What are the New Orleans Pelicans doing? | 2025 NBA Draft

What are the New Orleans Pelicans doing? | 2025 NBA Draft

now it’s the fun part Surprises Surprises A nice way of saying it Yeah Yeah We didn’t go winners losers and steals but this one sure feels like a big L for the New Orleans Pelicans Are we are we conflating it with the Jordan Pool move or is this just separate I think it’s separate I think this in of itself is it’s questionable I was not as down on the Jordan Pool move as you were That’s 100% true That’s 100% true weird draft I think for the Pelicans to draft a point guard immediately after trading for a point guard in Jordan Pool Pool’s got this year and next year left on his deal So maybe the theory for the Pelicans is that Fears takes over as the ball handler after P has spent his time in New Orleans I guess there’s an opportunity for ball handling with P being there and Dejante Murray is coming off an Achilles injury I think that’s easy to forget at this point He got injured at the end of January So will he be up to speed at the start of the season Is there still opportunity uh for Fears to get on the court I don’t know He’s got a great handle He’s super quick Needs to improve his jumper Sounds like Monte Ellis to me but he’s from the Chicago suburbs So I got to root for this guy He’s an Illinois boy And he’s a great great name Jeremiah Fierce Very solid name but such a question as to if he can play defense along with Jordan P Uh and and Right This is going to be a bad defensive team Yeah Exactly Exactly And and it’s just getting deeper and deeper and deeper when we get to their 13 pick and Derek Queen But just sticking with the back court we all hoped here in Atlanta that DeJonte Murray would turn around the defense here That didn’t happen Dejante Murray won’t start the season Even if he does on the floor he won’t start at all healthy defensively He’s not going to be the old Deonte Murray that we saw in San Antonio So that’s a questionable threeman guard rotation there Of course they’ve got others and Jos Alvarado uh still there to make it happen They’ve got others to cover for them and Herb Jones and Trey Murphy But that’s not even the weird pick for the Pelicans No the Derek Queen The weird part is Derek Queen I wanted the Bulls to take him at 12 I think he’s a talented guy I like the style of basketball he plays I’m a sucker for big men who have skills even if they’re giving it back defensively because the guy’s not a super athlete Not great size as a rim pretend protector I also would have liked the Bulls to accept this Pelicans trade which I assume had to be there for Chicago at 12 if it was there for Atlanta as well But the fact that New Orleans traded 23 in this draft which ended up being Newel to the Hawks throwing in the 2026 unprotected first after a 21 win season when you’ve got one of the most unreliable superstars in Zion Williamson leading your team This seems crazy and way too much confidence put into Zion’s health by Joe Dumar’s and Troy Weaver down in the Pelicans Like the trade probably would have been fine if they put any protections on it Like the Hawks probably would still do this trade if New Orleans is like this is a top four protected 2026 pick that’s coming to them right Like I think the Hawks still say yes to that but instead completely unprotected which is just so much downside for New Orleans Yeah So Derek Queen uh w with the connections to Maryland it sure feels like Troy Weaver coming in and doing something that I would do Oh Toronto I like that you know like he’s he’s got ties to Maryland He’s got ties to the Washington area and and so there’s that part You give up a 23 pick and as you said next year what could be the more favorable the better of Milwaukee or themselves of their own pick in in New Orleans doesn’t seem all that good for a guy who ain’t a great defender to be beside Zion Uh he’s not an incredible shooter to be beside Zion And that’s that’s the weird part It’s a weird mix those two Yeah And then along with the Jordan Pool back court along with Jeremiah Fierce there ain’t no defense It just doesn’t seem like they know exactly what they’re doing there But they’re going for it right here right now So you can you know you can say that like I was saying that about even the Memphis Grizzlies Like they are trying to get players who can play right here right now or alongside Zion But there’s so much going on on the court and off the court with Zion there So there’s just so many questions Yeah I can’t get super excited for what Dumar’s and Troy Weaver have done to start their their regime Yeah The the early days of Joe Dumar’s tenure in Detroit were awesome when he built the championship team This is more like the latter years of Joe Dumar’s tenure in Detroit where it’s doesn’t seem like they have a plan and they’re just acquiring players even if there’s a lot of overlap Um and the only like upside to me is that now people are looking at the Pelicans front office more than they’re looking at the Bulls front office right now because this was uh they seem to be the biggest head scratcher of the entire draft [Music]

Round 1 of the 2025 NBA Draft for the New Orleans Pelicans had a lot of people scratching their head.

📺 NBA Draft Round 1 full episode: https://youtube.com/live/LCN0A_xxAWY
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