This has Pelicans Fans SERIOUSLY Concerned…

This has Pelicans Fans SERIOUSLY Concerned…

This has New Orleans Pelicans fans seriously concerned as there has been a lot of negative press surrounding the decisions the Pelicans made in the 2025 NBA draft. And recently, Joe Dumars has been getting slammed for this, including by a key draft insider who believes the Pelicans made some serious missteps in this draft. And we’re going to break it all down. What’s up, guys? Welcome back to Pelicans Digest. It’s Chris here. We’re going to jump right into things. As always, if you guys are part of that 74% that’s not subscribed to Pelicans, make sure to subscribe for the latest updates on the New Orleans Pelicans. We got videos coming out every single day. Mel is sick. He will be back with the daily uploads as well. But let’s jump into the video. There’s a lot to go over as look, it’s no secret that Joe Dors has been getting slammed with the way the 2025 NBA draft went. A lot of people were really, really upset with the decision to draft Eric Queen. where the Pelicans traded up in or and in order to do this they did give that 2026 unprotected first round pick to the Atlanta Hawks something that was viewed as a terrible move at the time and still is and now especially with Derrick Queen out for the next 12 weeks at least with that wrist injury. There’s a lot of questions surrounding if Dumar has made the right decisions here and even a key draft insider has just reamed the Pelicans for the decisions they made in that 2025 draft in regards to the players that they selected. Now jumping into it, Sam Vicini mentioned that this year there are currently guys who Vini feels like he’s higher on than Consensus saying much like every year those players that I’m higher on are Khan Nepple, Cedric Coward, Colin Murray Boils, Noah Penda, and Ryan Cochrrener. The guys I’m probably a bit lower on the than the consensus Jeremiah Fears, Igor Demon, Noah Essenu, and Rashier Fleming. If you notice a trend here, I hope it’s that I value highlevel processors of the game with size and skill while downgrading players who I think are interesting on ball upside swings but have a lower chance to hit any sort of threshold with the ball in their hands. Now Jeremiah Fur was literally the first name he mentioned here which definitely does give Pelicans fans a cause for concern. The seventh overall pick is very much someone who’s looked at as a good scorer and does have a lot of bright spots to his game. There’s a reason he was picked seventh overall. And this is the pick that the Pelicans really haven’t been getting slammed for because Fierce looks good. Yeah, this jump shot is spotty, but he’s able to create really well inside, can create his own shot and is incredibly clutched. So, there’s a lot of good with Jeremiah Fierce’s game. It’s just a matter of what everyone kind of is expecting out of him and what’s gonna happen considering there’s a bit of guard depth now. Having Jordan Pool, having Dejante Murray, having José Alvarado, there’s a lot of guards on this team already. So, finding where Fierce fits and he really is a point guard is going to make things a bit more difficult, but that’s something to think about in the short term. Obviously, Alvarado’s on a one-year deal from this point on, so he very likely could leave the Pelicans or end up getting traded off the Pelicans this year. It would not be surprising to see either of those things happen. And when considering all that, it does create room for Fierce to jump in and sort of get a chance. Now, Fierce was ranked by Vini as the 18th player in the draft. So, Vini is very low on Fierce despite the fact that he was picked seventh overall. And it is really upsetting to see something like that. And frankly, I mean, I like Jeremiah Fears personally. I think he was a good selection for New Orleans. And I would not really argue it. I thought it made sense and I think it still does make sense. Again, is Deontay Murray gonna be here for the long haul? The hope is yes. Is Jordan P going to be here for the long haul? Literally, nobody can tell. There’s no real clear answer on that and it’s not going to there’s not going to be until we see him play basketball. And then on top of that, it feels like Alvarado is probably on his last legs in New Orleans just considering the fear of selection, which is I don’t want to say fine, like we’re not gonna miss the hell out of Alvarado, but it’s one of those situations of well, we did just take a rookie. He’s going to be on that rookie contract. That’s going to be really important to ride with. So, I do I do feel like that’s probably where we’re going here. And on top of that, Fierce just is a solid player. I mean, looking at his college stats, he put up 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists per game, shooting 43% from the field, and 28% from three. percentages aren’t good, but he’s shown a lot of upside. And that’s really what this Fierce pick was. Can there be a combo guard who, in my mind, again, more of a point guard considering the way he shoots, is there going to be that upside with him being a good ball handler, having all the abilities to be a point guard, he just has to become more of a pass first player. He doesn’t even really need to considering how different the point guard position is nowadays. So, he he’d be fine. But, it is a big question if he’s going to become a consistent shooter. Now, Kevin Oconor’s draft breakdown of Jeremiah Fierce discussed that Fierce is a dynamic guard with a twitchy attacking style and a knack for coming through as a clutch shooter. He was one of the college basketball’s youngest freshman and it showed with his shaky decision-making as a shooter and a passer, but he has a feel for shot creation and a handle that lets him get anywhere on the floor. So, he may only need time to emerge as a star. And Okconor went further by saying that the positives of his game are his drive game that Fears is a herkyjerky ball handler who’s difficult to read. He’ll go fast and then slow. He’ll declate into floaters. He’ll toss up layups using either hand if he gets all the way to the rim. This makes him especially potent in the open floor. And he could benefit from NBA spacing to aid his scoring efficiency at the next level when operating in the pick and roll and isolations. He’s got upside on that jumper as well. He he is a fluid ball handler who’s comfortable getting into his shot. The results just aren’t there yet from three. He made only 20.5% of his dribble jumper threes. So, his pull-up threes per synergy that is. But there are some positive indicators as well. He shot 36.1% on catch and shoot threes, 43.3% on mid-range jumpers, and 50% on floers, and 85.1% on free throws. Improving his three-pointer is only a matter of expanding his range. Then he might need time to become a major threat. The free throw shooting is a key metric here as free throw shooting does sort of tell how far someone can get as a shooter in general. Now, on top of that, he also said some of the stuff that he’s going to have to fix and really grow on is that if he improves his jump shot and cuts down on turnovers, he could become a filthy creator using ball screens. He’s so physical on drives yet also so shifty with a creativity to him that just needs some experience and seasoning. He’s also at the end of Oklahoma’s loss, or these are still the good stuff, but also like how we just keep growing. and he said at the end of Oklahoma’s loss in the SEC tournament, “Fears made a pair of free throws, hit a three, got a steal, then assisted a teammate, and got another steal, and scored a tough bucket to take the lead.” After clutch moments and a gamewinner against Michigan earlier in the season, this stretch again detailed how Fierce can come through in the highest pressure moments. So, it’s not a matter of Jeremiah Fierce can’t handle the pressure. We know he could handle the pressure, and it’s one of those things that makes you believe that he’s going to be able to handle that NBA level pressure because he was so good at it in Kyle as being so young. I mean, he’s someone who has a lot of room to grow and he’s got some good guards on his team to help him get there. Now, his stats were good in the summer league in the five games he played in the 27 minutes per game he appeared in. He put up 17 and a half points, three rebounds, near two and a half assists, 1.4 steals per game. He shot 40% from the field. So, that was solid. It’s just the three-point percentage. It’s just it’s the shooting percentages. That’s what he really needs to fix here. And that’s something in time will come. When you’re a young player in basketball, especially at the NBA level, it’s super common to have terrible field goal numbers. That’s not something that’s like specific to fears. That happens to a ton of guys in their first season or two when they come out of the college or when they just come out into the NBA and they’re very young. They struggle to shoot at an efficient clip. It could be a million different things that causes that, but he’s 19 years old and he doesn’t necessarily need to be some looking like some future superstar at 19 years old. It’s a matter of as long as he gets there. That’s really what’s important here. Now, he got compared to Jamal Murray and Jordan Pool. The Pool one is interesting considering that Pool’s now his teammates. So, it’ll be interesting to see if P will kind of be a good voice for him. Obviously, these guys are two guys who create well with the ball in their hands. They are both much better shooters for the most part. I mean, obviously P’s had his down years, but they’re both much better shooters than Fierce is right now. So, hopefully P could help Fierce just get his number up or his numbers up, I should say. But when it comes down to it, it is going to be interesting to see how it all sort of pans out. I mean, at the same time though, there are stuff or there is stuff to be a little bit weary about. Now, Derek Queen and Jeremiah Fears in summer league, 14 turnovers and nine field goals is how they started off. So, that definitely does cause a bit of concern. And in general, there just is going to be a tad bit of concern with Jeremiah Fear game. And Kevin Oconor covered this saying that some of the weaknesses are his shot selection as he attempts way too many crazy layups and floaters which killed his percentages in college. And he’s a below the rim athlete. So he needs to develop a better feel for when to put up shots or look to distribute and while also improving footwork. His perimeter shooting is an issue as his jumper is only a work in progress as he’s milling 25% or 27.5% of his of his threes in college and he wasn’t any better at high school level either until he proves he can stretch the floor reliably. NBA defenses will sag off and clog his driving lanes, make it harder for him to score. On top of that, his decision-m needs some it needs to just grow more than anything as the turnovers nearly match his assists. He can get tunnel vision, forcing shots or sloppy whipping passes that miss the mark. His strength as he needs to get significantly stronger. It currently hurts him when it comes down to dislodging defenders on his drives. And on defense, even if he’s grinding to keep in front of his opponent, at the same time, he could still get plowed through. In the long term, he doesn’t project as a switch defender regardless. But a lot of these weak points that we’re seeing are stuff that’s indicative to fears just being young and being a rookie. So, I think that’s the solace we could take in that stuff. And at the same time, look, Jeremiah Fears is someone who he’s going to be an interesting prospect. I mean, so is Queen. It’s going to be interesting to see how they go about sort of using these players, how Willie Green plans on using his rookies, and really what the future holds for this team. I mean, the better they are, the healthier they are, the less these guys are going to play. And that’s not always the worst thing in the world. It’s just a matter of finding what’s going to work and what’s not. What do you guys think is going to work? Let me know in the comments down below what you think on this guy, Jeremiah Fears. Like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications. Have a great day. I’ll catch you on the next

Chris Gallagher breaks down the New Orleans Pelicans fans being concerned after some breakdowns by a draft insider.

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