INSTANT REACTION: New Orleans Pelicans draft Yves Missi to pair with Zion Williamson

INSTANT REACTION: New Orleans Pelicans draft Yves Missi to pair with Zion Williamson

all right the Pelicans select Eve Mei from Baylor with the 21st overall pick is he the future starting center or another wasted pick like Jackson Hayes let’s break it down into a live episode of Locked on Pelicans let’s go you are locked on Pelicans your daily New Orleans Pelicans podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday welcome to another edition of locked on Pelicans the daily podcast covering your favorite team the New Orleans Pelicans in NBA part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day available wherever you get your podcast and available on YouTube where we are live right now by the way I’m doing this from a new setup so let me know if something’s not working in the comments down below please and of course thank you for making lock on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we’re here Monday through Friday the number one Pelicans podcast covering and breaking down everything you want to know about this Pelicans team and we’re going to do a live show breaking down the 21st overall pick your newest Pelican Eve Mei from Baylor is this a good pick a bad pick somewhere in between why did they go in this direction who could they or should they have taken I will give you my opinion on this here and then we’ll get into a little bit of a Brandon Ingram trade talk why something did not happen today I don’t think there’s a reason to panic with that here and then we’re going to do a bonus segment maybe even show I’ll hang out with y’all for a while after we do the regular episode of lock on Pelicans we’ll go a little lock on Pelicans after dark I’ve got a shocking trade Target for you that is going to make you happy that the Pelicans didn’t make a Brandon Ingram deal today so that’s going to come in the bonus show only available on YouTube so please subscribe wherever you get your podcast in on YouTube as well today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply we knew what the pick was going to be especially with the way the lottery was shaking out I don’t think the Pelicans draft Eve me Center out of Baylor is any shock and when I did my predi that premiered today I said they’re draft this guy and it’s been telegraphed I think a little bit and this is something the Pelicans do they tend to lock in on a guy kind of in the middle of the draft process and then kind of stick with it and don’t seem to move off of that let me know what you think in the comments on YouTube good pick bad pick somewhere in the middle here so why they why they drafted Mei makes a ton of sense the physical tools are there this is a guy who is 7ot with a 62 wings span has good size at 230 lb is Young not even 21 years old he’s barely 20 years old and has all of the physical tools you want the NBA Combine all of his drills the verticality drills the agility drills all of those were pretty good he has a 9 foot2 standing reach you put your arms up it’s 9 fo2 you’re almost at The Rim right there and that’s what they like the Pelicans like these tooled athletes to come on in these physical tooled athletes to come on in and try and develop them this has kind of been their draft process and motto throughout the time here they took a swing like this with Jackson Hayes early and so when they look at Eve Mei they see a guy that can fit next to Zion Williamson this is someone who adds Rim protection that they have been missing one of the most impressive things about him is the one not just the one and a half blocks per game in this one season at Baylor but he was nearly blocking like he blocked over 7% of shots when he was on the floor that is an insanely insanely High block percentage one of the advanced statistics we like to use when it comes to this sort of thing that’s a really good number and that’s what you want next to Zion Williamson they wanted Rim protection they have not had this for a a while now and now they have it so this is what they had been looking for and exactly what they wanted so I think they’re pretty happy drafting Eve Mei to give you that the athleticism makes you think he will thrive in the NBA when you look at some of the other guys available here a guy like Kyle filipowski he does not have the athleticism that Eve Mei gives you Mei while he isn’t a polished scorer on the offensive end one of the things that you look at with this guy is vertical spacing you don’t need to be a polished offensive guy they just need him to be a lob threat go up and get the ball and just throw it in the hoop have someone and there’s an issue with this and more on this in a moment throw up an alleyoop lav attempt for him and then just have him flush it down that is something that Jackson Hayes might be able to do if they address the point guard situation that is something that they might be able to do they don’t really have lob throwers on the team maybe if they trade for Trey young who is a lob thrower you’d be able to do that a little bit more but here’s the thing you know he could be a starter he could come off the bench we don’t really know just yet and It ultimately doesn’t matter this is a guy that they’re hoping will develop in a couple of years and become a starter alongside Zion Williamson and give you that hyper athletic big man that you need with him that is the most important thing the thing they had been looking for this would not have been my pick this would not have been my pick again the potential for him is there we see that but we’ve also been here with Jackson Hayes before it didn’t pan out the way that we were hoping it would hyper athletic center just like Mei he was very young mei’s only been playing basketball since he’s 16 years old is when he started playing organized basketball a lot of raw potential there for him to turn into somebody didn’t happen with Jackson Hayes the Pelicans hope that misia has a higher motor and from talking to people around the draft and things like that there aren’t really questions about his motor and anything like that so I think he’s going to step in and he’s going to try really really hard and they’ve just got to mold him and they’ve got to do a good job to mold him you need to play him and this is where I think things are going to be a problem right now I’m sure everyone’s kind of looking at Derek Lively as the example of get a center in the first round have him play Off the Bench or start and make an impact on the team and he did a very very good job of that in Dallas is Mei going to be able to stay on the court and I don’t even mean Willie Green not playing him and Willie Green the pel head coach isn’t exactly the typee of guy that loves to play rookies Mii can defend he can defend the rim certainly but the problem is I see Mei at least being early in his career a guy who is going to get you in foul trouble like he I think is going to while he has all the tools and the verticality in terms of leap ability is there I think he’s going to have trouble going straight up and down and contesting shots in a way at that at the NBA level and that might be a problem if he’s racking up fables early on I don’t know if that’s a guy that can be played for this team so while at 21 you’re not expecting to get a starter you’re not expecting a guy to come in and light it up this is a Pelicans team that is drafting for potential and need but also you need to get guys on this team right now and I don’t know if me is actually going to be a contributor this coming season I think if you’re looking for ceiling potential there were other guys they could have taken at this spot that have a higher ceiling than him if you were drafting straight for fit or someone who could help right away Philip hsky could have done it donon Holmes could have done it let’s look at that and kind of compare Mei to some of those guys look into some of his other numbers here and look at some of the games from him too because there’s some things here I think that are really important to look at with him to kind of figure out where he’s going to fit into the Pelicans rotation that’s coming up here next in a live episode of lock on Pelicans don’t forget bonus part of the show that’s coming up here at the end too so coming up next let’s look more at Mei compar him to some of the other players the Pelicans could have picked because I think this could be a decision that you know it could work out very well or this might be one where in a couple of years we look back and go what were they thinking it’s coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans today’s episode episode of Locked on Pelicans is brought to you by game time summer is a kind of a slow time for sports but major league baseball MLB games are still going on so if you’re traveling if you’re not in New Orleans and you want to go see a game game time is the way to do it getting out to the ballpark a lot of fun 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peace of mind when you buy with game time so take the guess work out of buying MLB tickets or anything else with Game Time download the game time app create an account use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account redeem code locked on NBA LK d o n NBA for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price prices guaranteed and thank you for making lock on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are here Monday through Friday the number one Pelicans podcast covering everything you want to know about this Pelicans team so please subscribe wherever you get your podcast join over 10,000 Pelicans fans on YouTube I saw someone in the comments there saying that it’s over half the Smoothie King Center pretty cool number be in that number subscribe to lock Pelin for your second listen today I’m going to tell you go check out lockon sports today it’s going to have all of the biggest draft coverage you need there’s going to be a lot of places that are just screaming why they’re going to be talking about Brony James and other things you don’t care about the guy who’s going to get taken 55th overall so locked on sports today a free 247 streaming channel programed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the yelling locked on sports today brings you can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 24/7 on YouTube or the free Fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day so we are breaking down the Pelicans taking Eve Mei out of Baylor 21st overall again this is it makes sense just on that right it makes sense that you draft this guy they need a center they they don’t really have a great option to uh finding a center so drafting one makes sense this is just the center the big men that they like the most Kare was off the board Zack Edy was off the board they weren’t going to be able to get those guys they liked Edy a lot you know I think wear would have made a lot of sense because he shoots threes but if they’re not available it it you know at this point it’s just kind of like choose your your flavor on everything here right like season to taste kind of is is what it is Mei was the guy they liked I would have taken donon Holmes the second tier out of Baylor that is a guy that screams Nas Reed to me and a type of big man that is more modern day more 2024 you know a guy that shoots threes gives you Rim protection and moves with the ball and we saw the impact that Nas Reed had for the Minnesota Timberwolves this past year they are going to probably have to go cheap at the center position maybe we’ll talk more about that in the next segment with a Brandon Ingram trade you know if you trade for Trey young and you’re not bringing capella or a Kongo back you’re going to have to just sign Andre Drummond and I think that’s fine but it’s fine at best that is not a good move that is not when you want to have play heavy heavy minutes for you if Mei is going to foul a ton or not give you what you need you’re screwed at the center position a little bit filipowski would have stepped in and would have been able to play and been serviceable and that’s all the Pelicans need from this Center position so me’s bar is not very high in his rookie year to clear I do not know though if he’s going to be able to do it now we’ve seen Zion Thrive without a three-point shooting big man stepen Adams doesn’t shoot threes he did fine you saw it with um Jonas valent chunis doesn’t shoot threes that’s okay too and Zion’s still able to score but I do see Mei fouling a lot at the NBA level and that’s something that’s going to keep him off the court so it then still does not answer the center position question for New Orleans even if he actually feels a need and his production in college while good wasn’t tremendous 10. seven points 5.6 assists the 1.5 blocks was really good a 7.3% block rate is a really good number but he’s going to need to be a little bit more you know the the good news about him and some of the other positives that you know if we’re trying to be optimistic about it again this is not the guy that I would have taken is he does have good hands that’s one thing that I think is undervalued in big men you know go back to the OM Asik days right like that dude had Stone hands right like he just couldn’t catch a ball Mei can catch the ball that makes you can probably get him you know the ball down low and he can try and score that means you can get him at the you know in a lob or something like that you know he also hustles on rebounds rebounding was a problem for New Orleans at times last year he can defend in space and he’s going to be aggressive on the re on on the boards and I think that’s a really important thing particularly on the offensive glass him and Zion going after offensive boards is going to be ridiculously fun to watch Second Chance points are some of the easiest scoring opportunities you can get you don’t love them because you got to miss in the first place but this is a guy that can go out and get those offensive boards and then get him back up and score and I think that’s a really important thing you know he can play in the pick and roll and defend in the pick and roll he’s good as a help Defender as well so there’s a lot of positive there I just think it’s going to take a little bit of time for him to develop into the guy that you want but when you look at some of the others available and I’m a little bit behind on the NBA draft right now so if something happens um that’s an important thing I see if there’s a trade or something like that here um you know you could have taken Don holes who went one pick after I saw that is something that maybe was was worth doing here I’m very high on him three-point shooting big he’s not as big as Mei 6’9 not 7 foot there’s a difference there but he’s a high flyer again reminds me of Nas Reed that would have been my my pick there you also could have gone with someone like Isaiah Collier out of USC who at one point was being mocked in the top five of the draft and things like that so that’s something that I think is really important to consider here as well is there an opportunity cost that was missed and that’s not great right Coler could be the like next great point guard of the future they didn’t want to take a chance on him so those are things to consider with this pick I think it can turn into something good but this is not the pick that I would have taken and I don’t particularly love it but it does take time for rookies and anyone they were going to draft 21st overall was not going to probably be the most impactful player this season for them so that’s worth keeping in mind too but I do also think that this is something that the Pelicans have been searching for an answer they’ve been searching for a center to put next to Zion Williamson since they drafted him right they started with Derek favers and Jackson hay his rookie year they went with Steven Adams next then they went with Jonas valent chunis that’s four Five Guys that they’ve looked for to try and pair next to Zion they keep missing or they it just keeps not working out like Val chunis wasn’t bad he just wasn’t the best fit Adams only lasted one year partially because of salary dumps and other things too but that wasn’t right you know mei’s still in the in the vein of those guys they have still yet to draft a stretch big to pair next to Zion Williamson and I think that’s something that one day I wonder if we’re going to look back on and go like why didn’t they do that not that those those guys are massively available right not that you can always find three-point shooting bigs and things like that but you had one or two available here in the draft that’s going to be the open question mark I think for me for a long time with this let me know what you think about the eve Mei pick in the comments Down Below on YouTube I don’t love the pick I don’t absolutely hate it just don’t think he’s going to be able to contribute right away here and I would have gone in a different direction with it but look he’s the newest Pelicans we or newest Pelican we want to embrace him it’s kind of as simple as that and this is the reason that they drafted him so coming up next let’s look at why why Brandon Ingram wasn’t traded right I heard some we heard some stuff at Trey young which is completely overblown by the way and I’ll break all of that down let’s let’s get into a Brandon Ingram try Trey young and some other things here in a live episode before we get into the bonus part of the show where I’ll answer your questions look at the chat and then give you a trade Target that none of y’all are expecting none of y’all are expecting and this is someone that just keep keep an eye on that’s all I’m going to say that’s coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on pelicans and and thank you for making lock on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we’re here Monday through Friday the number one Pelicans podcast covering everything you want to know about this Pelicans team so please subscribe wherever you get your podcast join over 10,000 Pelicans fans on YouTube as well I have fun doing these live shows we’ll get back to doing these a little bit more over the summer and everything here we just had to get through the draft and all of that we’re going to get into free agency we’re going to have a this is the Thursday show we’ll touch on in this segment here a little bit of the second round too and then get you set for free agency on the Friday show and everything uh Trey Murphy needs a new contract what do we expect that to be all of the things you want to hear about in you know for the next week we’re going to have you covered here so it’s a fun time to be a Pelicans fan so please subscribe tell friend about the show for your second listen today what you got to listen to is the locked on NBA podcast I’m on there every Wednesday and so we recorded last night for the Wednesday show today it was me and Brad Roland of lockd on Hawks pretty good timing on that and we talked a lot about a Brandon Ingram trade and that could look like and what the Hawks were going to do with the number one overall pick so make sure you give that a a um a listen to as well make that a regular thing I’m on there every single Wednesday so let’s get into the Brandon Ingram part here of everything because I think a lot of people had unrealistic expectations that a deal would get done today if you say you know if if you’re a longtime listener on everyday or I said I don’t necessarily expect a deal to get done tonight I was saying it might be 5050 in a couple places on the radio so I’m not shocked that a deal hasn’t gotten done and I don’t think there’s a reason to panic yet or anything like that I do think that some of the reporting out there and there was a report from Yahoo from Jake fiser who’s really really good was talking about Trey young and a lot of people I saw immediately turn it into Trey young wants to be in New Orleans that is not what the reporting says y’all the reporting says he you know New Orleans is one of a couple agreeable destinations agreeable destination is very very different than I want to be there and that’s something that we’ve got to keep in mind with all of that it’s an idea that he’s open to but the Hawks don’t have to do anything about that if they don’t want to trade him and right now we don’t know if they actually want to trade him and if they don’t want to trade him you can’t get a deal done and it’s as simple as that I also don’t think a deal needed to get done on draft night and frankly if you think about it the Hawks probably had their attention elsewhere tonight figuring out what they what they want to do with the number one overall pick so that is something that is maybe holding up a Brandon Ingram trade there’s also money and other things like that that you’ve got to consider that make this really really complicated you know if you’re bringing back Trey young and his salary is significantly more than what brain Ingram makes and it is that’s something that you’ve got to fact because they’ve got to plan out the rest of the roster too Donovan Mitchell was traded in the uh Donovan Mitchell was traded in September you can still get a Brandon Ingram deal done later when you understand what your roster is going to be and where you are financially and I think that’s something to keep in mind with that as well it also does sound like that even if the Pelicans you know even if Trey young wants to come here to New Orleans and again he says agree and it’s not from his mouth don’t forget that you know Anthony Davis said publicly that every other team than the Pelicans was on his his list of preferred teams and he only wanted to go to the Los Angeles Lakers so keep that in mind when it comes to that that it doesn’t necessarily mean anything and again if Atlanta doesn’t want to trade him that’s just how it’s going to go I also think the Pelicans do like dejonte Murray more than Trey young I would prefer Trey young over those two but Trey young hasn’t necessarily proven it either in the NBA good score good three-point shooter or at least good with court gravity but that has not translated to winning in any real tangible way out of one fluky season now brandan Ingram and Zion Williamson haven’t translated into tangible winning either so it’s worth it to kind of make some sort of trade but I think they’ve got to look for the right thing and while of the available options Donovan Mitchell is not coming here right some of these other other things is not going to be you know manifesting or or happening so I do think then that yeah Trey Young’s the best out of all available options it doesn’t mean it’s like the best the best the best option like out there and maybe it should mean the Pelicans have some more patience with a Brandon Ingram trade that’s something that I do think is going to be important patience with this deal is key you don’t want to rush and make the wrong kind of trade that potentially sets you back because then you are looking at a Detroit Pistons style rebuild or a rebuild like the Washington Wizards are going through where they’re just completely blowing it up you have Zion Williams in here you’ve got to make the moves count this summer rushing to make a trade just to make a trade or because other teams made a trade the Knicks Making Moves In other things like that that I do think is what part of the issue is so that’s where I think we kind of stand with the Brandon Ingram trade he still could be moved tomorrow one of the things I think that you are going to see here is with the draft being two days now where you have the first round on Wednesday the second round on Thursday teams get a chance to reset they can re-evaluate draft boards they can look at their team they can see other deals that got done have a night to sleep about it and then start conversations again in the morning so that’s something that I think you’ve got to look at here and that’s a factor into it too of why maybe something didn’t get done right now it doesn’t mean something won’t get done in the future but very few big you know we’ve had a couple of big moves but I don’t think those are things that the Pelicans were going to be in the running for anyway when it comes to that and they’ve got to find the right thing um when it comes to all of this so that’s something to keep in mind on why a trade didn’t get done but I wouldn’t say that means to panic here with everything so still look for a deal to be worked on it might not happen right away it might go into the summer more into the summer to and I think that’s a realistic possibility but I do think there’s going to be some other you know trade targets here that we we talk about in kind of the bonus part of the show and when I interact with the chat here and some of y’all in the chat need to absolutely chill out I will tell you that uh we’re going to start muting some people in a minute here so keep that in mind with the Brandon Ingram trick you know the Pelicans are trying to put the right pieces around it’s they’re building around Zion right like it’s very clear they are building around Zion the brain Ingram fans can be upset about it it’s fine it’s the reality of the situation simple as that Mei factors into that even if it’s not the pick that I would have made but this is the team that they’re trying to build and we will see what goes on something to keep in mind the Pelicans don’t have a second round pick I don’t expect them to get into the second round I don’t see why they would unless they really feel the need to fill a roster spot here and that’s something that um you’ve got to look at so if they need to just fill around R Spot on the chap maybe a second round guy can do that but I do think they have others that are Carlo movit and others that they could try and put onto that roster the undrafted guys I think are going to be some of the more interesting things to look at the Pelicans have had a lot of success getting an undrafted guy and turning him into a two-way player and then having that guy make the roster kenrich Williams Nai Marshall Jose Alvarado there’s a couple of guys out there that I do think they are going to look heavily at to try and get in terms of um undrafted free agents let me pull up the names that I have there’s two I want you to really keep an eye on the first one is Antonio Reeves of Kentucky 23 years old you know that’s a guy I think that at the end of tomorrow they’re going to look to have maybe made a move for and try and sign on a two-way deal or something like that and you get three two-way contracts right now he’s a guy I’m pretty high on would fill that guard position give you a flyer on that as well and then the other player is Anton wson from Gonzaga I do think he as a forward as a wing with good size is a guy that they would really like that both can give you shooting both can give you aggressiveness and rebounding too those are names to keep an eye on when it comes to the undrafted side of things here so coming up next I’m going to end the show do this normally like I do that’s going to be the podcast side and then we’re going to interact with your chat here I will answer your questions we will talk about this here um that’s coming up here next with a secret trade Target that is a Western Conference guy that you do not expect that’s coming up here in a bonus part after I do the outro hit the video and all that that’s coming up here next in a bonus part of lockon pelicans so that’s going to do it for the the normal part of lockon pelicans here as always I’m your host Jake Madison Nola Jake on Twitter it’s been the lockdown Pelicans podcast part of the lockdown podcast Network your team every day stay tuned for the bonus part all right we’re live with the bonus part I will spend a little bit more time here looking at the um looking at the yeah guess the player silver roof I said that I’m talking about here before we get there it’s not someone that we’ve mentioned on the show here um so Christopher friends says Paul George nope that is not who it is no one we’ve talked about I’ll tell you here in a second so a couple things everyone chill out in the chat Shane Mitchell like I see you and I keep seeing you trying to call me out we’re not going to do that tonight I got too much work I need to do where you’re saying I I hated Mei no I’ve said repeatedly on the show I don’t like Mei it wouldn’t have been my pick right I didn’t spend a whole podcast saying no so if we’re going to act like that like we’re we’re not playing that game here so I’m GNA get that out of the way because that’s annoying me when I’m trying to do a show for all y’all so let’s move on from that right no Mei wouldn’t have been my pick I would have taken Don Holmes there or Coler or Co or Tyler kak too I actually really really liked but that’s the pick here and I’m giving you the reasons why they drafted him so let’s get into a couple other things I see a couple people saying Wiggy will saying we need a pure point I don’t know if they need a pure point right like I do think that is a misconception here with everything I I think you’re going to have Zion Williamson handle the ball more you you can have other point guards but you don’t need one to run the offense when Zion Williamson is out there on the court right one of the issues they had earlier on in the year was they tried to take the ball out of his hands they tried to make him an off ball guy and it wasn’t good it wasn’t good you need to put the ball in Zion’s hands Zion is one of your point guards one of your ball handlers it’s is kind of simple as that a pure Point H just get a half point guard that does other things well because there’s not that many pure point guards you know left in the NBA so that transitions to what I was going to talk about here and I’m curious what y’all think and you’re going to call me crazy on this and I’m going to tell you that I’m not so the kind of secret trade Target that I think the Pelican should go after is you ready for it Jamal Murray from the Denver Nuggets Jamal Murray from the Denver Nuggets they are in a really really weird spot their salary is exceptionally high they are second apron team and they need some flexibility around that and when you look at their team they are built around Nicola yic tremendously that is the guy that they want to build around and I think they could view Murray who at times has been slightly inconsistent but also injury prone for them and did not play particularly well later in the playoffs for him this year as a guy that they can maybe move to open up their window for contention again because it did feel like this year it really really closed on them harder than I think anyone was expecting and so Jamal Murray I think for the right price is someone that you could get the Nuggets will deny this they’re not going to at all say they’re shopping him but say a team to call the Denver ncks and go hey what what about Jamal Murray they’re not going to slam the phone down they will take the call they will talk and they will not immediately hang up on you and I think that is something that is worth considering it would take a lot I don’t think they would trade him straight up or have a deal centered around Brandon Ingram I think you would need to include probably Trey Murphy and or herb Jones in a deal but that is a name out there that I do think could be available it would need to be something like Trey Murphy herb Jones and Brandon Ingram and maybe a pick or two for for Jamal Murray but if that’s what you’re looking for you might be able to go and get a guy like that maybe it wouldn’t cost that much you need to also make salaries work and things like that and you need to figure out who like what bad contract from Denver you need to take back to make this kind of work but they’re they’re not in a great spot when it comes to their salary cap situation and so if they want to be able to continue making moves and not just run with this team which was worse right pretty much the same team more or less than the year they won the title and now they’re pushing that second apron which really limits the moves that you’re able to make in the NBA to improve your team so they’re very limited on how they get better that’s something that I do think is at least going to be a call that they make I don’t think a trade will actually happen but that’s the guy that I would try and go and get first before a Trey young someone who’s one someone who can be the number two next to Zion Williamson those are the type of guys that I would really be looking for here and I think that’s going to be a call that the Pelicans make that might be why you haven’t seen a deal with Atlanta yet those are the type of things that I think you know you could as a kick something here could really go for and could be really interesting so I’ve got about 15 minutes here here so let’s take your questions and everything and interact with the chat a little bit let me know what you think about um Jamal Murray here I’ve got to text someone else from lock on and we we’ll kind of go from there so what else do you want to hear about what are the other questions you have here um and we’ll go from there with everything let’s keep it cool in the chat though too with everything here so put your questions in here I’ll kind of scroll through it a little bit and try and see I see a lot of y’all saying that’s too much for Jamal Murray it could be I agree with that like we love herb Jones we love Trey Murphy’s probably going to be a starter for him next year I think that’s an important thing smoke says still haven’t given forgiven the pels for drafting buddy hee over Jamal Murray I have an old show for like it who here let me ask you this question in the chat who here listened to the show because it was pre-youtube when I talked about like the secret story about why the Pelicans drafted buddy hee over Jamal Murray um that is because they worked out Jamal uh they worked out Jamal Murray and his agent wasn’t there and he did like he played one-on-one with one of the Pelicans assistant coaches and got lit up now he scored but he played zero defense against a pelic assistant coach in a workout not an ideal situation there um Daniel Brown has a great question here do you think Mei and Jackson Hayes are similar I think they’re similar in the the overall like archetype right like the and not even quite that I think it’s um you look at that and you go okay like there it’s just a big man that needs a lot of work and has a lot of potential that is not an ideal player to me they’re similar in that regard they’re not similar in the way that they play Jackson Hayes was not the defender was not the rim protector was not the shot blocker or rebounder that Mei is so if you’re kind of comparing them side by side I like Mei better than I like Jackson Hayes and I really liked Jackson Hayes in that draft as a big to pair next to Zion Williamson so it it just comes down to can you get the potential out of them but I do think Mei is a significantly like it’s not even close significantly significantly better Defender and rim protector than Jackson Hayes was but there’s there’s a similarity in the sense of like they’re both Ron they’re both centers right like that’s kind of that sort of thing uh Jonathan bordeau says why not keep JV and develop Mei like so one JV doesn’t want to be here he don’t want to be here they didn’t play him in second half games they didn’t do those sorts of things they don’t he doesn’t he wants to go to a team that’s going to kind of value him and play him I also don’t think that if you’re going to not play a guy that much you don’t want to be paying him $15 million when you’re pushing into the luxury tax and that’s something that you know it’s kind of like asset use management that sort of thing if you don’t play him why why are you paying him and I think that’s the reality of a situation silver R says also isn’t JB’s house for sale yeah it’s like listed for sale um somewhere with that so that’s also a a factor into this Charles blunt says do you think Devon Booker is available for trade I would do I would move Like Heaven and Earth for Devin Booker but he’s not going to be available neither is Kevin Durant the suns are going to at least continue on with this for another year or something like like that here Nola Star Bar shout out to them bi from Murray and capella and we’re good now like that I think I think bi from Murray and Capello or bi from Murray um not Jamal Murray Deonte Murray and and aong one of the centers is like the most likely trade that we’re going to land on that’s also not something that I think you need to rush and like get done today with everything so that’s why I also don’t think you need to like stress that a deal hasn’t get done today um Shane Mitchell being cool cap space if we lose yonas Marshall they don’t have cap space they won’t have cap space the way the salary cap works is you’re an under the cap team or you’re an over the cap team and that is not the p are an over the cap team they they won’t have cap space to go out and like spend a ton of money in free agency and there isn’t really like a ton of guys in free agency that you’d want to get one of the things that you know I even talked about this on the lock on NBA podcast last night free agency doesn’t work like it used to it’s mostly signing trades things like that you know I’ve seen a lot of people wonder about Nick Claxton he’s going to be resigning with the Brooklyn Nets he’s not going to be coming here to New Orleans I think they should go cheap with the center position um with all of that um what’s your thoughts of Nola keeping bi and trading CJ I don’t think CJ has a ton of value around the league I think bi has more value than him and I think that when you look at you know CJ he has more value to this team than he would to any other team so I think that’s a big reason why they are keeping him uh Jared cson says Pals ain’t paying to win they might they’re going to pay the luxury tax this year they have they basically have to pay the luxury tax this year um if they want to truly even just make the playoffs I don’t think you know they can get around that if they don’t I’m going to rightly rip them on here but like one of the things you know that stat is they’re one of two teams to have never paid the luxury tax they also at least in the Benson era let’s not go for different ownership because it’s an entirely different thing let’s just look at the Benson era because looking at previous owners doesn’t matter anymore in the Benson era they have not had a reason to pay the luxury tax like there straight up hasn’t been a team out there a Pelicans team that’s worthy of paying the luxury tax for you don’t want to pay it just to pay it right like that’s I think something to keep in mind they haven’t had a reason to pay it this year they have a reason to pay it if they don’t pay it this year or at least go into the season looking like they’re going to pay it then we have a problem and then that’s something we’ll talk about but let’s cross that bridge when it comes to it and not borrow a problem that might not happen for the future so I see a number of y’all saying Isaiah Collier is still available which is a a little bit surprising to me that he has fallen that far you know if you could do it for cheap I would trade up and get him only if it’s cheap you know he’s falling for a reason there’s a lack of a three-point shot with him there’s no shooting with him really that’s something that worries me could you play him Mei Zion on the court at the same time like I’m not sure and that’s I think a bit of a problem and something you know I’d rather use those future draft assets that you would need to trade back into the first round to get Mei I would rather at this point like save those for a you know Jackson Hayes trade right um Oppenheimer says how hard is it to trade up five spots in the draft I mean it depends right it can be hard it can be kind of easy so those are the type of things that I think you know you’ve got to factor into all this right um skul Shack says we have so much Shooters not playing I mean part of it you know they have won they have they have um I’m completely blanking on Jordan Hawkins there like I wouldn’t worry I wouldn’t worry about you know Matt Ryan who’s on a two-way deal and was basically kind of like out of the league till the Pelicans rescued him right like that’s say something about him as a player fine for New Orleans but his defense was really really bad not a highly rated prospect that sort thing so yeah they have shooters that aren’t playing I don’t know if they want to like draft another non non shooter here and that sort of thing um Jonathan bordeau says could they restructure deals to get under the tax no so you can’t NBA contracts are like more or less fully guaranteed you can’t redo those it’s not like the NFL it’s a very different salary cap structure with everything here Sydney Sydney Montell has a good question here Jake what point guards uh are out there you know I think you can get a backup point guard guard for pretty cheap a guy I said so if you are an everyday or you know this it’s the um it’s the show that I did that’s like the ideal Pelicans off season and one of them is just go get a guy like Monty Morris just cheap backup point guard that will give you solid minutes again Zion is your point guard CJ can do it as long as he’s not doing it fulltime he can do it in spurts here and there so there’s point guards that you can get assuming you’re not trading for Trey young or Jon Murray who’s going to then be your point guard for everything by the way seriously go listen to lock on NBA because we talked a lot about that me and our Hawks host kind of with with everything here Daniel Brown says luxury tax for nii like yeah that would put him deeper into the luxury tax that would put him way deeper into the luxury tax but you know is he worth it maybe maybe not at times he’s pretty good at times he’s not um I see a couple of y’all saying Chris Paul like you know if if you know he isn’t on that 30 million deal yeah um it would be fun to bring him back have him come off the bench I think that could be pretty cool Killian Hayes is a name maybe you know but he wasn’t good they waved him for like a reason you know he’s not a particularly good player I think that’s something to to keep in mind with all of that here uh John Wall I saw he wants back in the league like maybe we’ll talk about those names probably the beginning part of next week as we get into some of the like more offseason in terms of like free agents because like those those cheap names are the ones that they’re going to need to go after with everything here Brody budo says why are they trading Brandon Ingram a lot of y’all keep accusing me of wanting to trade him I I don’t particularly care out of the way I’m fine bringing him back I’m fine trading him depending on what the deal is it’s what the Pelicans are going to do the fit between him and Zion Williamson was not great was not great this year you know his lack of three-point shooting is something that is actively hurting the team and that is a choice that he is doing so that’s a problem right if he is going to change that shot profile then it’s a different story but if he’s not that’s where we’re going to run into an issue and have been running into an issue and it creates that kind of clunkiness he likes to take difficult shots right when you watched brand Ingram in the playoffs again there’s some some him being hurt whatever did he draw a double team did he beat that team no that’s a problem right that was a really telling moment and I think that was kind of eye opening a little bit to to the New Orleans Pelicans kind of people around the league the Utah Jazz took Isaiah ker think about it this way that’s actually good that’s actually good that the the Utah Jazz took Isaiah Collier and that’s something we’re going to talk about right they have a guard they have a guard that I don’t hate in Colin ston you know if they want to go fullon development do they trade Colin seon does I does drafting um Isaiah ker mean ston is going to kind of be pushed out they’re they’re somewhat similar players they’re somewhat similar players um except seon can shoot more 18.7 points per game five assists 83% from three for his career like those are pretty good numbers and he can get downhill and attack like I’d like him he’s a little undersized but that’s okay like I would go and try and get a guy like sorry I’m like struggling to breathe here Colin seon who’s on a pretty cheap deal too that’s something that I think maybe makes a trade like that a whole lot more likely that could be a lot of fun so something to keep in mind when it comes to that as as well so there you go maybe that’s that might be a show by the way does the Utah Jazz drafting Isaiah Collier mean Colin seon is now kind of the the guy um Nola G says Jake what’s the word on the availability of Larry marinin you know I think he is going to be extremely expensive extremely expensive if Bridges went for what four five almost six first round piics it’s going to be like around that same cost if not more right like it’s going to be maybe more than that that’s something to to consider with that that that is Extreme expensive let me ask yall this what position does Larry marinin play he’s not a center he’s not a power forward he he’s like a small forward H how do you kind of structure that team it gets really weird You could argue for just bring the talent in and figure it out later but the the fit of that team is a little bit weird now you haven’t won anything so who cares about fit potentially but something to kind of keep in mind with all of that as well so that’s that’s something you got to look at with these brand Ingram and like a ton of picks but they’d asked for Trey Murphy or her herb Jones in that you know are you going to give up those those guys for that sort of thing I think that’s kind of part of the problem here so we’ll see what ends up happening there I’m trying to pull up a statistic right now by the way um that can be tough to figure out saw someone say Zion’s not a point guard he and Brandon Ingram had the basically tied for the highest assist percentage on the team 26.5% higher than CJ McCullum that’s a really high number he’s assisting on a quarter of allm made baskets when he’s out there on the court that’s what Zion is doing he’s absolutely he’s not a point guard in the sense but point guards create for others Zion even with his court gravity and his passing is good and he’s a selfless player as is Brandon Ingram does that that fits the kind of point guard mold with everything um couple yall saying Robert Williams Robert Williams doesn’t have knees it’s a cheap option I don’t think he’s the answer to that sort of thing so they’re still going to need to to figure out the you know the center position and what they want to do there and how that’s going to go let me know what you think again give me let me know what you think about the the Mei pick here we’re going to wrap up in a minute or two here a couple of y’all saying you’d like Colin seon couple of y’all saying no um deos that’s a funny name no we’ll see there there’s still way more to come I don’t think there’s a need to panic that a deal didn’t get done there’s still chances a deal could get done tomorrow people are going to reset once this first round is over and we’re kind of nearing nearing all of that um Chun says Brook Lopez or Robin Lopez not Robin Brooke and he’s someone that I talked about the other day as a trade Target it’s tough to figure out to deal with him with his salary but he’s a guy that is aging but could probably still give you like one or two Good Seasons and that could be could be worth it I do like that Coler pick for the Utah Jazz at 29 he really really fell here I wonder who the Boston Celtics are to take too that’ll be kind of interesting all right let’s wrap up there I appreciate y’all we’ve had a ton of y’all in here this was super cool thank you all for hanging out with me making locked on Pelicans part of your draft night it’s a lot of fun being uh talking to you here with everything there’s going to be a whole lot more to come with the Pelicans this is not a team that’s going to stop just yet we’ll maybe do another live show next week so we’ll talk more I appreciate yall more to come on this is the Thursday show we the Friday show for yall as well so so I appreciate you all here this is the locked on Pelicans podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day as always I’m your host Jake Madison at Nola Jake on Twitter and I’ll be back with y’all tomorrow

The New Orleans drafted Yves Missi from Baylor with the 21st overall pick to be their center next to Zion Williamson. Jake Madison breaks down why the Pels drafted Missi, what his potential could be, and if he’ll be in the rotation next season. But Jake also says he would have gone a different direction and Missi reminds him of Jaxson Hayes who was a draft bust. Plus, why didn’t Brandon Ingram get traded on draft night?

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