BOMBSHELL: Kevin Durant Trade ROCKS Pelicans’ Future | Will Zion Williamson RISE to the Challenge?

BOMBSHELL: Kevin Durant Trade ROCKS Pelicans’ Future | Will Zion Williamson RISE to the Challenge?

i’ll tell you why the Kevin Durant trade has a big impact on the New Orleans Pelicans plus more draft talk and rumors it’s the Monday episode of Locked On Pelicans let’s go [Music] you are Locked On Pelicans your daily New Orleans Pelicans podcast part of the Locked Onet 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 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 y’all on this Monday it is draft week and I am excited we just wrapped up the NBA Finals i’m recording this before game seven but that was a lot of fun i’m looking forward to the draft we just had a massive trade and now it seems like things are going to get busy in the NBA so we’re going to break down what the Kevin Durant trade means for the New Orleans Pelicans i want to look at the most likely guy drafted or two most likely guys drafted for the Pelicans at seven overall and then some other names that you need to know both for the seventh pick and the 23rd pick in the upcoming NBA draft so 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 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 everyday that means you listen Monday through Friday to Locked On Pelicans if you’re an Everyday let me know in the comments down below and don’t forget you can get Locked On Pelicans at 10:30 a.m every weekday on the Gulf Coast Sports and Entertainment Network today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans brought to you by Monarch Money take control of your finances with Monarch Money use code lockdown NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year so let’s get into it the trade that broke before game seven of the NBA Finals which is not great for the league but that’s neither here nor there and that is Kevin Durant being traded to the Houston Rockets from the Phoenix Suns for a package that includes the 10th pick on Wednesday’s first round or in Wednesday’s first round Jaylen Green Dylan Brooks and five various second round picks one the Rockets fleeced the Phoenix Suns i think that’s about as good of a return as Phoenix could get it doesn’t mean that it was a good return all things considered maybe but Houston didn’t give up really any of their interesting young players and maybe traded away the worst contract that they have in Jaylen Green here but what I think this does for New Orleans is creates a ticking clock a clock that is ticking down counting down for the Pelicans and they weren’t even involved in this trade the Pelicans get one year that the current group of guys can work to compete because you look around the rest of the division and what do you see it’s brutal out there right the Rockets are now in win now mode they were the second seed in the West and they still have tons of flexibility they have like five or six future firsts that they can still trade along with intriguing young guys they didn’t give up Jabari Smith Jr in this deal and that’s someone that they could move they often didn’t close games with him you know the Spurs are set for the future with Victor Wimbeyama the second overall pick in this draft and they still have Stfan Castle who was the rookie of the year the Mavericks might be on two timelines but two timelines that should work with the players they have and soon to add Cooper Flag to it the Memphis Grizzlies just won 48 games and while I think they’ve downgraded now that they’ve traded away Desmond Bane they have more flexibility to at least improve that’s not ideal for the Pelicans that’s just the division that’s not the rest of the Western Conference here you know when you look at trying to time your window when you go for it is this actually the time to try and go for it if you’re the Pelicans and you could argue the answer given the division is no i think you know all of those teams other than maybe Memphis and that’s debatable i think are better than New Orleans and better positioned for the you know immediate future and long-term future i think so you look at that and it’s like what are the Pelicans going to do here are you just spinning the wheels to try and compete for a plane in tournament spot and look that can be fine too there can be good in doing all of that but if you really want to try and build around this core that’s expensive the Houston Rockets are like 30 million under the luxury tax line right now the Pelicans are basically right up against the luxury tax they have Kevin Durant and all those other young guys and just one or just finished with the second best record in the West right the Pelicans don’t seem to be in that realm as we’re currently talking about them things could change here so you get a year to prove this right you get a year to show like no no this is the group that we we can go and win with and here’s our here’s our proof of concept in this upcoming season that’s to me what this means it goes to why I’ve been talking about maybe the team should go through a longer rebuild because and wait out this conference a little bit and see what happens with that this division and see if you can time it a little bit better because basically everyone’s going for it next year which is fun i love that but it’s going to make it harder to get a good playoff spot or avoid the playin tournament if you’re the New Orleans Pelicans so what does this all mean though right when I say you get one year to prove it what that means is it’s going to come down to Zion Williamson we haven’t said that in a little bit but that’s what it comes down to here if he plays and plays at a high level and I’m talking all NBA level and enough games to do it this team can be really good when you look at teams like the Houston Rockets the Memphis Grizzlies you know dep TBD with the Dallas Mavericks right i’m going to skip the Spurs here no one has a player that has Zion Lans and Celane at least right now i think Spurs and WBY yeah but even on the Houston Rockets other than Kevin Durant again who’s 37 so keep that in mind you know long term no one could project as talented of a player as Zion Williamson but Zion’s got to play and prove it to be able to show that for you to feel confident building around him look I’ve kind of lost a lot of that faith you’ve heard me trade him on this show in a mock draft exercise we did i’ve said maybe it’s time to rebuild and just move on i argued for cutting him i’m also saying keep him and build around him cuz I get it but you got a year to prove it and the everydayers have heard me say this before this isn’t a new take that I’m having here because otherwise you’re never going to get out of the position that you’re in which is that middle ground right that no man’s land in the NBA which is kind of the worst spot to be in now it doesn’t mean you should outright tank we’ve seen that that doesn’t entirely work as much as it it used to with some of the flattened lottery odds but even then that’s only 2 3% for some of those backend teams but that can clearly make a difference so you’ve got to figure out exactly where you want to go you’ve got to get the direction and right now the Pelicans are kind of trying to thread a needle which is not easy we talked about that on Friday’s show and I talked about Cayman Malawatch and we’ll talk about him coming up here next in today’s episode of Logon Pelicans but if you’re trying to thread the needle that’s not easy to do and this is going to be a real test right joe Dumar is kind of thrown right into the fire with this team of you got to do something look the Phoenix Suns with Kevin Durant Bradley Beal who cares as much about him and Devin Booker realized they couldn’t run it back that’s a more talented core obviously than what the Pelicans have if they couldn’t run it back this team really needs to be careful running it back and thinking about that you look at a couple of other teams that are like “Yeah we we’re not going to run it back we’re not going to do this again.” That is smart i don’t love you know the Phoenix Suns future still cool you get the 10th pick but you don’t control any of your future draft picks so what’s it matter but you’ve got to pick a direction kind of realize what you got to do and I don’t know if the Pelicans have done that just yet or at least it’s not been kind of like actively communicated outward we’ll see what happens on draft night and the rest of this off seasonason but it’ll kind of give us an answer to that question of is there a direction or is the direction kind of like yeah we’re going to try and win that’s not the the biggest direction to me because how are you going to do that we’re going to start to get answers to those questions soon but Pelicans clock is ticking now with this move in the arms race in the Western Conference and in particular the Southwest division so could you draft a guy that makes that kind of immediate impact let’s talk about the guys that I you know the two most likely players in my opinion that it’s going to be at seven overall 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 Lollipop lollipop is a new kind of soda made for people who love the classic taste of soda but want something that supports their health in which is 2 to 5 gram of sugar and six grams of prebiotic fiber fiber in every can lollipop is reimagining soda in a way that’s better for your gut traditional sodas loaded with sugar 39 g in a regular Coke 44 grams in an orange Fanta right lollipop flips that script with just a fraction of the sugar no artificial sweeteners and gut friendly ingredients like Olly Smart a blend shown to support digestive and overall health it’s a soda that tastes like the real thing but does something actually good for your body i love just the classic cola flavor it’s cinnamony there’s some caramel to it some hints of vanilla with just a little bit of caffeine it’s awesome it’s refreshing when I want that just classic soda taste I’ve got lollipop and it’s good for me i really don’t eat a lot of sugar i hate all of that so having something that tastes like the real thing without all the negative I absolutely love that and I’ve been drinking these constantly over the past couple of weeks i love the classic cola the classic grape is really really good too and then the crisp apple is very refreshing with the heat that we’ve got down here so get a free can of Lollipop just buy any two cans in store and they’re going to reimburse you for one head to drinkllipop.com/lockedonba to claim your free can and find a lollipop near you that’s drinklyollipop.com/lockedonba to get a free can 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 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 here for your second listen check out the 2025 Locked on NBA mock draft a five episode series with the most comprehensive draft analysis from NBA experts college experts and NBA draft experts find the 2025 locked on NBA mock draft on NBA Big Board and Locked on NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast and don’t forget you can get locked on Pelicans now on the GF Coast Sports and Entertainment Network channel 7.1 in New Orleans i think it’s 9.3 in Baton Rouge though I might have that wrong every day 10:30 part of a locked on block that you’re getting there so let’s get into who are the Pelicans going to draft with the seventh overall pick because if you nail that pick that becomes a a gamecher for the team you know especially if that player can contribute immediately and I said in Friday’s show for the everyayers you already heard this i think it’s I think I’m leaning towards them taking not necessarily who I would take but who they’re leaning towards trying to pass this information on to you of Cayman Malwatch from Duke you know that is someone they are really interested in from what I’ve been told he recently worked out for the team it went exceptionally well they seem really high on him to the point where it’s like don’t work out for anybody else maybe we’re promising that we will draft you and you hear that all the time draft promises that a guy stops working out for teams because they know there’s a floor of where they will go they will land no matter what it whatever pick it is and if you’re Cayman Malawatch the floor being seven is a really good spot for you to be in and it potentially upsets other teams if they give you a draft promise and you’re like “No I’m still going to go work out.” They don’t want that because they don’t want a team trading up to try and get their guy so keep an eye on where Cayman Malawatch is working out but that is something that I think makes sense that’s the pick that maybe threads the needle the most he could start he could come off the bench and make an immediate impact and is a different player than Eve Mei and I’ve seen Mei’s recent workout clips he looks really good right we’re getting into the the Instagram social media like how good do they look offseason part here we will be covering that on the Locked On Pelicans podcast by the way uh but he does look good but he’s a different player than Cayman Malawatch is i think Thomas Sorber is probably the most like Eve Mei out there so I’d avoid him but Malawatch definitely gives you more rim protection much more of a lob threat I think than Mei is though mei is one too but Mei has more athleticism probably is going to have more in his bag in terms of mid-range and things like that and ability to score around the basket rather than just a back to the basket postup kind of player and Malawatch also does have the potential I think to also be a guy that can shoot from three eventually the eventually the touch is really good there he’s done it playing international and FIA basketball as well there’s a reason that he is this high on draft boards after his stats don’t jump out at you but all the physical tools absolutely do in my opinion I think this is a guy that the Pelicans really like that can contribute now and help with your ceiling for your long-term future giving you rim protection he’s mobile he can score inside and he just hustles which is the type of stuff that you like and I do think he’s going to be enough of a rim protector rim deterrent that that’s something the Pelicans need and you could pair with Eve Mei and now your center position is set the other thing to keep in mind with the center position for New Orleans is where else are you going to upgrade this you have one viable center on your roster right now in Mi and that’s basically it you need to get somebody else you know you got Kell Lin but different kind of player so getting Malawatch in means you don’t need to try and trade for a center and use draft future draft assets or whatever to go and kind of acquire that so it becomes an opportunity cost kind of thing if you have this you don’t need to spend this other stuff elsewhere right that’s an important thing because if the Pelicans go in with Mi as the starter they need support depth at that position you could get it later in the first round but I like the bigs up at the top of the draft a little bit more I think than some of the guys later but overall I do like this draft compared to say last year and look maybe you could trade in and we’ll probably talk about this on tomorrow’s show into the second round to get a guy like Johnny Broom from Auburn or something like that that I think doesn’t have the highest ceiling but I think should be able to compete just based off his pure college production at the NBA level the other pick though that I think is going to maybe now be there for the Pelicans though we’re hearing some different things is a guy like Jeremiah Fears from Oklahoma you’ve heard me talking about him for months now as someone that I’ve really started to come around on being a bit of an ankle breaking downhill attacker that the Pelicans just don’t have and the need for the guard position is certainly something that they’ve got to try and upgrade with the injury to Deonte Murray and if he you know he’s not going to be ready to start the year so you you need some support there and you need more of a point guard and that’s definitely what Jeremiah Fears is and as one of the younger players in the draft competing in the toughest conference just look the dude did it that’s an important thing a little bit undersized which does worry me here as well as his shooting but the upside is there for him i think those are the two most likely picks i think fears could come off the bench where you let him get the ball and let him be the best version of him i talked about this I think in Friday or Thursday or Friday’s show when we talked about Ace Bailey in the right situation not the right fit but the right situation for a guy and if you do draft Jeremiah Fears you need a better comprehensive development plan than you’ve had otherwise with some of the other guys like Tyson Daniels where he was just never allowed to blossom into the player that you wanted to see him turn into is never going to happen here in New Orleans that had more to do with New Orleans and a good bit to do with Dyson Daniels too but again these guys got to go to the right position the right situation is what I’m trying to say that’s something important to keep in mind if you draft him you know to me that does signal maybe you need to go through more of a rebuild because I don’t know how impactful he’s going to be as a rookie even with the upside that he has but maybe he shows that he can do that right you know he’s got very good playmaking particularly out of the pick and roll the Pelicans need more of that he’s got the jumper um upside for it to be good right 85.1% on free throws is a phenomenal um thing you know he’s 36.1% on catch and shoot threes that’s pretty good too he shows that he can be that but teams aren’t going to respect that from him right away and I do worry a little bit about his strength in defending on the perimeter but that guy also just tries really really hard which is something I value in players as well so he’s someone that I think the Pelicans are going to look at and I’ve heard they’re really high on him they really like him too as far as I know and maybe this has changed after I recorded this he hasn’t had an official workout with the team just yet they met with him and spoke to him for a while I was told at the draft combine and got to see him in the individual player workouts there you know something to keep in mind I think is guys don’t need to work out for a team for you to draft them right the Ace Bailey thing of not working out for anyone that’s I don’t think honestly going to stop anybody from drafting him i think you know I and fans and others will look at this be like “Oh this is terrible.” I’m not entirely sure if it is you know teams draft guys without working them out regularly now you don’t want to be doing that with the seventh overall pick you want to kind of get up close and personal and understand the player a little bit more but I don’t think it’s the end of the world if that’s how it ends up going for New Orleans so you know with that said though they don’t have like an official workout maybe that’ll change in a day or so with Jeremiah Fears I think they’ve talked to him enough they have a good idea of who he is to feel comfortable going forward same thing with Ace Bailey look if he’s there at seven they got to at least consider him i don’t know if they will or not and I’m I think the Ace Bailey draft slot is one of the more intriguing things that we’re going to see play out on draft night but he is somebody that you know if he’s there the upside and potential are massive you you need to at least consider again I would not trade up for him i don’t particularly love the idea of drafting him and I’m I’m not the biggest Ace Bailey guy but there is talent there and if they do that I’m not going to trash the pick and it’s an upside play and I get why you would do that sort of thing so coming up next we talked about guys at seven right here let’s look at some more other names that we haven’t done deep dives on a ton when it comes to the 23rd overall pick and some names that you know aren’t guards aren’t bigs necessarily or aren’t centers that I think the Pelicans should really look at here including one for seven as well that I think could be a wild card um 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 Monarch Money you ever look at your bank account and go “Where where’d all my money go?” Between dining out online shopping entertainment it’s really easy to lose track and that’s where Monarch Money comes in it’s your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances and Monarch Money isn’t just like a budgeting app you know it’s a complete financial command center so you can track your accounts investments spending in one place so you stop just managing your money and you start building wealth when I started using Monarch Money I was curious right and then I realized how much I was spending on food delivery so now I’m able to budget smarter and save more and if you’re at a make me juggle multiple apps things like that I’m never going to use it monarch Money you can check your finances track spending and even plan long-term goals whether it’s a car buying a home just putting money aside for emergencies all in one place so take control of your finances with Monarch Money use code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year that’s monarchmoney.com code locked onmbba for half off your first year and 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 please subscribe join us on YouTube or watch us on the GF Coast Sports and Entertainment Network yes the same channel that you watch Pelicans games on so let’s wrap up the show looking at a few other names that I think are really intriguing guys that the Pelicans have worked out but also not worked out and I want to focus on one here to start with two really that I think could be potentially in play for the seventh overall pick but I’m not sure one is Cedric Coward the wing from Washington State 6’6 um he is 21 years old a senior but has been rising up draft board 17.7 points per game last season 40% from three seven rebounds and almost four assists you know started at D3 worked his way up and you know when you’re looking for a high-end NBA comp it’s Kawhi Leonard with him he’s a really good three-point shooter he’s an excellent defender and this is a dude that just has a great feel for the game but also just works his butt off on the court and with really good wingspan at 7 foot three a really good measure really good measurements on all of his athleticism this is somebody who has an NBA ready body he’s going to be a shooter right at the NBA level immediately but can also score down low he ran a lot of post actions over at Washington State and it’s just a smart dude he can pass he can defend you know I think some people are worried that he is like not quite there didn’t play a ton due to injuries and things like that but overall this is someone who has all of the skills and tools that you are looking for but he doesn’t have enough shot creation but given everything else he’s a pretty plug-and-play guy at the NBA level whether that’s seven I’ve seen some mock drafts for him in the top five you know he strikes me more as a 15 around 15 or so but that mean he means he could slide to 23 but also be in play for seven it’s kind of interesting with a player you know of his level for everything another name to keep an eye on that I started to hear a little bit more about is Noah Sangua i talked about him about a month ago here on Locked On Pelicans you know he is a very strong looking forward from Europe right now you know the numbers don’t jump out at you in terms of the counting stats but it’s all the other tools right a 71 wingspan at 6’9 that’s really great he’s just a very fluid playing forward that’s going to be able to score create for others have high basketball IQ and be a very good defender you’ve seen shooting and those stats progress over his time you know he’s a very elite defender in my opinion and with that athleticism you can see him being able to do kind of anything he’s really good at driving from the b to the basket from the perimeter too at the forward spot so that gives the team another dimension you know another guy that can attack alongside Zion Williamson there’s he’s a really high upside play that’s going to take a while i don’t know if that fits what New Orleans really is looking to do but that’s someone that I’m pretty high on even if I might be too nervous to to draft him and pull the trigger on that two more names I want to quickly look at here rashir Fleming from uh St joseph’s he’s a junior he is 6’9 a 76 wingspan if you’re looking for like your Larry Nance Jr replacement a guy that can shoot on the perimeter and Fleming can absolutely do that 41% on catch and shoot threes that’s a really good number a very quick release too you know he’s a very good defender he can play you know a small ball five for you potentially averaging one and a half blocks per game along with 1.4 steals you know he just kind of flies around and can do all of that he probably projects more as a role player than a high-end starter but I don’t think that’s the worst thing if you need that kind of guy and just a different sort of big man on this team though he is not a center another player that the team has worked out is Will Riley the forward from Illinois a freshman 12.6 points per game 4.1 rebounds 2.2 two assists i I don’t love him truthfully he’s a wing that plays downhill attacks and creates and works off ball without being an elite shooter for you you know 72.4% from the free throw line that’s the biggest indicator of where a guy will be when it comes to shooting at the NBA level it’s not great 32.6% from three but he has really good height to be kind of that prototypical switching defender andy’s a very skilled passer with really connective passes that fit within the flow of an offense as an offball guy that shows really good ability to cut and knowing when to relocate to space if you’re kind of using Zion as your hub more players that work really well off ball is an important thing will Riley fits into that but you know he’s right around 23 is kind of where you’d rank him i don’t know if I love him as a player but it’s a guy that the Pelicans have worked out but that doesn’t always mean anything as we talked about a little bit earlier so a couple other names right there’s still um Austin New from Georgia I think could be there who knows how it’s going to all play out so on draft night I will be live from the Pelicans facility after the pick is made i’m just going to go live they’ve told me I can do it that’s a really cool thing we’ll have the setup and the link for you very soon when it comes to all of that so I’m excited to be there covering the draft for you all and that’s going to do it for this episode of Locked On Pelicans we’ll have more rumors I’m sure tomorrow more draft insight the rest of the week trying to get another guest or two on it’s going to be a lot of fun we’ll be with you through the draft after the draft into free agency i’m not dropping to three days a week this offseason it’ll continue to be 7 days a week here on the Lockdown Pelicans podcast part of the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day see y’all tomorrow

Will the Pelicans strike gold in the NBA Draft? Kevin Durant’s shocking trade reshapes the Western Conference landscape, putting New Orleans on the clock.

Jake Madison analyzes the Pelicans’ crucial offseason moves, focusing on their 7th and 23rd overall picks. He breaks down potential draft targets like Duke’s Khaman Maluach and Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears examining how they could impact the team’s future. With the Southwest Division becoming increasingly competitive, Madison explores the Pelicans’ options to build around Zion Williamson and compete now or consider a longer-term strategy.

Tune in for expert insights on the Pelicans’ draft night decisions and their path forward in a brutal Western Conference.

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