What Are The New Orleans Pelicans Even Doing Right Now?

What Are The New Orleans Pelicans Even Doing Right Now?

what is up fellow sickos i’m Damp Valley coming at you with the one the only the certified fantabulous Mr grant Hughes we are approaching the end this is our penultimate offseason look ahead we are on to the New Orleans Pella can’t help themselves team of just doing things that feel self-destructive or pointless i don’t Man Grant we have so much to get to with this team so first and foremost how the heck are you
i’m feeling real glad we just I don’t know why left the Pelicans for now because there’s quite a bit more to talk about postdraft that we should get into so this team is sending I I guess not mixed messages but I’ll say curious messages i don’t know what they’re doing and that was kind of true beforehand and I feel worse about it because it doesn’t seem like they know what they’re doing or understand where they are in the West they already traded CJ McCullum and Kelly Olenick to get back Sadique Bay and Jordan Pool so they just have this have you noticed they have like this weird trend of we’re going to get a little bit cheaper in the interm while adding on long-term money that they just feel like they constantly make those types of trades
it’s a strategy Dan uh you know it’s a it’s a bit of a zag uh yeah i What did you Before we go any deeper I know we hated what they did on draft night what did you think just of the Mcllum Pool trade like in you
what did it signal to you
if Jordan Pool was on an expiring contract I would get it more because there’s just more shake and wiggle and more passing than maybe at least compared to lasting than Shady McCullum and with Deontay Murray out that would make a lot of sense but like he has the extra year on his deal and over the past
what four seasons he’s had two good ones
and so it just felt like a very weird move where did you end up on that
i so that I I the reason I asked is because I hate it more after the draft stuff that we really didn’t like because it feels like oh you’re just kind of throwing away years and dollar like so I think there’s a good argument that P will just be a better player than Mcllum this coming season like just given their ages given like maybe there will be more talent around pool than he had in Washington i feel like that’s like just by default well will the pelicans be healthy enough if they’re healthy if healthy giant asterisk at the top of the screen if healthy for everything we say um but so so that was like that didn’t really bother me it’s like well okay i first liked it liked it more for Washington obviously just because you’re cutting that year off of salary and then you move on from P who has all of my general like unseriousness questions uh but for for the Pelicans I thought it was it was like a decent gamble maybe P has another level to get to he’s younger like he’s more dynamic three-point shooter like all that stuff made it okay but then as just a part as it became clear that that was part of a larger set of transactions that are sort of signaling what this team thinks it is and what it thinks about timelines and patience and just general like I don’t know uh being careful um it I was trying to think of like a better phrase for that like discretion uh it it it now feels like oh that’s you guys are just kind of making mistakes left and right you don’t you’re what you think about yourself is not what you should be thinking about yourself
and it’s look this isn’t a shot at Derek Queen who I have questions because I’ve seen him like basically he’s a cross between Greg Greg Monroe and Nicole Joic and that’s just like I don’t know you talk about weird range of outcomes if you believe in the jump shot like that he can space the floor the passing is insane it’s like very interesting player
but the Jordan pool acquisition becomes a little bit more curious when you have Jeremiah fears right because Dejonte Murray is going to come back additionally the the move that I think is inexplicable unforgivable however you want to frame it is giving up so number 23 and an unprotected first which will end up being more favorable of New Orleans or Milwaukee next summer you cannot even if you think the Bucks are going to be good because Giannis is still there as the New Orleans Pelicans who have watched Zion Williamson season in and season out miss a whole bunch of time even like you might just send out the number seven pick like that’s
you might send out the number one pick like this is just
and you did it to get like that type of upside on a pick to get the number 10 pick
it just doesn’t make any type of sense like you Derek needs to basically become a superstar i if they had reached for queen at seven instead of fierce because you’ve got pool in the bag already like that would be risky but do that do that instead right like and keep and keep your your 26 like that is just like if I was trying to think of like okay so is there a way to spin like well now we can’t tank as a positive like I guess as a fan base like maybe you’re like okay they’re going for it but it reminds me of like my freshman year of college I hate hate math and I signed up for a math class that was at 8:00 a.m and I was like “Well now I’m going to have to go because other like cuz I I don’t know.” Like that was my logic at the time i don’t know and saying it out loud is like that doesn’t cuz I I skip it if it’s otherwise like I’m going to have to get up i’m going to have to go it won’t be an option now it’s like well we can’t tank we gave up this pick we’re going to have to play like it’s just like you’ve just removed the safety net and like you’ve fallen off the trapeze like several times in most in recent years and I just like don’t understand what the logic could possibly be on that you could if if he’s your guy
take him at seven like you I just don’t like what are we doing
i maybe it works out but like we can reasonably assume that maybe the Bucks will be like late teens early 20s what is the pathway in the west for the Pel like Zion has to remain healthy and then like presumably though aren’t you playing a bunch of Derek Queen and Jeremiah like these rookies that will be on developmental curves that is still such a wild transaction and to be fair the offseason isn’t done but I know you said you hate math we’re going to go through some cap vitals for them entering the offseason now did you want to take us through them
yeah so they should be a little more than $8 million below the tax that’s 16 million below the first apron which does include Jeremiah Fears and Derek Queen’s contracts does include Bruce Brown or I should annunciate doesn’t include Bruce Brown um they can technically use the bigger mid level the the full 14.1 million but they’re unlikely to enter the tax they don’t do that uh it would be a shock if they did although they’ve they’ve done some shocking things so far imagine if this is the team they go into the tax for
right they’re like “This is the one we we believe in it.” Like we love Trey Murphy and Herb Jones as much as the next guys and also we’ve been on the record of like Zion’s really spectacular when he’s healthy it’s still the West like what are we doing i I it just Good luck fellas um they can trade up to three first after the queen deal uh so that’s 2830 and 32
i I just have one word of advice don’t
don’t give up any of those picks i mean like Joe Dumar is in charge now troy Weaver is making some decisions uh if you were concerned uh at those names being put in charge like initially what are you thinking now that that that these transactions have taken place like are you like it’s unbelievable how how much more terrified I would be uh just like this is a worst case outcome it’s it’s like it’s happening already what it’s I just don’t so let’s throw away the trade that that like or the the unprotected nature of the pick how do you as the Pelicans when you’ve seen the downside of your best player in Zion Williamson and his health you just don’t have a first round pick next year how How do you let that That’s insane to me do like do you think do you think they went to Atlanta and said like we’d like to top four top five lottery protect this pick and Atlanta’s like no unprotected or no deal like
first of all the fact that an Salai wasn’t hired and I apologize if I butchered the pronunciation last name that he just wasn’t hired immediately as a lead basketball executive in Atlanta remember there was the reporting that they’re looking for someone over him and they’re still looking for someone over him this dude is clearly a genius and he deserves another raise and promotion immediately yeah put him in charge of like the state of Georgia or something like clearly he’s got it figured out
this isn’t even a trade that the Kings would have made i don’t even think the Bulls would have made it like do you know how bad that is i mean just it’s a I don’t know maybe they were like “Hey Orlando traded two unprotected two unprotected future firsts.” Like what’s one and we’re going to get our guy we’re going to move up 10 spots i I just I don’t know what the precedent is for this one we should have We should have looked around to see like what’s the most someone’s given up to move up 10 spots
well it’s probably like the false Tatum deal right
oh that was like two spots
well oh so you’re looking at the specific jump okay
yeah or just like a big jump like but also like to move up to 13 it’s not like it’s not like you’re moving up to two because it’s a two-player draft we got to get two like that if you if you had if there were I would be less shocked if there had been a trade involving an unprotected first to move up to like three from you know I don’t know 15 or 16 like had the if the Thunder that’s a bad example because their unprotected firsts are worthless to other teams but like the the Pelicans specifically I don’t know we’re just circling around like I just I’m struggling to explain this the other question I had is I’m assuming they were just sure that he wasn’t going to drop any lower like you couldn’t have gotten number 15 from the because were the Hawks or the Spurs going to take and I’m assuming I mean I guess negotiating with Sam Prey would probably be worse do we want the Pelicans doing that but I’m just curious as to which team was going to take Derek Queen because I don’t know that maybe Atlanta was going to and this offer just rolled in i don’t know like this is too good for us to pass up i So like you couldn’t you have just aimed a little bit lower rather than try to move up 10 spots and maybe not given up an unprotected 2026 first round
pick or Yeah again or again it would have been dumb but take him at seven and you still have your 26 first and like maybe you get fears at 13 I don’t know like or not it wouldn’t have had 13 but like maybe you make another trade at some somehow where you end up with fears and honestly like I don’t with pool on board like you could you’d have been fine without without fears like where did yakuchionas go what didn’t the Heat pick like 20th or something like move up a couple spots and get him if you need a guard i don’t know
the Brooklyn Nets kept all five of their picks like you couldn’t have gotten one of those picks if like suddenly just taken a taken a massive swing and rather than giving up the unprotected 26
that’s tough
let’s talk some extensions before we get into needs and what the rest of the offseason might look like i think this guy’s the most important one herb Jones is extension eligible he can sign for up to 3 years and 67.8 million um that would kick in during 2728 his age 29 season and then run through 2029 2030 um he could just wait for a longer deal next summer where he would be eligible for four years and I think it’ be about 93.4 million um so that would kick the can down like the extension would kick in at the same time but you would have him under contract for a year longer just for context his max salary in an extension whether he signs in year one of the extension whether he signs it this summer or next summer is 20.9 million which is 11.1% of the salary cap and so if I’m the Pelicans Grant
I am I’m I’m letting him choose his own adventure well not really i’m offering him this extension
if I’m Herb Jones
am I taking it i well he the only reason is because he had a major injury and missed a ton of time last year and he’s like I gotta lock this up um but if I’m him I’m like this isn’t enough for me like ne neither of these are like maybe things change if he has a bad year and he like he gets this same offer at the end of next season uh but even then it’s like I’m a I’m a starting wing that has shown some offense and I’m one of the best defensive players in the league like this isn’t enough and that’s just I don’t know how you can’t change that
now it becomes a question for the Pelicans of let’s say they keep him and then you can offer four and 93 the following summer is that enough to get him and I think the answer could still reasonably be no
yeah it depends on what kind of year he has and then like that obviously would well if he has a terrible year is that offer even like what what would have to happen for that offer to for the Pelicans to be like oh no that’s that’s too much for him something bad so if you’re the Pelicans and he turns down the three-year extension this summer which I think he should maybe he doesn’t because I I feel like the like the mid-end type of free agent to bees are still trying to figure out the lay of the land and how teams are going to spend their money
if he says no I think you have to trade him as the Pelicans because I can’t risk I know we’re two years out maybe you see how this season goes and figured out the trade deadline but you already gave him control of your 26th pick so we know in theory they’re not going to trade him but like you have to have a serious discussion about that if he says no to this extension right
well it’s it’s a it’s a little bit like the Kobe White IO Dunu like situation we’ve been talking about with the Bulls forever we’re like those were great deals that they signed those guys to oh they’re too small to extend so we have to talk about trading those guys same exact situation here i think you I mean White’s a really good player just very different but Herb is in that same level of like yeah you you like good job you sign him to a really cheap deal and now you might be forced to move him or lose him for nothing like we got to figure we got to figure that one out in the CBA
because it almost looks they do because it almost looks better so like let’s use IO as an example so if your average if your salary in an extension is going to check in um under like the the league average for that year you can just extend for 140% of the average annual salary like the the league average salary so like for IO yeah he might be worth more but coming off the salary he’s making now which is under eight I think he can sign for close to like four years and 90 million if that was the deal Herb Jones was on too that just seems like a far bigger jump
than when you’re okay like I’m already in the mid- teens so I don’t have like So yes this extension is worth more but it doesn’t seem like per year but it doesn’t seem like as big of a jump because So it’s it almost would have a hoo in the Pelicans if he was even cheaper even though it would have been less money because the optics of wow look at how much extra money this is right yeah that’s a good point
uh I predict he won’t sign the extension what about you
i would be I would be very surprised if he did and I look at this point you probably can’t move him because you’re trying to be good
right jordan pool’s extension eligible grant that came back around pretty quickly as of right now because of the extension rule since he was just traded even though it hasn’t been finalized i think 105% is the max raise so he could get 3 years and 116 million about year one salary in that deal 35.7 that is 19.1% of the cap if he waits 6 months he could actually sign for 3 years and 154 plus million um that year one salary is 47.7 million that’s 25.4% of the cap either deal would kick in during 2027 2028 when he’s only aged 28 i’m only including this uh because one we need stuff to talk about but two I don’t know what the Pelicans are like did they acquire him with the intention of like I don’t think he would get
the three years and $150 million number if he I would be shocked if they do that again I have questions
no way um I I think even the 3115 I’m not I’m not offering him an extension i’ll just like blow the lid off now this year if he has a great season this year then we can we can talk about it um I I just think in general I I would I would expect to see fewer players fewer non-s super duper stars getting extensions with two years left on their deals i just think like they go bad too often and teams are going to be I think correctly too scared off by like the worst outcomes of those types of extensions for the wrong like tier of player that like and Pool is just someone you’ve got him under guaranteed contract for two full seasons like I just I think you need to use that year for more information especially for the Pelicans and it’s kind of like this will be one of I don’t know like Washington’s just a different situation like this will be the first time he’s really in I mean Zion’s there but like in a major role on a team that’s trying to be good uh because he was in such a smaller role with the Warriors like I’m going to need to see something before I’m not I’m just not talking extension this year
i it would have to be like an up like yeah like give me three years and 60 and then it’s like well like that it would have to be something like that it’s but yeah you haven’t you could he hasn’t played for your team yet
so like I think you could make the case that Washington even if they were trying to be good you don’t extend him off of last season alone and the Pelicans not having a sample with him it’d be bonkers uh we’re there’s no other like super notable extension candidates we need to talk about so let’s get into biggest needs questions where where do you want to take this with a because look this I think this you said it’s good that we waited this entire structure for us and commentary would have looked and sounded completely different had the draft night trade specifically never happened where do you want to go with this
uh I mean I think I’m tempted always to start with Zion and and the challenges that building a team around him presents this is just you can recycle this from like anytime we’ve talked about him over the years where you have to put very specific player types around him and then his unavailability makes it hard to have those players like play the bulk of the minutes when he’s not out there because it’s like they’re kind of all built to play like off of a unique skill set that he has so that manifests in the first thing I think we talk about is the playmaking um because if Zion is not out there then the offense is running through Jordan P and
Derek Queen to and or other rookie Jeremiah Fears who is like an exciting young player but it’s just like if you’re trying to win this year you cannot put the ball in the hands of a rookie point guard whose decision-making is iffy and he can’t shoot like that’s that’s he would have been a phenomenal tank commander like in Brooklyn if you wanted to just give him 38 minutes and let him grow maybe he’ll become great but he’s going to be damaging so yeah I think the playmaking is a problem um and and that’s to say like they have some real strengths otherwise we haven’t talked about Trey Murphy and Herb Jones on the wing for example very much their their wing rotation can still be s and like if Murray comes back this season like there’s a lot of interesting perimeter stuff with this team but I like do they have enough defense on the roster like cuz if you’re going to play Zion and Queen together you need those other three players on the court to be what I would say 80th percentile defenders Herb Jones done if you want to throw Jose Alvarado mix that in okay done I don’t know if Trey Murphy’s there yet but he becomes important then to the spacing because Herb Jones and Jose Alvarado are both questionable shooters there’s like and look they have Evees Mei who’s like kind of more of the traditional big look and I thought him and Zion figured out a lot of stuff together last year i like you’re you’re Willie Green what is your best like what is the fiveman unit you were turning to leaning on the hardest as of right now
well your your definiti [Music] and then pool right i think is that probably your your your starting five and maybe you’re close maybe you close with Zion at center I don’t know and you put another who’s who else are you putting out there like if it’s I just don’t like Queen and Zion together at all um but you almost have to play them together at some point
you try it right which is like that’s why trading the pick though is also bonkers because that works like counter to we need to try this out even though it might not look good at the first sign of it not working you bail out because oh like we don’t own our own pick we need to win
i mean also if you’re if you’re trying to win and you need to win you’re not starting or closing with queen or fears on the court i don’t I don’t think I I like Right
unless there’s another again the off season isn’t over it hasn’t even technically started like the league year has not reset yet so there’s other moves they could make but like I even find myself do you think that they have enough shooting now when you have pool there’s question marks with fears and queen though you have Murphy i mean you do have Jordan Hawkins but like his efficiency has been all over the place to like be where they’re at and still have questions about like oh do they have enough shooting around Zion is is weird
yeah Murphy’s the only guy that I’m I’m just like pencil him in i I mean he’s a plus shooter that like actually bends the defense pool I think has self-created threes like Yeah that that might be there that might be there and then Hawkins I still like what Hawkins can do uh I he’s just if you play him then you have massive defense like massive defensive questions es if you play him with pool forget it like that’s just that’s really hard to make it work it feels like if you had to dilute this down to an archetype of player it feels like they might need unless you think it’s someone in the front court who’s not Queen or Mei that you believe is a better fit next to Zion on that front line or it needs to be sort of this hybrid like wing player who’s you know like uh just as an example we just talked about him with the Raptors just like an Oayak Baji just to come in innings and not torpedo your defense or your offense it feels like they need more of those players with I’ll say here’s the best way like the simplified way of saying it they need more players that have fewer glaring weaknesses yeah they got a lot of oneway guys or guys that are like “Well he’ll definitely give you this singular skill but you’re going to have to make up for his deficiencies in these like four other areas.” That’s just a that’s a tough thing to juggle and also that is just not the mark of a team that is is gonna like I don’t know that’s not going to win 50 games or whatever which or certainly more in danger of making that pick that they owe very very high than they are of of really having it figured out there’s just too many it’s hard to find the lineup that you’re like I think that I can see that closing in the second round of the playoffs or something i just I don’t know if that group is there some free agents that I think they could consider just as like they can come in and they would help like a Torian Prince uh Jake Laravia could be pretty interesting on this team chris Buchet would still really work on this team i know I name him for everybody but like he actually works
j Tate’s Nas Reed but that’s like that now you’re in sign and trade territory so what other picks are you are you giving up
uh J Tate for the defense cuz he can guard up the offense could be a little bit questionable those are just like the price ranges I think they’ll be shopping in is sort of the the mini MLE range uh probably not a reunion with Larry Nans Jr or anybody there’s just like like you could look at some of the pure shooters if you wanted to but I don’t know if they have enough like defense to go and if you’re going to go the pure shooting route it’s okay just lean into Jordan Hawkins and
give him the chance i agree um anything like any like trade targets i just don’t this team should not be trading any more first round picks so I’m just not like I can’t even get into trades for them and I guess this does signal because Joe Dumar did say that they were going to remain committed to Zion is they’ve kind of clearly signal now that okay Zion is still the centerpiece of this team and he will be on the roster through February’s trade deadline that I was just going to say like is this one we need to like what’s what’s the percentage chance that we get to February and Zion is is it more likely that Zion is very much available or that he’s still totally like untouchable at the trade deadline because I think it’s more likely that Dumar has to face facts and be like we just are going to have to try to move this guy i think it’s more likely that what you’re laying out that he would be considered like getable but I just don’t know if that’s because to consider him untouchable is how good is he playing how healthy is he it just feel like you’re betting on for him to be untouchable he has to be healthy and to just bet on his health at this point it’s unfair i love seeing Peak Zion on the court but like we don’t have enough evidence that it’s going to sustain um my final question
this team do you find them more intriguing offensively right than defensively it feels like they have more holes on the defensive end now
oh yeah yeah definitely this should be an offensive team like Zion one of the 10 best that might be selling him short offensive players in the league when he’s healthy i think Murphy could just if he stays health again if healthy if Murphy could be phenomenal i think even guys like Fears like there’s real Hawkins there’s real there’s real punch here if if they can make it work and if they’re willing to just concede on the defensive end uh yeah this is an offensive team i would be shocked if they if they just you know if they had a higher defensive rating ranking wise than offensive
so this will all end with them eventually trading Trey Murphy to Atlanta to get their own pick back next summer that’s how this that’s what it feels like maybe that’s they considered the out it’s like we could probably have enough players just to send to Atlanta to get that pick back next summer maybe that’s the contingency
like you know what Atlanta likes really good young well-rounded athletic
we have Derek Queen you need Christophs is a free agent you want You want Derek Queen are you ready to take us out of here yeah thanks everybody for listening for watching make sure you rate review and subscribe checking us out on YouTube leave us a comment there make sure you thumbs up that video uh tell your friends tell your join our Discord links for that in YouTube and podcast description i think that’s going to cover it thanks again shouts Frank Nilikina apologies Jared Allen [Music]

Dan and Grant dig deep into the New Orleans Pelicans’ offseason approach so far, and whether it could come back to haunt them.

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CHAPTERS⬇️
0:00 – INTRO
0:35 – Soooo, what are the Pelicans doing?
6:09 – New Orleans’ cap sheet + trade assets
10:54 – Potential Herb Jones extension
14:55 – Will the Pelicans extend Jordan Poole?
17:07 – Biggest needs and questions
23:13 – Future of Zion Williamson

#nba #neworleanspelicans #zionwilliamson