Did Tyrese Haliburton’s injury MESS UP the Pelicans Draft plans? | Tre Johnson available at 7?

Did Tyrese Haliburton’s injury MESS UP the Pelicans Draft plans? | Tre Johnson available at 7?

did game seven of the NBA finals mean the Pelicans made a mistake in trading for the 23rd pick in the draft i’ll tell you why it was still a smart move despite the Tyrese Hallebertton injury plus we got a mock draft surprise it’s the Tuesday episode of Locked on Pelicans let’s go [Music] 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 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 credential member of the media Jake Madison at Nola Jake on Twitter here with y’all on this Tuesday and we are going to look at the Pelicans trading for the 23rd overall pick is it already a mistake not so fast i’m going to tell you why I still think it’s a smart move then we’re going to look at Trey Johnson sliding to the Pelicans at seven in ESPN’s latest mock draft then we got a roundup of some big rumors particularly around the Charlotte Hornets in the third segment so let’s break it down in today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans is brought to you by FanDuel right now new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins 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 and don’t forget you can watch Locked on Pelicans 10:30 a.m every weekday over at the GF Coast Sports and Entertainment Network where you watch the Pelicans games which is pretty cool so let’s get into the biggest news of the day and that is the Pelicans trading their trading the Indiana Pacers the 2026 first round pick that they got from the Toronto trade with Brandon Ingram trading it back to the Pacers in exchange for the 23rd overall pick in this draft so you get the 23rd overall pick for sure and gave away who knows what it would be the future draft pick here and this is back into focus after in game seven Tyrese Hallebertton tore his Achilles let’s just assume that he’s going to be out for all of next season and that kind of changes the fortunes for the Indiana Pacers and now all of a sudden the 23rd pick when that pick next year next draft was going to look like it was going to be worse because the Pacers are good all of a sudden maybe is higher could be better could be a top pick hold on for a second while the timing is unfortunate and look I I we’re obviously not happy that Tyrese Hallebertton got hurt we never root for injuries in any player and while the timing is unfortunate I don’t think this would have changed much let’s say for the New Orleans Pelicans this trade was about the Pelicans getting another guy that they want in this draft class not about packaging picks to trade up or anything like that this is about them getting another guy that they want and also adding some cheap depth i’ve gone at length the everydayers know this that their salary cap situation is not great being able to add quality players for cheap is not an easy thing to do you can do that with the 23rd overall pick they’re not going to really have much available in free agency you may as well draft a guy with some upside that could fill the same kind of role that a guy that would be more expensive in free agency would cost without that upside of becoming better so this is about the Pelicans getting another guy that they want adding some cheap depth when it comes to it it’s not about as much maximizing the pick or something like that and I have said the everydayers know this if there’s a guy you like if there’s a player you want go and get your man even if it means you’ve got to pay a little bit more to do that and that’s kind of what the Pelicans were doing here you know even though the Pacers were in the finals and let’s say Tyrese Hallebertton is healthy who knows what next year would have held for the team and that pick could have been different but I also think even with the injury the Pacers are still going to be good next year that’s that was I I don’t think people realized how good they were in 2025 they got off to a terrible start to the year where they were actually below 500 for a while and then got better you know and they were below 500 like for about a third of the year then they became exceedingly good and it culminated with that run to the finals where they lost in game seven right they’re absolutely a playoff team next year especially in the East without Tyrese Hallebertton 41 and 41 is the six seed in the East next season you know you could even almost be below 500 and be the six seed right that’s easily doable for that Pacers team even without Tyrese Hallebertton you know and that’s their floor right that’s the worst case for them let’s call it 500 you know that puts you around the 16th or 17th pick yeah it’s better than 23 but I don’t think the difference there is that much like this isn’t going to be a lottery pick next year for the Indiana Pacers better than 23 but h that’s the floor they could easily get to 45 wins I think which is putting you around the the 19th to 20th pick so it’s a couple pick difference at this point and I don’t think that’s going to change much materialistically for the Pelicans here you know beyond that there’s a couple of things that I think you need to consider about this now too you know I think about this of like time value of money right the money now is actually worth more than money in the future because you can do something with the money now whether that’s you just gain interest on it invest it whatever it might be you know same thing holds true for some players here right get a guy in the building now can start their development so whoever you take at 23 let’s take this you know in next year’s draft class is considered slightly better than this one and you know I think it does taper off a little bit around 25 in this draft but let’s say you get a guy like Walter Clayton Jr at 23 do you want Walter Clayton Jr with a year of experience under his belt or do you want the 18th pick in next year’s draft i’ll take Walter Clayton Jr with a year of experience or anybody with that year of experience because it means you’re trusting your scouting it means you got the guy that you want and so therefore you’re kind of building what you want to do right you know the Pelicans timeline matters on this as well right you’re not developing for four or five years in the future you’re not planning for that this is a team that’s trying to win now win around Zion Williams and whether you agree that that’s the move or not this is what they’re doing so your horizon and timeline is next year that’s what matters to this team if you can get a guy this year that’s going to help you win games in some capacity this coming season that’s probably more value to the team right now than whatever that Indiana Pacers pick could be and again I don’t think that’s going to be a top pick at all they still have Pascal Seakum he’s real good ben Mattherin is developing looks really good andrew Nehard has been great for them right that’s a team that is very competent still really good will resign Miles Turner and that’s who they are they’re a good team it’s kind of as simple as that so you know debating whether this was a mistake eh you know you could argue maybe they should have waited on draft night to see i don’t think this deal would have been available on draft night i think the Pacers were trading this pick no matter what whether they were going to trade this pick for a future first year or something like that they were moving this pick before New Orleans would have been able to do it on draft night when you look at them they have no room to add a rookie to the team especially before the Tyrese Hallebertton injury so if it wasn’t the Pelicans it would have been someone else that they made this trade with so I don’t know if the timing while unfortunate really would have changed anything for New Orleans i don’t think this deal would have been here on draft night at all when you look at the Pacers salary cap situation the way their roster is with who’s available who’s not who’s going to be back who’s not all of that matters in the context of this so yeah it’s unfortunate but eh I don’t think it changes much especially if the Pelicans get the guy that they want or get a guy they want in that range then it’s still worth it no matter what get your guys get your players then improve it that pick is also top four protected it was never going to be a one two three or four pick in the future here and I still think it’s going to be around 20 give me the guy you want this year with a year of development over the 18 19 20th pick in next year’s draft so unfortunate timing sucks for the Pacers and Tyresese Hallebertton to see that injury that was a fun finals the Pacers were still in that game even though Tyresese Hallebertton went down they were leading at halftime he got injured in the beginning of the first quarter right that’s a very good Pacers team they still have six best odds to win the East Perfane don’t count him out just yet so coming up next there’s a surprise in ESPN’s latest mock draft with Trey Johnson from Texas falling to the Pelicans at seven let’s make sense of that and is that a smart pick for New Orleans he’s a pretty polarizing prospect along with Ace Bailey we’ll break down Trey Johnson coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans today’s episode of Locked On Pelicans is brought to you by 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draft that’s tomorrow depending on when you’re listening to this that’s exciting i’m going to be at the Pelicans facility um they are letting me go live from the facility to somewhere in there well some maybe one of their studios or something so we will be live as soon as that picks made breaking it down we’re going to do the normal you know 20th 20 minute show or so and we’ll answer some of your questions after that too and we’ll kind of keep going through till the 23rd pick’s going to get made then we’ll probably do a separate show on that later i’m going to try and get some guests on with me while I’m at the facility cuz why not um and you’ll be able to catch that show live or it’ll be here on YouTube podcast forum and on GF Coast Sports and Entertainment Network the next day so let’s look at ESPN and their latest mock draft because there is a surprise in there and that is Trey Johnson falling to the Pelicans at seven this is actually a little bit unexpected their latest mock draft is Cooper Flag one dylan Harper two of the Spurs vj Edgecom to the 76ers at three khan can nipple to the Charlotte Hornets at four we’ll talk about him a little bit more later utah Jazz take Jeremiah Fears at five the Washington Wizards stop Ace Bailey slide at six and it puts the Pelicans in a really interesting position with Trey Johnson from Texas at seven this is someone who’s kind of consistently been mocked between picks three to six i haven’t seen really one until this one with him at seven overall so he’s not someone that I’ve really focused on a ton and when you look at this guy with really good size at 6’5 for a two guard 611 wingspan really good athleticism 19.9 points per game at Texas 39.7% from three 87% from the free throw line and almost three assists per game this is a dude that’s just a shooter and shot maker that can get hot from deep his NBA comps are Tyler Hero and Ray Allen those are all real good ones right he’s an excellent marksman this is a dude that’s going to be an incredible three-point shooter but more than that you know he can do he can shoot threes in a variety of ways whether it’s off of movement whether it’s catch and shoot whatever it might be he’s really effective at shooting in almost any way any capacity and he’s a pretty good ball handler too he’s got a variety of moves in his bags whether it’s crossovers jab steps certain ways just to create space to be able to get his shot off and what I do like about him is he can work off ball too he’s not just a ball dominant score this is someone with a high motor that cuts that relocates into space really well and is very good at navigating screens and immediately passes and moves and I just kind of love that especially alongside Zion Williamson here and look you know as a freshman to lead the SEC in scoring all basically look it’s 19.9 points per game let’s round it up and call it 20 that’s incredible the SEC was historically good this year sent more teams to the tournament than any other conference before look they also had you know more teams than before so there’s that too but to do that as a freshman in a stacked conference is not an easy thing and given how well he played his points per game actually went up in conference play and Texas was not good this year there is like no one else on that team with him to still maintain the same level of production when it’s easier to slow guys down that’s a really important thing if you’re just looking for a pure score microwave kind of score Trey Johnson is it he absolutely has that but here’s what makes him polarizing all of that sounds great right now there’s concerns about his defense but really when we kind of get into this range and some of these players is there anyone that doesn’t have concerns about their defense is something that I think that’s worth keeping in mind you know he’ll be able to come into the NBA I think and score right away but when you dive into his shot selection it it is kind of concerning here you know when you look at eligible freshman in half court rim frequency so scoring at the rim trying to get to the rim putting pressure on the rim right his was 14% which is basically like one of the worst for freshman in the country ace Bailey is ahead of Trey Johnson at 17% dylan Harper by the way you know probably the top guard in this draft is a guy that shoots 38% has a 38% rim frequency in the half court so that’s showing you that he doesn’t get downhill he’s not a downhill attacker like a Jeremiah Fearses or some other players in this draft he’s more of a shooter that is a problem in the NBA right you know he is someone that does have point guard potential it’s going to take him a while to develop that but your lead guard needs that downhill style of play they at least need to put some pressure on the rim to collapse a defense otherwise it won’t work and you’re just a connective passer which can be useful but not as a lead primary initiator of your offense so not getting downhill not forcing defensive rotations what’s that going to do to an offense you know one thing that’s important to keep in mind is shooting does not equal spacing by itself you need guys that are very good at attacking closeouts that’s something that Trey Murphy really worked on over the past year and a half and you could see it in his game he’s known as a shooter they’re going to try and run him off the three-point line and oftentimes that would lead to a bad thing where okay what do I do now and you see that all the time but Trey started attacking off those closeouts beyond more than just trying to dunk over people he was trying to get downhill and could do it with a variety of different moves to get around guys his first two years in the league he struggled with that then you really started to see him put that together in the second half of last season and then this past year was really good at it i don’t know if Trey Johnson has that at least right now so if you’re looking at players that can contribute right now to this team we just talked about how their horizon is next year is Trey Johnson the guy is he just going to be a shooter and that’s it and do you need another just shooter and that’s it right like this is not someone who gets to the rim this is not someone who really gets to the free throw line with the usage rate that he has either so that’s kind of part of the problem when you look at him and go “Oh if he’s not getting to the rim like that that’s a concern.” And I fully agree with you here right otherwise he’s kind of a little bit more like CJ McCullum and C.J mccome’s a great player but you this team needs something else and is that your lead guard of the future he’s your guard of the future but I don’t know if he’s a lead guard of the future and so that’s why a lot of people are not high on Trey Johnson whatsoever is that lack of rim pressure this is not a Shay Gildas Alexander type of lead guard is that what the team needs i’m not entirely sure you know at seven if he’s there I think you really need to consider it especially with Fear’s gone with Ace Bailey gone you know you’d be looking at Trey Johnson or Cayman Malawatch in this situation you know I don’t think those are bad options but I’d argue this could be one of the worst ways the draft could go potentially for New Orleans but Trey Johnson you know would fit next to Zion Williamson i think you know and is a guy that has potential upside to be like the leading you know a a scoring champion i think he’s that good of a shooter and he’s a very good difficult shotmaker we also talked about though the defense and that’s not good is he coming to a situation where he’s going to be able to succeed and to thrive you know I don’t know if he would be a day one starter maybe he’s your microwave scorer off the bench allah a Jordan Clarkson from Utah kind of player and I could see that you know he’s clutch he gets in there and he just hits shots in big moments there’s something to be said for that but I am a little bit concerned that you know is that the right type of player New Orleans is going to be able to develop because we’ve seen some issues with some of that stuff in the past i don’t know what do you think about Trey Johnson at seven if he falls to New Orleans i almost think you have to do it i don’t know if they would though if Cayman Malawatch someone I know they are very high on that I’ve repeated to y’all multiple times you know if Malawatch is on the board did the do the Pelicans do this if Fears is gone look there’s point guard upside there he produced in college there’s something to be said for that but can he attack closeouts can he do those other things that’s going to make him you know an incredible player at the NBA level and I think there’s some open concern about that right now so coming up next we’re getting some interesting news from the Charlotte Hornets let’s break down those latest rumors couple of other things here for the Pelicans and guys to look at that I think are going to be on their draft boards 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 FanDuel summer sports are in full swing so whether you’re all about baseball under the lights golf on the green or highstakes soccer action FanDuel is the best way to make every game more exciting so you’re already following the action why not make it a little bit more thrilling with FanDuel you can get in on the game while your friends are getting sunburned at the beach they also have the NBA futures you got the two early NBA lines out there for the championship if you think the Thunder are going to repeat you’re getting really good odds they’re plus 270 feels like that should be minus after the way they just kind of steamrolled through the NBA and route to a title right now but just open the app there’s new daily promotions and fun ways to bet every single day and if you’re new to FanDuel new customers can bet $5 and get $150 in bonus bets if your first bet wins just open the FanDuel app today or visit fanduel.com/lockedon to get started 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 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 and you can also catch us on the GF Coast Sports and Entertainment Network the same place where you go to watch Pelicans games you can get locked on Pelicans on every day at 10:30 a.m which is super awesome we’re going to have a lot of dra draft coverage coming to y’all this whole week so we’re going to be breaking everything down so please subscribe it’s going to be a lot of fun for your second listen Locked On Saints I was hanging out with Ross Jackson over the weekend he was telling me some of the future plans for the show big things going over there keep up with to date with everything black and gold over at the Locked On Saints podcast part of the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day let me know what you think about Trey Johnson in the comments down below couple of things here sounds like Khan Ganipple is going to go to the Charlotte Hornets at four he He’s mocked at four to the Charlotte Hornets in that ESPN mock draft you’re starting to see him kind of get put there a whole lot more there’s starting to be a consensus forming around Khan Canipple that kind of tells you something i think he seems to be the guy that also fits the most with Charlotte and if they’re trying to compete fit’s going to be a really important thing because you just don’t need so much redundancy if you’re trying to go for it and just kind of want the pieces to fall into place seems like Conanipple could be there but I think they’re they’re an interesting one because here’s another thing to consider and this comes from Sham Shirania over on the Pat McAfee show and he basically said “Look if a team calls the Charlotte Hornets and they’re really interested in LaMelo Ball they’ve got to consider it look if you could create a trade around the seventh pick for LaMelo Ball would you do it charlotte I think would really consider that four and seven and a chance to really kind of kickstart some sort of rebuild they’re in a little bit of no man’s land i don’t love that for them i think they absolutely would consider that but I I wouldn’t do it if I’m the Pelicans i think that’s just too much injury stuff here in New Orleans between LaMelo who misses a ton of time Zion Williamson and just everything that goes on none of that’s great and that would concern me so I don’t see the New Orleans Pelicans doing that but that does then create some intrigue at four is there a way that maybe they’re they’re trading up trading down is that going to impact the rest of the draft the big question right now is where does Ace Bailey go and how is that going to influence the next couple of picks where Bailey goes or doesn’t go if he doesn’t go with three that’s going to influence the next couple of picks right i definitely think his floor is seven or eight the Pelicans or the Brooklyn Nets i don’t see him lasting beyond that but it’s you know I was trying to think of like when does the draft start you know draft doesn’t start at one it’s Cooper Flag draft isn’t doesn’t start at two it’s Dylan Harper is it three i don’t even know because we’re not kind of pegging Ace Bailey into that hole anymore it’s most likely going to be VJ Edgecom but then does Bailey go four does he not like that’s where this starts to get really interesting and at least this is going to kind of be resolved early in the night on draft night we’re not going to be like searching waiting for answers for hours when it comes down to it we’ll kind of have an indication and that should all be played out by 10 and won’t be impacting the draft anymore i don’t think so it’s going to be interesting to see how this just all plays out and I’m not entirely sure you know I still think the Pelicans have one of Fears or Malawatch kind of as number one on their draft board and we’ll pick one of those two guys if they’re available but look Bailey wasn’t supposed to be there and is an intriguing option even if you don’t like the off-c court stuff and again as I said yesterday does not matter if a player works out for the team or not they just want him they’re going to draft him it’s as simple as that but you also have someone like Derek Queen that worked out for the Pelicans he’s in that range too and though he’s not a three-point shooter now does show some of that there’s a lot of Nas Reed in him that’s a kind of needed thing for New Orleans is that what they’re going to look to try and do is that the direction that they go it remains to be seen you know he’s someone that could be there you know Jaggor Demine could be one of those guys that is a wild card in this and we don’t know how Joe Dumars is going to operate here we don’t know how Troy Weaver is going to operate here given that this is their first draft but they clearly like this draft and they want players in it and they’re very clearly zeroing in on some people who that is we’ll find out pretty soon and of course we’ll be covering it here on the Locked On Pelicans podcast part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day live show Wednesday night after the draft i’ll also be on uh a number of different places as well talking about it all over the place so that’s going to do it for this episode of Lockdown Pelicans 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

After the Tyrese Haliburton injury did the New Orleans Pelicans make a mistake trading with the Indiana Pacers?

Jake Madison breaks down the Pelicans move, analyzing the strategy behind acquiring another first-round selection. The discussion covers potential targets at pick 23, Tre Johnson’s slide to 7th in mock drafts, and how these decisions could reshape the team’s future. Madison explores intriguing trade scenarios involving the Charlotte Hornets and examines how LaMelo Ball could factor into draft-day dealings.

Tune in for expert insights on the Pelicans’ draft strategy and how it might impact Zion Williamson and the squad’s playoff aspirations.

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