Pelicans Offseason Begins: Zion Accountability, Joe Dumars’ Vision & Is Borrego the Answer?

Welcome back to NewOrleans.Basketball, your home for detailed New Orleans Pelicans analysis, roster breakdowns, and NBA talk.

Hosted by Raphael Rattler and Garrick “G-Money” Rattler, we break down everything from the Pelicans end-of-season press conference, to Zion Williamson’s accountability, Joe Dumars’ vision, and what’s next for the franchise heading into the offseason.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:23

What up, what up, what up? Welcome to another episode of New Orleans.basketball. I am your host, Raphael Rattler, drawn by my fellow middle brother, Gary G Munter. What's popping with you, bro? What up, what up, bro? Been a been another minute since we've been on here. Whole the season has ended. Crazy how that's coming gone. One would argue that the Pelicans season ended quite some time ago, but fair, fair, fair point. Fair point. I think that it is uh a mercy killing. Uh, I think everybody is uh was kind of looking forward to the to the end of the season. I think players, coaches, ownership, fans alike. Um, but here we are, we're getting ready for the postseason, which the Pelicans will not be a part of. I it's a bit of sweet feeling when it gets to the to the NBA postseason, not only because the team that we cover isn't there, uh, but it also gives you, you know, we had this past Saturday where there was like no NBA games on, and no college football games on, and no W NBA games on, and no NFL games on, and you know that that sports drought, there's no Olympics to save you, all right. There's no Olympics to save you this year. Uh, so you so you know it's coming, but the W did have their draft uh last night. Shout out to the ladies, shout out to the women that that got drafted. Uh, shout out to Flo J LSU's own. Got drafted by Golden State, the Valkyries. Uh, I think that was a good fit for, but then she got traded to Seattle. So I think that's that's gonna be interesting to see Flo in in in uh in Seattle. But um the NBA, the dubs, W NBA season is is getting underway, and so that'll that'll give you some of that that craving for hoops. They do they that's real good hoops, good, good, good views, good eats, as the kids would say, uh, when it comes to to basketball. But you just know that that NBA season, obviously, the basketball is about to pick up and the the stakes are gonna get higher. Uh, but once you get to the to the end, I mean that's it. That's it until September, uh, or I, you know, whatever. So um, or at least till summer league. So uh, but outside of that, man, the city's city's been all good, man. It's been real relatively quiet uh in the city. Um, you know, I'm I'm enjoying the weather that we got. Now it's not scorching, but it's not it's not cold, but then but some days you get scorching there like at like early in the morning, and then like you get towards the end of the day, it's like, wait a minute, I need a little jacket out here. You never really know. Um, but all they say, man, I'm all good on this side, I have everything on your side. Everything is blessed. Yes, um, another NBA regular season in the books. Yes, this felt like one of the more frustrating seasons from the Pelican. I'm not gonna say like the worst season in Pelicans history because I've been through some of them years and I watched them this year as like a above teenage basketball viewer, and some of them years where the Pelicans were I would like to raise anybody who says that I worked in the Pelicans team store the same year that Anthony Davis required or requested a trade. That little half a season, yeah, the team was pesky, but boy, was that some dog days. I mean, working in there, the the crowd wasn't into it, the team really wasn't into it, everybody was kind of jaded from the Andy David. So I'm with you, bro. We I have seen some dark days when it comes to this Pelicans team, yeah. And and again, we'll get to we'll get to our end of season takeaways and things like that, just because like I have some feelings on the team that may be popular, may not be. I don't really care, it's just how I saw the season play out. But yeah, the Pelicans finish 11th in the West, 26 and 56, not great. Another year, not in the playoffs. It's crazy. My son's getting to that age where he's starting to turn into a cute junk junkie, and he he's like, Well, damn, when was the last time the Pelicans with the playoffs? And it's like, ah son, you got so much to learn. But Juju deserves better, man. You want you want to see some winning basketball start to take place in the city of New Orleans. But let's get to this presser. Before we do, make sure you guys follow us on Twitter, IG, TikTok, that's in no basketball, no e. Make sure you're liking the episode below and make sure you're subscribed to the channel. Let's get to this end of season presser because they're always interesting. You know, if you go around the league, some people show up, some people don't show up, some people talk, some people don't talk. And there's a myriad of reasons for it. Every team handles it differently. Star players and role players handle it differently, but I'm always just curious to catch the vibes and get kind of a sense for what to look for coming in the offseason, whether it's gonna be tumultuous or you're gonna be kind of in a in in lockstep and key. And that's what I was looking at from this presser. So let's just jump into it. So, not all the players spoke, uh a good majority of the rotation spoke. Joe Dumar spoke today, earlier on today. And some of the things that popped out just for me, and I'm gonna start with it because I think it's the the first place you should start, was Zion Williamson himself. And to me, it it's not just like what he said or that he said it. Like he's like, uh the the the headline that hit NBA.com is you know, Zion's in for a different summer, and you know, he's not gonna take it the same, and yada yada yada. Here's what's crazy about that. Zion has just completed his sixth season, zero playoff minutes to this date, and you could see the frustration on his face, and he talked about walking to the podium uh yet again and not being able to experience the postseason. You could see the the internal pull from him saying, I gotta stand in front of y'all again and tell you we didn't make the playoffs, things like you could see it eating at him a little bit, but that's not the thing that jumped out to me. In previous seasons, Zion has also gotten up to the podium and said the definition of doing the same thing over and over again is insanity, and then everyone's like, Whoa, and Zion won out, things like so. There's been things like that said before, but you and I talked off the pod. And again, I'm not sure people really want to hear this just because you know, especially if you're a fan, it's like, man, you you had this talent, the the Cooper flag, the Anthony Davis 2.0, you got all this this this talent that was supposed to be yours, and it's been a letdown up until this point. We don't want to hear excuses where to move on. I totally understand it, and if that's how you feel, that's how you feel. But I'm one of those people that I like to observe within the moment, right? And not necessarily be a prisoner of the moment, but understand all the things that led to this point. In years past, and you and I talked about this off the pod. Zion would step up to these pressers and these postgames and whatever it may be, interviews, and he would sound like a kid, like a very much out of the Derek Quinn interview, where you're like, Man, you for you forget he's a kid, and then he starts talking, and you're like, Oh yeah, this this is this is a young man trying to figure out the world. Zion would step up to these conversations and get asked questions, whether it be comfortable, uncomfortable, whatever it may be, and you have this like childish laugh to it or or giggle about it, whether it was serious, he's trying to like walk it back, or or whether it was lighthearted, and you know, he's got that charisma that takes it. But like in this particular interview, I felt the accountability come from him, right? He was very, very clear, he was very, very transparent in I'm not good enough, I wasn't good enough. These I can't keep going to the paint and expecting Deems to defend us any different. Like, he just called out all the things mostly about himself. Zion, how do you feel about the season? 62 games, whatever, you were healthy, 20 points a game. I had an okay season, I could have been a lot better. Things like that, things that make you you think, okay, the kid is growing up, right? The kid is growing, and again, people probably don't want to hear that and and probably are ready to move on to Jeremiah Fears and Derrick Queen and all those things. But like Antonio Daniels always says, growth is not linear, and so to see the kind of steps from him in particular go through the years, that was the first thing that jumped out to me. And like we'll talk about like what that means for him for this summer. I'm sure we'll talk about it a lot, and what that means for the team, and how do they pivot or how do they grow and expand upon what he put together so far this season? But what's something else that jumped out to you from it any of the players said, or what Joe Dumas had to say today? Yeah, I think you know that's a that's a that's a that's a good place to start. I think Zion uh listen, this is he has gotten to the point in his career where you know, and part of it is his fault. I've talked about it on this podcast about, you know, if you if you if if you want to be the guy, like this is what it entails. And it's funny that you know you could tie this into with you know DeAndre, uh, what Derrick Queen was talking about with DeAndre Jordan asked him, was like, you know, do you want to be the guy or just the guy? Because that's that's a differentiating, you know, kind of a qualifier when you talk about players, right? And and you know, when you talk about Zion, he's gotten to the point in his career where it's it's the words are gonna fall on deaf ears, they they just are, and and part of it again, a big part of it is Zion's, you know, Zion's fault, right? Like you haven't been available, what is led which has led to the team. We talked about hierarchy and and things that we saw in offense, you know, this season, and Jane Barigo even admitting without having a not having a hierarchy. Part of that is because you haven't been around, and this team hasn't disfranchised as much as they they boast you as the best player, and as much as they pay you as the best player, and as much as your talent says you should be the best player, you haven't given them the ability to to to all in on the floor, commit to Zion being the best player, right? Because you haven't been available, the injuries, the off-court stuff, just a lot of different things. And so when you come into the you know, your your your sixth postseason, uh your sixth end of season presser, and there's no postseason, there's nothing, you know, you come up and you you you want to hear the accountability from him, but how many times, like earlier in the season, you heard him talk about like okay, yeah, I need to diversify my game, I'm gonna try to do it, and then he he doesn't do it. So, I at this point, it's not about saying, right? Zion, there was nothing Zion could have gotten up there and said Zion could have said he said New Orleans is my home a million times, he said he wants to win here a million times, he said I want to do this a million times. The results have to start speaking for themselves, and that's you know, it's it's it's unfair, but this is the life of an NBA player, and this is the life of a max contract player, like a franchise player who is watching you know their career go by them, and now you got guys who are nipping at the bud both on the court and from a fans' perspective, right? You just talked about people wanting to pivot to Derek Queen and Jeremiah Fields. It reminds me of a lot of when Woody when uh Andy came home, and instead of having Woody there, there was Buzz Lion. Uh strange things are happening. Well, yeah, yeah, you got the leap pads and tablets and whatnot. But that's you you you're watching your career go by, and it it is within your hands to change it, and it has to start on the floor, it has to start and and and putting results together because because the the the word play is not there. I I think outside of of Zion, I I think a lot of the guys, the players, uh has some interesting things to say. Um, talking about Trey and wanting to be in this post, calling Sadiq in the post, calling Sadiq a stout man, which is hilarious. Sadiq Bey obviously talking about how you know he wants to be in New Orleans, and I think that that's a good thing. But what I want to talk about, and and it it relies to to uh it relates to to Sadiq Bey is Joe Dumar's presser today, and we can talk deep into it. But he said something very interesting today. Yeah, well, he said a lot of interesting things, but the one of the things that really jumped out to me was his talk about the Jordan Poole trade and Jordan Poole's year with the Pelicans and you know and and and Sadiq Bay, right? He he basically admitted that the Jordan Poole thing was not did it didn't work out, right? It didn't work out the way that the Pelicans thought it would. Uh you know, he talked about the injury at the beginning of the year and never really finding his groove. And I think everybody who has two eyes that watch the Pelicans game uh can agree to that. But I think the most important thing that he said about that, and it got me thinking about that trade, and I want to I want to throw something out to you. Um, that maybe you know, I want I want to hear what you think about it. What if the what if the Jordan Poole CJ McCullum trade was really the Sadiq Bay trade all alone? And here's why I asked you that uh CJ McCollum was making 30 million dollars, right? And I think whether you agree to it or not, whether you know whether you believe it or not, I think CJ and the Pelicans both were kind of like, all right, you've done what you need to do here. Let's just go ahead and let's move on to the next step. But you listen to what Joe Dumar said about Sadiq Bey, about him being the kind of guy that if you ask him what kind of player he wants on his team, he would point to Sadiq Bay. Now, Troy Weaver and Joe Dumars are very familiar with Sadiq Bey, right, from his time in Washington. Um and I'm wondering if if the the first goal of the of that uh of that trade was to get rid of to get off the CJ McCullum extended contract and and shorten the amount of you know with time or or you know and or have a Jordan Poole contract that was maybe could have been expiring a little earlier and maybe could have been more attractive to somebody had he had a better season, whatever the case is. But I'm wondering if part two, the second goal that option was to get Sadiq Bey, because that I that kind of when you look at what happened on the floor, right? You talk about actions over words. Jordan Poole got uh you know, as he got his chance to play, and then he was pulled, and then he got a lot of DMP CDs. Sadiq Bay, not only did he get on the floor and play immediately, he then moved to the starting lineup. And when everybody got healthy, he didn't leave, he started, he continued to start for the for the team. And so I'm wondering if going into that whole situation, if Sadiq Bey may have been the target for Joe Dumas and Troy Weaver, uh, you know, just mass behind having to get a contract like that, um, and not being able to trade CJ McCullum for Sadiq Bey, but having to have something else thrown into it or whatever the case is. But that was one of the things literally off the jump. When he talked about that, he talked about the trade being stalled up for uh for Sadiq Bay as in like that guy has to come in the trade. And when you think about Sadiq Bay being a holdup of a trade, doesn't really, you know, before this season, even with this season, doesn't really sound like a Sadiq, like the value of Sadiq Bay. Um, but I'm wondering if like that's something that they went into. He talked about targeting players and targeting toughness. I think we would all agree that Sadiq Bey is very quiet, but he's probably not the guy that a lot of people mess with as big as it tough and as he is. So I'm just interested. Do you think that there's anything to like maybe Sadiq Bey was the target? And just because Jordan Poole is the more valued name and the more known name, and obviously the higher contract and all of those things. Um, do you think that like Sadiq Bey was the target and not Jordan Poole um in that? Well, I'll say this two things can be true, right? Like, I think that the just like we talked about last offseason, the idea of going from CJ McCollum to Jordan Poole was to get younger, right? To get a similar type player and get younger. Now, it didn't work out at all. I think what we found out very quickly is that while Jordan Poole may have higher ceilings, his floor is much lower than CJ McCollum. And I think you found that out relatively quickly. Um, as far as the Z Sadiq Baked P. You talk about their familiarity in Washington, but what about Detroit, right? Like, I think that a player Detroit, that's what I meant, but yeah, yeah, but but again, uh, you had Troy Reeva around the Washington organization while he was there, and so and so I think that there's always you know GM's players, it's just like in regular jobs and regular industries, you gravitate to certain types of people, certain types of personalities, certain types of interests, and things like that. I think, like he said, Tadiq Bey is the type of player that Joe Dumas and Troy Week gravitate to regardless of what roster they're in. That's why sometimes you see GMs go to different spots and you see those players somehow find their ways to those same GMs or coaches two and three stops down the road because you know what you're getting. And I don't think anyone, I know James Morrego has said it already this season, I know some of the players have said, I don't think anyone knew they were getting this level of Sadiq Bang because he was able to showcase things here that he wasn't able to showcase obviously in Atlanta and in Washington or Detroit, and I think that that gave him the ability to really kind of spread his wings to people say, oh wow, this is a a multi-tiered player versus a 3 and D guy. When we talked about the acquisition when it was when the transaction happened, we thought about man, Sadiq Bey and Trey Murphy, the only two guys and Jordan Poole, the only three guys on the roster who's hit 200 threes. Oh, he's also a good defensive star work. Oh, he has a bigger body. Nobody talked about his post-game, nobody talked about his playmaker, nobody talked about talked about his clutch scoring, nobody talked about those things, and I don't think the Pelicans knew those things existed. The other part about that, and I know people don't, you know, whether you feel one way or another, he's a man that's on his faith. I'll tell you this when when I understand that like these guys are paying millions of dollars, and and there's no excuses. I get it, I get it, get it, but like they're also humans too. So when they're 18, 19, 20 years old and making decisions, good or bad, on or off the court, things like that. That stuff impacts every player differently. Same does injuries. Some people respond from injuries one way, some people uh uh respond from injuries another. I think Sadiq Bey having to sit out all that time and really just be stuck with your thoughts. Zion's talked about how his injuries really put him in bad places. I think being stuck with your thoughts for 18 months, like, am I gonna be the same? And is someone gonna want me on the other side, makes you appreciate the game even more and double down even more in terms of who you want to be and what type of NBA career you want to have. And I think he got to show that side of him in a situation in New Orleans this season. Now, as far as like that initially being a part of it, I could absolutely see that because if if you look at the trade, just like we talked earlier in the season, you're getting two starters or two rotation players for one in that scenario. So whether you want to move, whether you wanted to move off Jordan Poole eventually or not going into this season, you still had two options for a player you know and you believe that they're gonna bounce back with, and another player who could be a wild card for you, good or bad. So, either way, you got two ways of winning versus just one. And so I believe that it kind of stalled the trade, and that was a part of getting that from the from the get-go. So I I absolutely buy into something of that nature, but altogether, I think the full conversation of what what Joe shared in terms of some of the guys that that they they look for, if you look at the players that they acquired, probably outside of Jordan Poole, they're all kind of built of that out, right? Like, how many times did we talk about Jeremiah Fierce being the smallest guy in the gym, but you never felt that way? You never felt like he was getting pumped, whether it was offense or or defense, either one, he's fighting. He's that that scrappy little guy at the gym who's nipping like Jose nipping at the ball. You're like, man, who is this little guy on even then, right? Derek Queen, right? Sadiq Bey, right? Like these are all players that you don't think of and say they're gonna be a pushover, right? I'm I'm gonna be able to get them out the game mentally early on just by being physical with them. And so uh some of his words, some of Joe's words talking about his vision for the team and what he aspires to be. Yeah, the results weren't great this season. But before we even talked about Willie Green and James Barrago and things like that, we looked at the roster and said, this is a lot of offensive firepower that's gonna have to struggle to play defense, and people don't figure out that how to do that in 10 games, they don't figure out how to do that in 20 games, they don't figure out to do that in a season, like that that stuff takes time, and so like I'm not that shocked that James Barrago didn't go win 40 of his 70 games once he took over, just because that takes some time to imprint, but also takes some time to imprint on your roster. What type of players do you want? How many years have we talked about in the past? Are the Pelicans getting punked? Like going into games where you just feel like they're the little brother over and over and over again, whether it's because they don't have enough tall players on the on the court or whether they're just physically being punked and moved out of the way. And I think for Joe is trying to put it together, and what Troy is trying to put together, and he alluded to it in Detroit. You look at that roster, Troy Weaver had a lot to do with that. Those are a lot of hard playing guys, let's call it that, right? San Antonio, again, a lot of hard playing guys. And I think that that's what the Pelicans roster needs, more of those. And so the another person that kind of jumped out to me who I think, you know, there's been a uh I don't want to call it misconception, but I think that there is a narrative about like the Jante Murray season, and then there's like the truth of the Zade Murray, and there's probably somewhere in the middle, right? Like the man went on a podcast and was tell talking bad about the organization. So don't tell me like at no point did he feel bad or gets the organization or want to go a different direction. He said it himself, but then I also think that they had a plan all season long about his recovery, and they were in conjunction in that plan versus like we don't know where the hell DeJounte is, he's just is where he is. We'll see him when he gets back. I think that they were in lockstep when it comes to that, and so like DeJounte Murray's words and him getting up to the podium. Again, I I know on the Hoop Collective they like to say action over his words. I live my life that way. Based on what do you do versus what do you say? And like, since DeJounte Murray has come back, his actions and his words have aligned, right? Like, game one, like in the first three minutes coming off of Achilles, I see him diving on the ground for a loose ball for a team that's 30 games under 500. Like, those are the actions of a veteran who, again, is playing for some uncertainty because they just drafted your backup in Jeremiah Fear. There's a lot of reasons for DeJounte to just mail it in or to not play, and you saw his actions were kind of back that up. So then when he steps to the podium in this press conference and talks about, you know, there's a reason why I did that, there's a reason why I think I believe in this team. Yes, I want to be here. Things like that. You start to believe it because you start to see the actions that we have here. You and I talked about this off the pop. Jeremia Fears is 19 years old. Yeah, he had some 30-point games at the end of the season. Yeah, the light bulb seems to be turning off. Next season, he's going to be 20 years old. Next season he's going to be 21 years old. Look, everyone watch the playoffs over the next however many months. Tell me how many 19, 20, and 21 year olds you see in any of these rotations. Like, just let me know who's leading the charge on their playoff team at 1921. And so I think having a guy, and Joe Dumas talked to this part having a guy like DeJounte Murray, who fears can look at and say, That's what an all-star looks like. These are the decisions he makes. This is how he weaponizes what he's good at. How do I do the same with what I'm good at? I think that's a great, that's as good of a teacher as you can get. Someone who can do it and come to the bench and tell you this is how you do it, and things like that. And and from all accounts and purposes, DeJounte's really bought into that mentor role. And in reality, and I don't even know if I was in that situation. I don't know if I would buy into that, like knowing that I'm I got probably one good contract left. I don't know if I want to oh, so you so you would so you would go to Aaron Rogers, Jordan Love route. Yeah, come on, get me out of here. I don't know if I'm necessarily like, yeah, yeah, rook. Like, like I I think that he's taking a really good approach from that standpoint. And so, like, when you add up all those things together, there seems to be a lot of buy-in. That's my point. For a team that is 26 and 56, you definitely don't have guys like a Sadiq Bey who had a career year, now he's in a contract situation, only making six million. I'm sure his services will be very, very looked for around this. Oh, a guy who could shoot the three and play defense and a 6'8, things like that. Like, I'm sure if he wanted to go maximize his value, that look, guys, I'm not signing extension, but you know, it's been fun. Thank you for the opportunity. And that's not the mantra. And for a DeJounte who is coming up on uh just a couple years and uh a rookie sitting behind him, I could see him going different direction, but the fact that they're all kind of in the in in in in lockstep and key, I think that's intriguing, right? At the very least, because then you look at it and say, Okay, if all these guys are on the same page, why'd you go 26 and 56? Like, what what was the issue? All these guys were available. So, like, what are your thoughts on it? Seemed like I don't want to say like a good vibe, but it seemed like a cohesive vibe from almost everyone that talked, including you know, uh Joe Dumas. Well, listen, I I think, and I'm glad you bring this up because again, something that we we say on this podcast all the time is only a Sith deals in absolutes, right? Because I think that that end of season pressers, you get a mixed bag from mixed different people, right? You take into you see some of this stuff across the league. You talk about like the like DeJounte talking about you know, big uh pouring into this team, wanting to to to support the rookies and coming back because he believes in his team and want to be here, and you also bring up the fact that he was on a podcast talking about how bad the organization was not great. I I look at like the same things going across the league. You got some people like Zach Levine who look at a camera and say, If you put our talent up against anybody, we we you can put our talent up against anybody and we'll be fine. This the Sacramento Kings, like he he said that into a camera with everybody watching, but then you get like other or or the same same way you got Giannis and his end of season presser after the game talking about well, I don't rule out uh uh uh you know staying with the bucks, and that is over. Stop bullshitting us, but then you also get people like Anthony Davis who are who are like, Well, yeah, I'm I'm I'm they ask him about his, you know, being in Washington now, and he's like, Well, I'm under contract and I love my money. Well, see what's going on there, and like that's probably honest. That's probably how he really feels like you. I don't think you have to question if A D actually, and so like you get you get guys who sometimes are being brutally honest, and some guys who are media trained and know what to say. I think you got a little bit of all of that with the Pelicans. Because I do think that this team, I think that if you look, if if you if you genuinely look at this team and you those guys that's in the locker room that play on the floor, if you it's what we've been talking about all season. If you ask somebody, any a team, if they would like DeJounte Murray on their team, they would say yes. Would you like Trey Murphy? Yes. Would you like Herb Jones? Yes. Would you like Eve Zamisi on your team? Yes. Would you like Sadiq Bey on your team? Yes. Would you like Zion on your team? Yes. And then like after that, you could probably get the people Jeremiah Fears, Derek Queen, yes, yes. Then like I so like those are talented guys. So I do believe that like the team sees that and says, if we can just like have DeJounte there, and then also like not have these co uh, you know, coaching questions. You went into the season questioning the coach, the coach gets fired, and then the guy who steps up has to undo all of the stuff that maybe he didn't agree with, and then also rely on rookies, and so like, yeah, every team can say, oh, the if if if if if if but I think this team really does see that. I also think that like there are guys on the team, James Barrigo is one. By all accounts, what I've heard is that and he said it is that James Barigo hasn't even spoken to Joe Dumas and Tro Reva about like what's gonna happen next season. So for him to come like for him to come up and be as professional as he was, I think that that's that is a that like that is somebody who knows that their next opportunity, whether it's with the Pelicans or probably not with the Pelicans, is it that somebody is looking at that, somebody will look at that. Same thing with DeJounte. What's DeJounte supposed to say? I hate this place. They drafted my my my replacement, and I'm really not messing with that. I came back because I wanted to get my trade value up, or I came back because I wanted to to prove to the next team that after this contract, I'm worth 25 million, 30 million at that whatever he's looking for, right? Whether he's gonna get that or not, coming back and say so. Was he supposed to say that? And so with these end-of-season pressers, you want to make sure that yes, you wanna you wanna take people and and and listen to what they say and ask questions and get answers. And I think that this team does see a light at the end of the tunnel. Again, uh, you you you see the words and the way people talk about the pelicans. People thought that the the the basketball in Detroit was done, that they should have moved moved to uh like another spot outside of Detroit, that they were gonna be bad forever. All it takes is one year, all it takes is one year. The Pelicans, as bad as people talk about them, and as bad as it is, and as awful as the record is, and all of that, it was not like three years ago where they won 50 games, and again, that season is long gone. But what I'm saying is that how how quick it can change in both directions, and I think that it is that this team has things to look forward to as far as Jeremiah Fairs and Derrick Queen and the and the things that they've put on the floor, but they also you also have questions about this team, and that's fair, and that's that's fair to have those questions from ownership down to who is gonna be the 16th, the 15th man on the roster. So, I do think that this team does see a light at the end of the tunnel, they do see the talent on the floor, they they do see guys that if they could just get everything, not even everything, if they could just get like 80 of the things pulling the right way. You went into the season knowing you were missing your starting point guard, and you had questions about the coach, you are already at a disadvantage at that point. So, if you could come into the season with not having questions about the coach, that coach having a full off season with healthy point guard, your healthy starting point guard, healthy starting two guard, healthy starting small forward, healthy starting power forward, and healthy starting center. If you could get all of those guys healthy without a question, I do think that this team believes that there is something there. Um, and so I do think that's where you got some of that buy-in and positive uh positivity from because these guys are professionals, they do know, like they've all been rookies, they all know what they what how what to expect, relying on rookies. They all know that they was coming into this season with questions about the coach who might get fired. They all have been through coaching fires and regime change, they all knew hey, some things are not pulling our way, but I do think that they do see a light, and I think that's where you get some of that positivity from. I mean, Zion was at the draft lottery to try to give some good luck, but beforehand, and he said, Yeah, I'm hoping that we get two of the top picks because we're gonna need it. You could see in that moment, they knew going in, even if you get some new rocky, there were some things that were broken out. Uh, you brought up a good point in terms of the fit, right? In terms of having a lot of pieces and not knowing if the pieces fur together. Like, think about it. Like, you and I have talked about we both think Derrick Queen is a four. He Joe Dumas was asked today, you know, four or five. He's like, Well, it's positionless basket uh uh basketball, and so it's more based on matchups than it is position. That's how I've always felt in terms of the situation. If you're tall, great, go guard the other tall guy who was similar to you versus the more athletic guy, quick guy, whatever it may be. But the other thing was their ages. Hey, is this a two-time line thing where Jeremiah Fierce and Derek Quinn and not? I'm not gonna say Michael Beavy because he's like a year younger than Zion. Uh, and then you've got Zion and Trey and Sadiq, 25, 26 years old, stuff like that. This is not the Golden State Warriors where they drafted all those guys at 19, 20, 21 years old, and then had Steph Curry, Draymond, and Clay, who were 35, 33. Like, they're four years apart. And so, like, you're not gonna have everyone be the exact same age, and it's probably a more conducive environment for Derek Queen and Jeremiah. I don't think it's a surprise that Jeremiah Fear looked a lot better as soon as DeJounte Byrne came back and he got to play off the bench. Like, I think that's a more conducive situation for rookies to grow. Yeah, Cooper Flag's probably gonna win rookie of the year. The Mavericks were also terrible, so it's not good to have your best player at 19 years old be your best player. That usually leads to you looking at the ping pong balls again in the lottery. And so I just think you know the age thing is too much. I also think that Derek Queen is a very smart player, and I also think that Zion is a very smart player. Do either one of them shoot the outside ball great? No, but could they figure out ways to play off each other where it doesn't look clunky? I think if you gave them enough time and an actual offseason because Derek Queen did not have an off-season because his hand broke at Summer League, I think that those two players are smart enough to figure some things out there. Now, you also talked about like what are some of the things on the roster you need. We've talked about it. Everybody knows if you watch the Pelicans, they can't shoot and they don't rebound well. Well, I think that's two things. I think that yes, you could go get another JV and be in the same spot again where you're like, okay, do we need the rebounder or do we need the guy who can switch or what do we need? You could do that. I'm not me personally, I'm not sure I'm looking at the center market and be like, who could I give 30 million dollars to at the five? I don't know if I'm saying that. Joe Dumars kind of talked about it and said, if there's a good rebounder available and we can get him, yeah, we'll we'll go attack, which I like to hear in terms of if you have an opportunity to upgrade your roster, relationships, I don't say be damn, but you got to do what it takes to make your roster, even if it means you're gonna have to part part ways with someone. But I just look at how this league is developing, and unless you have yokic or unless you have like these super skilled fives, I think having athletic rim running, block shotting, rebounding centers what you need. And I don't know if they need to make 30 million dollars. But what are your thoughts? You know how you fix rebounding, you don't start Zion at the five, and you play the tall guy who can fly up and down the floor and get boards for more than 12 minutes a game. I think I'm getting it. Yes, this is what this is what bothers me because it goes to your shooting part too. You want to know why the Pelicans can't shoot? Part of it is that they don't have a lot of uh guys who can shoot, yes, but I think when you say the Pelicans can't shoot, is because you look at the numbers and the the percentages, and you're like, dang, they shoot not that great from the three-point line, and then you look at the games and you're like, Oh man, they missed a lot of threes that game. Well, I wonder why. Well, because you had people who should not be shooting eight, nine, ten threes a game, shooting eight, nine, ten threes a game, and so when you have those guys taking majority of the three-point shots instead of playing other ways, yeah, it's gonna look like your team doesn't shoot because the person who was third on the team and three-point attempts per shot, talking about Herb Jones, which we'll get into, was also shooting five percent lower than the league average. League average is 35, Herbal shooting 30 and taking five threes a game on the team. That and and and five threes a game is because his average went down because there were games where he takes seven and eight threes a game, and so I yes, the team could use more shooting, insert every team in the NBA. Yes, the team could use more rebounding, insert every team in the NBA outside of like the Spurs and the Pistons and those guys, but you also were utilizing and maximizing the guys on the roster, and so that's where my when you talk about like what you saw, some of the things that's where my issue came from was okay, you might not have this stuff, but like maybe Carlos should be shooting a little bit more threes. You should put him on the floor more often. Maybe re maybe ease me should be getting more rebounds, and maybe you should put him at the five more often, and not start Zion, who is more of a point guard than he is a center at center, and that's my that's my soul points. I couldn't agree more. I'm gonna I'm gonna get to my my feelings on this because I I might be a little passionate when it comes to that. Um, there was another thing which I don't know if I mean it was very brash. They asked Joe Dumas, what does the team need more of? The first thing he said was toughness, and I I couldn't agree more there. I also am like, hello, if Milwaukee is going to blow things up with Giannis, Bobby Portis is like sample. Remember when you mean you yeah, Bobby Portis. Remember when James Johnson came to the team that one little season with him and JJ Rankett, and you're like, oh man, the Pelicans feel like a tougher team. Like, I feel like Bobby Portis embodies some of that, and so that would be someone I would take a look at this on. But I couldn't agree more. I just think you need bigger bodies. I think you need bigger bodies to not allow you to get punked. But you when you talk about the the coaching piece, and like we'll jump into that. Um, Joe Dumar was asked, like, hey, I've heard all the stuff in the media, and like you said, like sometimes people know how to downplay what you hear in the media, whether it may be true or not, because you've been around the league office and things like that. You know, but what he mentioned was like, yeah, just because you have a relationship with someone doesn't mean that you think that they are the next coach for your team. It has to be a good fit. But like, my question to you is like, what's the right fit for this team? Because like you've seen the Monty Williams, you've seen the Willie Greens, you've seen the player-friendly coach, Alvin Gentry, the the players coaches types, and then you've seen the hard-nosed coaches in like a Stan Van Cunning, who I would argue that was the most fun Pelicans team. They didn't win a lot of games because they didn't play no defense, and the team wasn't that talented, but that's when you first saw Point Zion and B.I. had it going, and like that was that to me, that was like the the ceiling of the Pelicans offensively. But what are your thoughts on that? Do you think you know we could just jump into it as far as James Barrago being one of the candidates? Joe Dumas uh said that so much today. But do you think he should be like the it should be his job to lose, or do you kind of have a coaching type that you think would be a good fit for the unique pieces that you have on this roster? Yeah, so that's the million-dollar question. Um, I think Joe Bar um Joe loves me. James Barigo. I'm having mixed matches. James Barrigo, uh, I think he he did an admirable job. I think the the chips were stacked against him. Um, and I think you know, DeJounte talked about that about how much was working against him, uh, for him to kind of step in and take the job. Uh, and I think you know, it's it's not fair to kind of judge him on this, but I mean it's the world we live in, and that's you know, you were in a contract season, basically uh uh interim head coach season. Um, and so it was your job to go out there and try to, you know, make eliminate out of shit, and you weren't able to do it. Is it your fault? No, but I mean that's just the way it is, and so when I think about like this team, and like you talked about, you know, you've seen different iterations of coaches, you didn't see different types of coaches. Um, everybody has their own type of game plan. So, for me, this is my opinion. I think if you're gonna have a team that has that is uh that is gonna be focused on or uh playing through any combination of Zion, Trey Murphy, Jeremiah Fierce, and Derek Queen. All right, so I'm just saying DeJounte is there, Herb is there, obviously, but I think those four, I think those are like these are the guys, these are the guys, right? These are the now and potentially the future, right? Trade and Zion to now and Derek Queen to Jeremiah Fears. I think that you need a a live wire coach. You you need a passionate live wire coach that also is X's and O's smart, and again, perfect coach, right? This is just find a perfect coach, just find a guy who could do this easy, yeah. Right. I think of a guy like Taylor Jenkins who kind of did that kind of threaded that needle as far as was fiery in Memphis, got guys going, was able to motivate guys like those young guys like John Moran and Desmond Bain and Jared Jackson, and was had and Memphis had an identity of like us versus them, and I think Taylor Jenkins kind of cultivated that, but you also saw high pick and rolls, spaying action. You saw a lot of things with with John Morant as the as the head guy, and I think Zion is a is a play initiator. I think Jeremiah Fairs is a play initiator, I think Derrick Queen is a play initiator. I don't think Trey Murphy is a play initiator, but I think those three guys are play initiators, and I think that. Jenkins is the kind of guy that can get that kind of going. But if not him, and I've I've talked about you know I've talked about this. This is my pet thing. I I've talked to you about off the off the podcast. Um I think that you need to take a shot at a former player that has not had a head coaching position, but is known as a as an X's and O's guy. Because I think at this point, we're cycling old coaches, you know, no disrespect to Darvinham, no disrespect to Jamal Mosley. There's a report out right now that like the Magic are having like a almost like an internal mutiny uh because they don't like Jamal Mosley. Even a guy like Kevin Ollie, like you know, those are some of the guys that's been reported and attached, you know how much you want to believe that. I just think that's a little bit too close to Joe Dumas and Troy Weaver and that little that little kind of bubble. I think of a guy like Rajan Rondo, and I've talked to you about this off the off the podcast. And again, this this is a shot in the dark. If you can't get obviously Mike Malone is gone, and Taylor Jenkins, and if you know, if Billy Donovan gets whatever, those guys. I think that Rondo, I think about the story that Rondo told about uh when he was playing with the Pelicans and Boogie tore his Achilles at the free throw line, and ad was on the team. Um, and Boogie had to call AD, and you know, because ad was kind of moping and sad about you know what could have been with us and all that, and tell him, Hey, like, bro, you ad like hoop, do your thing. And it was a and rondo was telling the story about you know, they were playing, and he fed the ball to ad, and ad kind of threw the ball out to Rondo, and Rondo was like, Hell no, and throw it right back to him and like cleared out the way so that you can't you can't throw me the ball back, you go do it. I think, and again, Rondo's one of the smartest guys. I again I'm not saying that he would be the fix the elixir for this team, fix this team. I'm just talking about the X's and O's and the mindset. That is the kind of guy who needs to be able to call Zion out. Zion even talked about it about being more partial to guys who have played the game. And again, I don't think that's a dig at anybody. I just think you know, if if if you know that your uh your coach has gone through this before and has got some success out of this, then you you would be more willing to like listen to somebody who has like interest and like things like you. If you're a salesperson and the your manager had done the job before you, you're probably more inclined to listen to what they had to say versus someone who had never done that job, yeah. Exactly, exactly. And so I think just again, Rondo has his his temperaments, and I think this is this is kind of similar. We talked about this off the pile with JJ Reddick, right? JJ Reddick's not a perfect, perfect coach, and for all intents and purposes, I how much coaching do you have to do with LeBron and Luca there, right? But I've seen some times where JJ is fiery and is in his in his getting like results on the court because he knows how to play the game. I've seen like late game situations where JJ is drawing up spectacular plays to get yeah, Luca open for corner threes or lebron open. I think about that game winner. He dripped he he made uh for Luca Nard um against I think that was a magic or something. The team I forgot what TV was playing. Well, Luca Nard ended up wide open because LeBron hard cut down the middle of the lane, and LeBron said after this is all JJ Reddick's coaching. He came up with this play, and sometimes you just need a guy who can say, Look, we're just gonna scheme this open and do it. Because I think we've seen so too many years where it's kind of just been like Zion save us, Trey, save us, CJ, save us, bi, save us. And I just don't know if you can go through years, I mean, uh you know, go through games and years like that. You look at this Celtics team, and yeah, the Celtics getting their guys back and they're healthy and they they squatted up, but man, if you look at Baylor Shireman and Sam, like those guys are prepared to play and empower, but Joe is getting them guys open, they are coming off of trip down double screens and pin downs and things, getting guys open and getting them comfortable so that they they're not doing things that to to like kind of save them. Sadiq Bey is out there going one-on-one isolation play over and over and over again because there's no offense. And and James Barrigo even spoke about no hierarchy. We don't really have a put, and so you need a guy who's gonna be able to scheme people open, use some of this unique talent because just throwing them out there and saying just play and figure it out is not working, but you have unique talents, Zion at 6'6, and being that big and that strong and that fast, and also being a decent to good passer should unlock so much more for this team than it does. Derek Queen having a 30 and 20 game, also breaking the assist record for rookies. That should open up so much more for this team, and you saw it in sp in spices and spans and things like that. When you saw Derek Queen catching Trey Murphy on baseline alleys, and you saw Zion that game against the Bulls, where he just like picked apart the team with his passing, and then it just you just don't see it anymore. You see one screen, two screens, you know, things like that. You want this team to play in transition, that's where they're best at, but you're not gonna be able to play in transition every single play, every single time. You have to be able to have answers to defenses, and I think a guy, an X's and O's coach who can also motivate this team and call guys out and and and call them, like not calling them up. I understand what Willie was talking about, but sometimes damn it, you need to call people out, like bro, you are not playing well, you are not doing this well. You you are running from the ball, go get the goddamn ball. Like, you need a coach that can be able to do that, and I think you see a lot of that in Joe Mazzula, you see a lot of that in Ime Udoka, you see a lot of that in even guys like JJ Reddick. So I think like guys who are able to kind of come in and step in, even Charles Lee in in Charlotte, who can come in and step in and command the locker room with respect, but also be able to scheme out X's and O's. Again, that's the perfect coach. Can you find that person? You never know. But I think of a guy like Rondo who's been in Milwaukee on that Milwaukee Buck staff, dealing with the Giannis situation, seen the success, seen the failures. Uh, he got there in 24. So, like and he was on some other staffs before, so he's been around. Um, you know, obviously Sam Cassell is uh is another hot name. I'm not sure how much I'll be you know, we'll we'll see. I'm I'm still my jury's out on Sam Cassell. Um, but I think that that's the kind of team, that's the kind of coach this team needs. I think that player coach, the mindfulness, respectfulness. You got a bunch of you got a bunch of like grown men in there, and really honestly, you're turning towards you got a lot of like dudes in there who got a lot of moxie and brass about them. And I don't think Jeremiah Fizz and Derrick Queen trying to walk up and hear Kumbaya turn the other cheek, mindfulness, right, respectfulness, the Jante either. They're not trying to hear none of that, and so I think like that's the kind of guy that they need to come in and voice this team. Yeah, I mean, I look at I'll answer the from the James Ragal perspective. Yes, extremely tough situation that he had to inherit. Um, I think he did some really good things, like very quickly, like within like a small stretch. Yes, the Pelicans did not win a lot of games, but they were competitive everywhere. Like most of the times they lost, you saw it coming. They were winning, and then you were like, they're not gonna win with five minutes to go. And that is a step. Like, but to fast forward to the takeaways part, one of the things we've been complaining about these past six years is that the team hasn't been able to take steps because even if the roster stayed the same, or even if the roster was slightly tweaked, it's not like you were able to go through the season and consistently run into similar problems and say this is the thing we need to fix going into the next season. You can't get any usable data when the player who plays the most on your team is Jeremiah Robinson Earl. You just can't, I'm sorry, exactly, exactly. And so, like, you haven't been able to do any of that, and then this season, I think you did some of that. I think you were able to say we were competitive every night, so we know that the the a lot of the talent is there. Do we need to make some tweaks around it? Absolutely, but a lot of the talent is there. But how do we take the next step to the point where we are dictating what's gonna happen every night versus responding to whoever we're playing against on a given time? That's that next step that I think comes with play as a team. Like Zime really made a really good point. He said, you know, when this when the offseason comes, I live here, I stay here. I think a lot more players need to play together in the summertime to figure out okay, at the end of games, what are we going to? What feels the most natural? How do we find this is the extreme example? How do we find our Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic yin yang? How do we find what group of two or what group of five or whatever it might be? What are the things we know we can get to? We're confident that's gonna score over and over and over. What are those things? And the only way you figure that out is by playing together as a group and figuring out each other's best qualities and what each other would likes to do as terms of strength. As far as Jane Barrego goes, I think he did a really good job of getting them in a situation to be competitive, empowering everyone. Joe Dumas talks about how he kept the building up, even though it was a dreadful season, nobody was hanging their heads in the gym, it was a live gym, things like that. And that is something to be that is something to be uh congratulated on because that's hard to do when you're losing and people's money are at stakes, and there's that's hard to keep everybody's spirits up, but you were able to do that. But my biggest issue is his philosophy because even if you go back to the Charlotte days with LaMella Ball, those were some, those were his first couple of years, and yeah, he was injured a lot at the beginning of his career. I mean, damn near until last season or until this season, but like the biggest issues back then were it's everybody, it could be anybody's night. It could be LaMella Ball, it could be Miles Bridges, it could, it could be anyone. That was the issue then, and then you saw it this season too. You talk about like the threes going to the wrong places, and sometimes it's because you're not playing enough shooter, and sometimes because that's where the defense wants you to go, but also I think about the quality of threes. You talk about what DQ can do as a passer and what Zion can do as a passer. Zion is one of the most the most incredible gravitational pulls in the NBA. The fact that you can't generate consistent open shots for even not the great shooters, but they're shooting them wide open versus slightly contested on a lower shooter, like that's because the ball's not going to your best player and it's not forcing the defense to collapse over and over and over. And so I just don't know if I agree with James Morrigos' overall offensive philosophy. I do think he's a good coach. I do think there are some things that he was able to work with, despite all the odds being stacked against him this season. I just disagree there, and I'm just interested to see if there's another mind. To your point, like a guy like Rondo, like for me, I do agree it needs to be an X's and O's guys. The give the guy the ball and let your guy do the thing. That hasn't worked for this group. You don't have LeBron James, you don't have Luca Doncic, you don't have Nicole Jokic who are cerebral up here. So, like your coach call and plays is a plus, but like they are gonna get you in the best shot every time. You don't have that on this team. You have a lot of good pieces, but you need the coach to lead the team in a lot of ways in terms of putting them in the best position possible. And so I do think it's an excellent old coach is that I agree with you that they need to be passionate. Listen, I just don't. I know you know Kellen Moore's trying to get the the Saints together over there on across the street. I just don't know if a mild manner coach is ever gonna work in the city of New Orleans. Like, honestly, Sean Payton is like the example of like he's an asshole, but he's our asshole. I think the Pelicans need something similar. A guy who's slightly unhinged to the point where his confidence is exuded and you feel it, like the team feels it, Zion feels it, the crowd. I think you need one of those type of coaches. To your point, yes, everybody is looking for that. But like, I think you need both the X's and O's cerebralness, but also that passion because I think this young group, yes, you got a Jeremiah Fears, and yes, you got a DQ that are a little are a lot outspoken, but Zion is a quiet guy to me, and Trey is a quiet guy to do these are these are quiet guys to me. You need someone who's gonna pull that. That's why Mike Malone would have been a great uh option, but like you need someone who's gonna pull that out of them to get them to get, and and not everybody has it, right? And you may have to figure some of that stuff out who has it, who doesn't, but I think you need that coach. But I mean, the other question that this like Divvy's to is like, okay, well, what does the Pelicans' job rank um amongst the rest of the league, right? Because it's not like it's you looking for a coach, there's a ton of teams that are gonna be out there looking for coach, but I also look at some of those teams like a Nick Nerds and stuff like that, who you might be looking at their coach, right? Like, I I I think situations matter a whole lot, and and what you have to work with. Some coaches are better with veteran teams, some coaches are better with young teams, some coaches are stepping stools. Like, I think you need to find the one that's gonna press the right button for this team. And so I do think it should be an even certain. I don't think it should be well, we we feel really good with James, but let's talk to some other guys, see if anyone blows away. I think you need to scrap the book and say, Yes, James is his candidate, and here here are the things that he's been able to put together. Let's go see what some of these uh other guys think. If if it's a Ronja Ronald or Roger, what would you do with this team? Like, just sit down and how would you get the most out of it and get their brain? Because I feel like Joe Dumas is very much one of those relationship conversational people where you can figure out how people are wired just by talking to them for quite some time. And so I think that that is that to me, regardless of what happens with Jordan Poole and Jordan Hawkins and whatever happens with the roster. This I think the number one important thing is nailing the coach piece because so many different levels are impacted by. I think, in order to get the most out of Zion, you need to press the right button. In order to get the most out of Derek Queen and Jeremiah Pierce, you need to press the right button. Like, I just think that this is a huge hire, uh, maybe more so than in maybe not Hornets, but Pelicans history for sure. As far as like takeaways from the season, um, I'll start with you. What what what are some of the main things you took away from the season? Obviously, it wasn't great, results were terrible, guys were healthy-ish. What were some of the things that you took away going into the offseason? Say, at least I know this, or this is how I feel about that. Yeah, absolutely. I think the first thing that you know, we've we've kind of been touching on this, uh, but I think it is more obvious now, or more, you know, more people can see it now. I think that it's twofold. I think that Trey Murphy is not a play initiator and not a person you throw the ball to and say, you know, take me to the promised land. But I also think that this team has enough playmaking to maximize Trey Murphy. Uh, and and I think that utilizing that playmaking to further utilize Trey Murphy. I think Trey Murphy has another step that he can take as far as like scoring-wise, uh, and things like that. I think you saw, you know, you saw towards last at the end of last season where Trey was out there by himself, and you started seeing some of these these leaps and stuff. You're like, okay, you put in two, okay, okay, he's okay. He's I see him as the one seed, he's he's he's floating along, you know, his team's not winning, but he's not drowning. He looks like a guy out there who could kind of handle this. Um, and then you kind of saw them try to make Trey like a secondary go-to guy where they would give him the ball, and he just doesn't have that shot creation. Um, he doesn't have that ability to get past people, maybe yet, or maybe you know, maybe he comes back with that in the offseason, but you just didn't see enough of it. And I think now it's it's safe to say that like he should be the guy finishing a lot of plays, but finishing those plays and not initiating those plays. And I think between Zion, between Derek Queen, between DeJounte Murray, between Jeremiah Fears and his kind of growth as a playmaker, that they have the the guys to to facilitate Trey taking another leap as far as scoring. I think that Trey and the Pelicans really need to like be honest with themselves and say, okay, you know, maybe he's not the guy, he's not Jalen Brown. Okay, he's more Clay Thompson than he is Jalen Brown. Now, can he utilize that two dribbles? I'm at the rim. Absolutely. Like Trey is really good at that, but like giving him the ball at the top of the key and saying, hey, initiate this offense for us. Um, I think that that I think that that's something that he, you know, that that's not something that he's comfortable with. And I'm not sure if that's something that he will ever be comfortable with. He talked about the putting on muscle and keeping that muscle. And I think that was a that was an interesting thing for him to talk about about keeping that muscle, right? And and that he came into with it, and then as it as the season went down, like it you felt like it he wasn't playing with that level of force. You always say, bruh, heavy is the head that wears the crown. It is tough to do that every single night with the defense fully locked on you. So I just don't know if he'll ever get to that part. He's still an excellent, phenomenal player, but I think we've seen that his best fit is to kind of finish plays, and I think another thing that that I've learned personally, we just finished talking about you know, rebounders and going to say, I think the pelicans have the big man rotation. I think obviously you need to go get one, you know, another guy, but I just think the Pelicans underutilized Eve's Misi and Carlo Makovich this season, and I really think that like you saw Eve take like a mid-season jump out of nowhere, and I think part of it was because like he just started playing a little bit more. I think obviously he was adding stuff to his his uh you know to his arsenal, but he got extended playing time, and then he just did it. Like, you just you just take him all, and then like Zion has to start and at center, and for some reason you have to have Sadiq and Herb out there at the same time, like you just was waiting. You just bringing him in. You you didn't start a center, and then you would bring three centers, sometimes four, off the bench. It's like what what is happening? I think Eve's is like at the worst, like a serviceable starting center. Um, and I think that he has a lot of untapped potential. I I think you know, you forget that Eve's is the same age as Derek Queen, like he is also very young, and so I think that you don't need to go spending money on the center position when you have two, and then Derek Queen, who you like to play as like you you don't need to do that. I think you have a good center rotation where you have, I think both ease and Carlo put a lot of good tape on the floor. Uh, you know, on uh on uh you know, a lot of good tape shown from on the floor. Carlo's ability to stretch the floor, like everything that you would need, like Carlos the same guy who would stretch the floor and also did a 360 dunk alley, like he and block shots, like as a backup big, like that's exactly what you need, right? And of course, you could always go find another guy, like you talk about Biden Porters and stuff, but I think like you don't need to be like, We need to find a center because you have centers on the on the on the damn this uh like last season, like oh we didn't have a center. Um, so like I think you have a center, you and a center rotation, you just need to utilize it better. Um, and and my last thing, I I think that I think Jeremiah Fears he got star written on him, like I and I have been I was really impressed with his ability, and I was really impressed with his post, uh his indices oppressor. If you close your eyes, he sounds like uh four, three, four, five-year veteran, as opposed to if you close your eyes and listen to Derek Queen talk, which again, I don't think it's it's not neither good nor bad, neither either way. I just think Derek Queen and DeAndre Jordan gravitated to each other because they are both unserious human beings, and I think it doesn't matter if you're 21 or if you're like me 33. I'm a very unserious human being. I just think that's that's just like Shaq, just a very unserious human being. But I think Jeremiah Fears has a lot of like star potential in him, both on the floor and off the floor. I know he gets a lot of like you know, either grief or praise for being a crash out and being like a guy that stands up to and and won't let people bully him. I think that's an admirable, admirable like quality to have. Like, you want that as your starting point guard. That's gonna be your starting point. You want him to be tough as nails, but I just think like the way he handled being benched, the way he handled like going through like a lot of things, starting, bench, coaching changes, and he even talked about like getting to that rookie wall. That was when he he felt it coming, and he felt like this when I have to hit the I have to hit the gym even more harder. You David talked about like he was all he was working out before the presser at the you know at the I I just think he's about all of the right things. I think he's gonna need one more year behind the hopefully DeJounte, where he can he can learn and see the things and and and learn what it takes to be a professional. Uh again, 82 games is a lot of games. He played all of the and he played all of them. Shout out to him for that. But as the starting point guard, night in and night out, that is a lot to handle for a 20-year older. But I think he has star potential written on him, and I am just super impressed with what I saw from Jeremiah Fitz. The things I worried about before he got drafted, he answered some and and and and answered them well, and then he blew past a lot of my expectations as far as his playmaking, as far as when is the game gonna slow down for him and is it gonna take away from what makes him great, and it hasn't. It slowed down for him, and he stayed at that that brickneck speed, and that's what I wanted from him so much. So I really do think he has star written on him, and I think that like it he needs to be cultivated in that manner. I mean, yes, I think Jeremiah Fears again, we talked about last season the the struggles of a small guard, but he has an elite skill set, and to your point, the shooting has come along because of the work that he's put on, and he's a work you can't measure those type of things. People who are destined to get better because they all they want to do is play basketball, like he is one of those, and so I do think his future is very bright for him. I mean, Derek Derek Queen is probably gonna also be first team all rookie, so like you're gonna have two of the five, most likely, with Conkin Dipple and Cooper Flag in there. So, like, you're probably in a good spot, so that you're not saying anything new. I still feel like while there's so much star potential in Jeremiah Fears, there's so much uniqueness in Derek Queen that like I just want to see it continue to grow and blossom and get his bodies in the shape, and then what does it look like? And like just keep seeing the steps there. The Eve thing. Let me just address the Eve thing. Here's my thing. Like, you know what's weird? You say Derek Queen and Eve's Missi are the same age at the end of the season. You let the young players play, Michael play. Oh, look, Jordan Poole, like you you got all the rookies playing. Eve's is the same age as these same rookies, so you're telling me he's too good to play with these rookies at the end of the season, but then you're telling me at the beginning of the season he's not good enough. You need Kavon Ludie, even though this is the guy who led the team in starts last season in Ease Beesy. To me, like I understand the the rareness to him and the and the uniqueness to him, and that he's just a raw prospect, and no one expected him to start as many games as he did last season, and then everyone was like, Well, why isn't he playing this season? And so you kind of have that with raw players. But what do we always say on this podcast? The only way you get better at playing basketball is by playing basketball. I would have loved to see in a season where you know you knew by December the playoffs wasn't gonna happen. If you know that's the case, and I understand you're trying to win games, I understand. I would rather see Eve fail two games in a row than see DeAndre Jordan out there trying to help you piece it together and so that you might be able to win the third time when he gets. Yeah, like I would I would just rather Eve get those men, take those lumps the same way that Jeremiah. I would argue that Jeremiah Fears and Derek Queen have so many more hours of basketball, so they're a lot further ahead mentally and basketball IQ-wise than Ease, that he needs just as many reps, or if not more, than them right now. And so I just think the more he plays, the more you seem to like. And for a player who has just so much athleticism and just so much quickness and is just so raw, I would just like to see that grow to your point this summer. I do think that like he should be the starting center for this team. I I just don't know if okay, you want to go get, I don't know, Nick Claxton for 25 million. Like, I don't know what what you're gonna get that's so much better than Eve, that's worth the amount of money that or the amount of trade capital is gonna take to get. I just don't know if that's that. When you got a 21-year-old who's growing and growing, I just don't think you hinder that. I think you it wasn't necessarily a coincidence that when DeJounte came back and fear started to find his groove as a playmaker, Eve started to look a lot better because all of a sudden his play around the rim was a lot easier, all of a sudden the lobs were a lot better, and once once James Morego kind of told him this is your role, he started selling at that role, blocking shots and getting rebounded. Like once he had a direction of where to go versus like, well, we just think this veteran is just knows the game more, got more know-how. Like, like, I just think once you you put the wheels on a player like that and you surround it with talent, the game becomes a lot easier. Like, everybody laughs at Jackson Hayes, the Lakers made the playoffs just because Luca is throwing lobs to Jackson Hayes, like getting talent around players like that generally makes them better. And so I just think I just think that there's a lot of growth to be had from Eve's, and I just think that he needs the runway to do it. And this summer is going to be pivotal for him because if you come back in training camp and he's 15 pounds heavier and he's grabbing every rebound in the gym, I just don't know if you go rush and spend a ton of money on a position that I don't know you never shouldn't do. The last big takeaway, because you hit on the main ones I had as far as Sadiq Bey and Herb Jones. We've talked about that. Like, I just think this summer is gonna tell you the answer to that. Like, if Herb comes back and he's shooting 40 from the the from the corners again, maybe you have a different conversation. But if he's not, I think it's very uh telling where the team needs to go as far as a starting five. But lastly, I just think Zion needs to be better, and when I say better, I mean like more accepting of the startup, and what I mean by that is he seems to be such a nice guy and a mild manner guy, but the assertiveness and the dominance is not as often as it should be. And I think like the to me, everyone's talking about oh, the Jeremiah Fears game, and and uh, I think it was Milwaukee, things like that. To me, the Zion game versus the Spurs, where he was hunting Victor Womanyama, who's gonna be defensive player of the year, gonna be first team unanimously. Yeah, like he was hunting like that is the Zion you need every single night. So, whatever it takes for him to get there, I think that's what he needs to go to the gym this summer and go find. Lastly, fun one. What are you looking for for these playoffs? Pelicans aren't in it, you know. So now you know, you just watching for the for the sake of hoops. What are you looking at? Honestly, one thing I want to see if if Wimby can buck the trend. I want to see every and the Spurs can buck the trend. Everybody's saying you need a lot of uh uh, you know, you need to fail a bunch of times, and you need to be able to to go through things and and get I want to see if Wimby is good enough to where he's like, Yeah, to hell with all of that, I'm ready to win now. And I want to see, you know, they they did some some crazy stuff where they lost a game where they should have won at the end and made their path a lot more difficult. Now they're gonna have to play Denver and possibly OKC and all of those. So I I want to see if if the Spurs and Wimby are good enough to buck the trend, uh the historical trend of you need that fail a couple of times before you can succeed. Okay, that's fair enough. Uh, I'm very intrigued with like the matchups, just because I think the NBA is getting to a point where there's just so much talent on every team that it's gonna come down to who do you match up the best with styles make fights and things like that. But like most importantly, I just want to see what wins. Like last year, you saw full court pressure, pacers and thunder giving people hell, it'd be a basically a football match uh football game for a series in series. I want to see if that's the case again this year, or is it something different? And do you have to adapt? Because two years ago, everybody needs to shoot threes like the Celtics, and then people start realizing we can't shoot threes like the Celtic, but let's just bully people and fight people, things like that. What is the next trend, and how do the Pelicans respond to that this offseason and go into next season? So that is a wrap. The Pelican season has ended, you know, it is finished. My watch is over for the season. Now is the really intriguing part with this team that we've been waiting to get to to figure out who the coach is gonna be, what moves are gonna be made, how is this team gonna reform, grow internally, and grow uh externally, and what did they bring in? Things like that. What do you got left for the people as we wrap up? As always, you never know what people are going through. So give someone a smile today. Yes, the season is over, the watch is ended. Uh, I think the next thing is all eyes on the on the coaching uh decision. I think again that's the first domino that needs to fall, and then you go to the rosters, everything, and we'll be around to to cover it all. So appreciate everybody rocking us, uh rocking with us this season. It's been a tough season full of losses and flu and illnesses and things like that. Um, but we appreciate all the love, man. We'll we'll we'll be during the off seasons, no off season for us. Uh, we'll be we'll be around uh to to carry the team so uh to cover the team. So uh as always, follow myself at Garrett underscore rattler, follow my brother at Raphael underscore rattler, follow the page at ino underscore basketball. No e. Most importantly, subscribe to New Orleans.basketball, and we'll see you guys in the next one.