NBA TODAY | Shams BREAKING: New Orleans Pelicans trade veteran CJ McCollum to Washington Wizards

NBA TODAY | Shams BREAKING: New Orleans Pelicans trade veteran CJ McCollum to Washington Wizards

and the Wizards we’ve got some breaking news the Pelicans are trading CJ McCollum Kelly Olen and a future second round pick to the Washington Wizards for Jordan Pool Sadiq Bay and the number 40 pick his sources tell ESPN what do we think guys Well I’m crunching a little numbers right now i listen I think for Washington you get off Jordan P and Sadique Bay had two years left on their contract they take on the expiring contracts of CJ McCullum and certainly Kick i look at it from the Wizards perspective it frees up a ton of playing time for their young players they potentially could be a player in the summer of 2026 as far as where they go the goal for Washington is to retain that pick also that’s important so last year the Wizards were one of the worst teams in the history of the NBA through the first third two-thirds of the season they since have wanted to get grownup veterans in there they traded for Marcus Smart they traded for Chris Middleton now they trade for CJ McCollum are clearly wanting those veterans to mentor their young players and maybe not be the worst team in the league anymore no I’m with you and I think the underrated part uh far as the Pelicans I know they get Jordan Pul but Sadique Bay that’s underrated right You watch around the league and we watch these NBA finals and again the most important position in the NBA is the wing position so you get a guy that could shoot he’s hard-nosed and I believe Troy Weaver had him down there we haven’t seen him in a year because he’s coming off that injury so Troy Weaver was in Washington he took Joe Dumar’s top lieutenant role in in New Orleans and immediately we have Washington players coming to New Orleans yeah interesting you know we were warned nba draft in active time let’s go coast to coast catching up on other top prospects dylan Harper projected number two pick in our ESPN mock draft he actually threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium on Sunday this has to be an incredible moment for a kid from Jersey that’s really special brian he seems like a lock to go to San Antonio right now how does he fit alongside Deep Fox Stefon Castle and of course free agent Chris Pal there are only two locks in this first round of this draft one is Cooper Flag going one one is Dylan Harper going two they didn’t even bring anybody else in Bobby i don’t even think this is and you say well they’ve got Castle they’ve got Darren Fox how does another guard fit They believe that he does fit because I don’t think they considered almost anybody else for this pick we’re going to have to watch and how it plays out but they are very high on Dylan Harper they didn’t even consider trading this pick when there was a lot of interest in it oh very very interesting uh VJ Edgecom though out of Baylor is projected to go number three to the Sixers that’s assuming that they keep the pick Bobby so should the Philly draft or should they trade the pick I would move back i I just look at BJ and he’s a terrific player in this tier three of players here i think if you can move back but not out of the top seven and pick up an additional maybe future first I think I would be looking at something like that that’s not a bad move into your probably favorite player perk trey Johnson is projected to go seven in the latest mock draft perk what do people need to know about this kid from Texas and who does he remind you of That he can shoot the hell up out of the damn basketball arguably the best shooter in this draft when I look at him his game to me mimics Chris Middleton he’s legit 66 could put could put the ball on the floor enough to be able to create separation to get his shot off he’s excellent moving without the basketball and he is a killer he wants to win ultimate competitor and he’s ready to play now there’s also been a lot of conversation about Ace Bailey who has fallen out of the top three in the mocks but is clearly an elite talent it hasn’t been reported that he’s visited any NBA teams before the draft but Bobby how do you as a front office member evaluate under those circumstances You evaluate him based on what he did at Ruckers you know the individual workouts is not going to show you much as far as going one or three on three if you think Ace Bailey is the third best player in his draft you take him doesn’t matter if you came and visited you have the medicals already for him best available hey guys let’s look at ESPN’s latest mock draft where Baylor is VJ Edgecomb uh going third to the 76ers with the initial top three projected pick ace Bailey dropping to sixth to the Wizards now another name you need to know Jeremiah Fears out of Oklahoma arar Spears sat down with him before the draft take a listen to why he thinks he’s the best player in this class jeremiah Jeremiah Fear with 29 points jeremiah it I saw that your high school graduation if you had stayed at high school was May 24 yes sir instead you’re preparing for the NBA draft like when you think about that how amazing has this whole journey been for you Man it’s been great just looking back kind of seeing all my friends graduating this year and people I grew up with all my life is definitely experience um something I kind of had to get over not being able to kind of graduate and be in a moment but I mean I’m getting ready for uh something better jeremiah Fears was supposed to be graduating from high school last month instead he bet on his NBA dream by reclassifying to leave high school early to play at Oklahoma my dad first mentioned it to me around my freshman year high school he was just talking about how he kind of feel my skill set is unmatched for my age so I’ve been thinking about it since my freshman year of high school but I kind of wanted to just see myself develop and see how it play out i saw your quote when you were going to Oklahoma you said your goal is to get to the NBA did you even think going do it in a year’s time was possible I would say yes um it’s something I I wrote down every ball my first thing was just obviously getting to college getting a D1 offer and being able to put myself in a position like that was great and then my second one was being able to play in the NBA and the third one was being a one and done so those were three things I wrote down from the moment I started playing basketball you did such a great job of freezing defenders some people make the joke I had no fear but it’s like it’s a real thing should they fear you on the court Yes for sure every time I step on the court go out there compete play hard and I’m coming at you mike Miller said you’re going to be allar in three years yes sir i like it cuz it’s something that he truly believe and it’s something that that I truly believe and I know it’s going to happen so somebody think that highly of you then you should think that highly of yourself as well espn projected last week that fears will be taken seventh by New Orleans in time this draft sleeper believes that teams passing on him will regret it i hear you’re quite competitive yes sir i don’t hear your name in top three how do how do you feel about that man upset there was more work to be done and whatever goes in front of me I’m coming I’m coming for do you see yourself as a sleeper Do you see yourself as Well I I’ll let you answer that see myself the best player in this class somebody that can bring everything to the table bring you wins bring you a leader shay Gilis has now joined the party of taking his shirt off so all things considered it’s a pretty routine celebration there in Oklahoma City for winning the championship good for them first franchise first championship in franchise history oklahoma City getting their celebration their drinking and their suntan today now let’s take a look at the players and teams that were not as fortunate this postseason pacer star Tyrese Hallebertton tore his Achilles in the first quarter of game seven with Hallebertton likely to miss all of next year indiana’s title odds dropped from 10 to1 to 40 to1 on ESPN bat in the Eastern Conference semi Jason Tatum tore his Achilles in the fourth quarter of game four with Tatum also expected to miss all of next season the Celtics traded Drew Holiday last night then in the first round Bucks stars Damen Lillard tore his Achilles in game four with Lillard likely out all next season as well jianniskupo’s future in Milwaukee might be uncertain nba analyst Marke Morris joins us now so we just went through those players who will likely miss most of next season let’s talk about their teams can Boston be successful with Tatum out When you when you say successful um I don’t think they they they can win a championship right But I I I believe they could be successful in free agency by shedding some of that that collar recept getting under the second apron and then also too helping Jaylen Brown grow his game right This will be a chance for Jaylen Brown to be a 1A type of player i think in my personal opinion he will be in the running for MVP or even most improved right And then the pieces that you bringing around him you’re basically getting a good scout of how they will look with Jason Tatum right Just making sure that every everybody’s in place for when Jason Tatum come back the following year all right let’s keep it there can Milwaukee have a successful season with Lillard out I’m not sure because they don’t have the best assets to be able to move they don’t they don’t really have draft picks they are they are over the salary cap so I’m not really too sure about them right They just have to I basically you know get a a free agent here and there they had seven free agents next year so that’ll be a team that’s really up in the air and it’s really based off of what Giannis wants to do all right and finally can Indiana have a successful season with Tyrese Hallebertton now Being as though they made it to the finals this year I wouldn’t really call it a successful season but I think they can compete right I think they need to go in free agency they don’t need much they need to go in free agency and sign a guard that know how to push the pace that know how to play through the pass know how to get a bucket when needed because the way they play is a collective of a team so they don’t really need to go and re reramp the whole team yeah all right we’ll see how those teams do i do want to ask you because these are all Achilles injuries what are your thoughts on the fact that so many players are getting the same injury over and over again [Music] [Music] Foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech for video [Music] yet empty [Applause] look at that you all right You’re all right [Music] see I didn’t I don’t plan My No no no don’t do it [Music] [Music] i don’t [Music] know boy boy [Music] [Music] um good night [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] speech foreign speech

NBA TODAY | Shams BREAKING: New Orleans Pelicans trade veteran CJ McCollum to Washington Wizards