best movement shooter from three in in this class i mean he’s a phenomenal shooter he’s a player that I’ve been watching since he was in in 10th grade so I like him a lot like I said I would take him at three but if he falls to seven I mean that would be a massive win for the Pelicans just run the card up to try and get that in before I let you go here anyone else you think the Pelicans should be considering at seven anyone we’ve missed here i mean I like Fierce fears would be my will be my choice um yeah I I’ll go with Fierce i mean I think KPA would be safe i I just think that they’re in a spot where you can possibly get your point guard of the future and Jeremiah Fierce if you want to swing for the fences on Molly Walsh then he should be available i think it just depends on what Washington does obviously but I think like I said they’re in a good situation if you just want the safest guy that you know that is going to be high character that is going to knock down shots be a connective passer then then Kanuckle could be your guy but I think I would swing for the fences i I would go with Fierce raphael I appreciate you man thanks for taking the time hopping on Lockdown Pelicans here with me anything big coming over at Lockdown NBA big board yeah I’ll be at the draft me and my brother will be at the draft i actually need to buy a hotel but uh yeah we’ll be at the draft we’ll be reporting live looking forward to it we’ve been Well well I appreciate you everyone make sure you check out Lockdown NBA big board for the latest news and everything make that your second listen today and that’s going to do it for this episode of Lockdown Pelicans i appreciate y’all so much for listening as always I’m your host JakeMadison nola Jake on Twitter this is the Lockdown Pelicans podcast part of the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day

Will the Pelicans trade up in the NBA Draft? Ace Bailey, Derik Queen, and Jeremiah Fears emerge as intriguing prospects for New Orleans’ future.

NBA draft expert Raphael Barlowe (@LockedOnNBABigBoard) joins Jake Madison to dissect the Pelicans’ unique draft position. They analyze potential picks, including Bailey’s shot-making prowess and Queen’s fit alongside Zion Williamson. The duo explores Fears’ leadership qualities and Kon Knueppel’s pre-draft process, while debating Tre Johnson’s draft stock.

Tune in for insider perspectives on how these prospects could reshape the Pelicans’ roster and impact their playoff aspirations.

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