Zion Williamson will need to step-up if New Orleans Pelicans want to be a small ball team

Zion Williamson will need to step-up if New Orleans Pelicans want to be a small ball team

the Pelicans say they happy with the players they have at the center position but if Zion Williamson can’t operate as a small ball five they still need to eventually make another move I’ll look at the pros and cons of Zion plain Center in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans let’s [Music] go you are locked on Pelicans your daily New Orleans Pelicans podcast part of the lock 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 lock on podcast Network your team every day available wherever you get your podcast and available on YouTube I’m your host Pelicans Insider credential member of the media Jake Madison at Nola Jake on Twitter here with yall on this Tuesday and we’re kind of answering your questions from the mailbag that I put out on Twitter X and y’all had some good ones and they kind of lumped into one big topic and then kind of a secondary topic so I want to look at the center position and Zion’s role with that not normally thought of as a five but can he play there I’ve got the data and some good things and some very concerning things with him playing that position then I want to look at the backup point guard spot for New Orleans because there’s a variety of ways that they could go with it whether it’s Jose Alvarado or maybe kind of a mystery candidate and then some other news is a new two-way player in some coaching moves for the Pelicans today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more as the playoffs wind down the sports stops sporting like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com to get started and of course thank you for making locked on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we’re here Monday through Friday the number one Pelicans podcast covering every 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 so when I put out the call for for questions for today’s show a couple people came to me and I’m not going to read the the like responses individually with things you know was are you satisfied with us not making any trades for another Center what do you think about the center position should they make another move can they roll with the group that they have and we recently heard David Griff on the summer league broadcast saying they’re happy with the center position with who they have in that room and the group of guys that they have going forward and right now you know the the centers and I use that team kind of in in air quotes here is the rookie Eve Mei Daniel Ty a minimum free agent and then a former second round pick and Carlo makovich who just signed a minimum contract as well you also have Jeremiah Robinson Earl who was on a two-way at one point last season and then signed standard deal late in the year he’s kind of a power forward center it’s a little bit weak like there’s no getting around that that it’s the weakest probably group of centers in the league and that’s before you get into how could Mei pan out we kind of sang his Praises in yesterday’s episod to locked on Pelicans but summer league performances same for Carlo Movic too so it’s a lighter group there and then that makes me wonder because David Griffin’s comments were were exciting to play small and fast what about Zion at the five how is the team done with him playing at the small ball kind of a small ball five how has that looked over the past couple of years and the good news is we can get data on that and of course I accidentally just completely closed that out but let me pull it up right now you know there’s ways to look at this so first and foremost Zions is far more of a power forward than a center like I don’t even think it’s particularly close this is someone who’s 6’6 like he is under sized he is under sized there’s just no getting around that as talented as they come an offensive force and really amped it up on the defensive side of the ball too extreme athleticism but he’s 6’6 like let’s let’s keep that in mind here and that limit being able to play kind of with him at the five and maybe other guys around he might actually when you play a small ball lineup be one of the smaller guys on the FL now that’s okay right herb Jones about his size Trey Murphy’s taller Ingram’s taller there’s all of those things and it contributes to all of that he’s also played very very limited minutes as a small ball five for this Pelicans team the results though are a little bit encouraging but there’s a lot of noise in this data so let’s dive into it last year the site I used to kind of track all of this is cleaning theeg glass.com I don’t particularly like basketball Dash reference when it comes to positional stuff is they’re saying he played about 14% of his minutes as a center last season 85% as a power forward so it’s a small small sample size compared to him at the power forward position the early Returns on it when you look at it in terms of net rating was good they had a net rating of plus 10 when he was at the center spot last year compared to just 1.7 when he was this is for the off Court compared to just uh plus 1.7 when he was at the power forward spot two years ago you know limited games because he was injured before the start of the New Year 5% at the center spot was plus 11.7 it’s better than he was uh when he was at the power forward spot so there’s some things to look at with it compared to other times so your net rating looks good but then you dive into it a little bit more and the most used lineup with him at Center last year was CJ McCullum Trey Murphy Brandon Ingram herb Jones and Zion Williamson at the five 70 possessions it was 630 possessions total 70 possessions it had a net rating of- 24.3 the offense was bad the offense was bad and the defense was even worse that is not a good position to be in and one of the things when you get into the lineup data here with Zion at the five is while there are some good Ides the next most used lineup which was 60 possessions was a positive the one after that was 60 possessions too and that was a positive as well so there can be good and bad with it and it’s just probably honestly too small of a sample size to draw any firm conclusion from in terms of its Effectiveness there is a very glaring weakness with it though and that is when Zion plays the five this team gives up offensive rebounds to the opponent like crazy opponents they they the opponent had a 33% offensive rebounding percentage when Zion played the five last year that was the second percentile second percentile about as bad as it comes honestly what’s even kind of weirder is when Zion played the five the team had a 20% offensive rebounding percentage themselves so they were not good at getting offensive boards so this isn’t great 33% that’s the second percentile they were just giving up up basically one out of every three missed shots by the opponents resulted in an offensive rebound for them in Second Chance opportunities I don’t know if you can build a team around that I really don’t and I think that’s why they’re looking for the answer at the center position and I’m going to leave you in this segment with this you know David Griffin said they’re happy with the center group that they have and I don’t doubt that they believe in Eve Mei that they believe in Daniel Ty to potentially be a starter and that they even believe in someone like Carlo movich someone they’ve invested resources developing in but here’s the thing we know that they were interested in Nick Claxton you know they have been rumored for Jared Allen for a while a year ago they called about Miles Turner if they believed in either Zion at the five or the group of centers that they have would they have been trying to trade for those guys or sign those guys would they have been scouring the Center Market as much as they have kind of rolling you know rolling the not rolling the dice but kicking the tires on like virtually everyone they could go and get that maybe would make some sense for New Orleans I don’t think they would be so David Griffin might say we’re happy with the group we have but of course he would say that publicly he wants those guys to know that they’ve got their back that they believe in them because otherwise that would be pretty demoralizing but their actions and who they’ve tried to trade for who they’ve tried to sign as free agents and all that kind of says otherwise I think and I think that leads to you looking at Zion at the five and being like I don’t know if you can do that at absolute ton maybe a little bit more and certainly they’re going to have to try it more if this is the roster right now but ultimately I think they still want to upgrade at that position so another question that I liked a lot had to do with the backup point guard spot let’s look at that is it CJ McCullum maybe like is that who it potentially is Jose Alvarado let’s break that down coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans is brought to you by my favorite eBay Motors whether you’re looking for speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered I’m restoring an old classic Corvette Parts can be kind of hard to find it’s almost a 50-year-old car need a new window no problem window motors to make you go up and down for something that’s not like in production currently no problem on eBay Motors the jeep that I drive daily roof rack you know LED headlights I recently just put on it all that’s available able at eBay Motors cuz they have over 122 million parts for your vehicle so you’re always going to find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay’s guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back you don’t want to put something on your engine and then not be able to close the hood because it doesn’t really fit the manufacturer specs eBay is going to make sure that doesn’t happen to you and with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not cash so with all the parts you need at the prices you want your car is going to be able to stay on the road and be just living its best car life so keep your vehicle alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers and thank you for making lockdown 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 and now for your second listen locked on Saints Ross Jackson is going to be there in Irvine for training camp with the black and gold it’s leaving next week I talked to him today about it so subscribe to locked on Saints get the scoop on everything Saints Derek Carr GNA be good please please so we can have a fun Saint season he’s going to be covering it all there for the lockdown Saints podcast part of the lockdown podcast Network your team every day one of the questions that y’all put in that I don’t want to answer today because I think it’s still a little too early for some of this is what’s the starting lineup going to be like what’s the starting lineup going to be if they don’t trade brand and Ingram and I I don’t think they necessarily know just yet it’s kind of still up in the air and you know I think if there’s another move to come and it doesn’t seem like Ingram’s going to really be able to be traded we’ll look at two teams in particular this week that I think could maybe make a move for him one of them’s a little bit kind of on the outs I think in my opinion but I think it’s worth looking at they don’t how do you kind of start every between Deonte Murray CJ McCullum brand Ingram Zion Williamson a center because Zion shouldn’t be starting at the five Trey Murphy and Herb Jones that’s like seven guys right there that you need to figure out for five spots and it’s not necessarily easy to do I think it’s a little too early to try and tackle that question right now but I’m curious what’s the starting five you have let me know in the comments down below let’s take Zion not playing the center spot the Five Spot just yet because I don’t think they’re ready for something like that one of the interesting qu you know questions that spins out of that though is the backup point guard position with this this was something that I’ve wanted them to address for a little while I talked about it a lot last season saying that might be the move they need to make at the trade deadline but now you have dejonte Murray in so you’ve kind of addressed point guard in a sense but what about the backup point guard spot so on the surface of this question this one’s pretty easy to answer in my opinion and that is simply Jose Alvarado is the backup point guard Jose Alvarado is going to be the backup point guard this is one of my favorite players on the team if not the favorite player I have on the team I mean look right behind me you know with that I have like as much as I love Jose he is undersized and I kind of constantly doubted him and he has always proved me and literally everyone else wrong to the point where I’m not going to do that right here he I think is entrenched as the starting point guard and we recently talked about him leading Puerto Rico to the Olympics and how he can use this as kind of a launch pad going into next season he’s not on the same level as a guy like Anthony Edwards but look at the impact that that feba World Cup a year ago had on Anthony Edwards and how it kind of propelled him to another level this past year right he kind of had a big breakout season leading the Minnesota Timberwolves this can kind of the Olympics can kind of still serve that same role for Jose Alvarado just maybe on a slightly smaller scale but I do think he’s entrenched as the backup point guard for the New Orleans Pelicans particularly if he does well in the Olympics that’s going to solidify it even more and the reason I say Jose Alvarado and we’ll get to the second part of this here in a moment is that c CJ’s starting right like we’ll look at him as a backup that’s the second part of this but everything they have said about djon Murray and all the rumors and me talking to people with the team and others talking to people around the team seems to be as of now and this is potentially going to change in the future you know the Pelicans liked the idea of trading for dejonte Murray more than Trey young because he pairs better with CJ McCullum Trey young and CJ McCullum would not have been a good back court I don’t think right like defensively there are significant issues there both being somewhat undersized but Murray has very good size very good defensive instincts even if those have kind of waned in the two years in Atlanta he’s 6’5 right that’s not what you would have had with Trey or CJ McCullum CJ 6 fo three so getting Murray in with that strong size goes a long way I think for what they want and so thus if CJ and Murray are starting in the back court your backup point guard is Jose Alvarado because that’s who’s on the team right now we can get into the salary cap stuff later in the week here if you want I’m where the pelan stand after the makovic deal they’re in the luxury tax they have one open roster spot if you’re kind of factoring in a spot for Antonio Reeves right now I I think they’re going to leave that open at least early on they could fill it but I think they want to go deeper into the luxury tax right now for like a minimum level guy because it’s kind of slim pickings in free agency and you’re not going to pay the money for tus Jones and I don’t even think they have the money really available for tus Jones kind of at the moment so with that it kind of defaults to Jose Alvarado who was an impactful player for this team last season that energy he brings in Off the Bench is massive and when you look at kind of on court off Court impact guys who when they step on the court for the New Orleans Pelicans win minutes Jose Alvarado does that he was one of the tops in the team last year when it comes that kind of on court off Court impact that says something let me pull the onoff stats here really quickly the number one guy was Jose Alvarado by a good bit limited minutes there’s something with that and he’s playing against second unit so keep that in mind too but he wins his minutes when he’s out there on the court and was the most impactful player by that metric for the team last season there is context that’s needed around that we just explained it but there he is so he does a good job with that I think it’s going to be Jose Alvarado like kind of as simple as that if he can get that shot following the three-point shot that’s going to go a really really long way for him staking out a longer role in the NBA look he’s got a lot of incentive to play exceptionally well and try make the most he’s going to be up for a new deal after this season you know if he does well he’s going to get more money than the $2 million he’s making right now he’s made about $5 million it’ll be around $7 million after this season that’s not a lot of money by NBA standards so he’s got a lot on the line and I think you’re going to see some really good play from him this year and I’m excited for Jose Alvarado next year but here’s the other question and it comes down to CJ McCullum and what they could do with him right with the starting unit with Zion Williamson with Murray 2 and others he’s going to be way better off ball right like that was the thing we’ve tried floor General CJ McCullum and we wanted to at least see it but that wasn’t it he’s better off ball and as a two guard kind of playing more of the role he played with Portland what if he doesn’t want to do that right like maybe he don’t want to be the off ball guy and I don’t think that that’s the case right CJ is kind of the consumate professional the good teammate all of those things but if he wants to take a kind of more expanded role show off more range as a player you can do that with the second unit now I I think when people talk about the second unit and I’ve said this a lot if you’re an everyday or of the show it’s not like you’re running five Reserves out there on the court at any given time it’s called a rotation for a reason you just don’t do full lineup changes unless you’re getting blown out you tend to thread guys in and out and rotate them in and out and that’s how it works so you could still get CJ kind of time where like it’s your time to shine CJ with him and some Shooters we saw that last year where he played with one big a defensive guy and two other Shooters out there on the court and those lineups had some good results he can easily do that coming off of the bench and that solves it some of the starting lineup issues for New Orleans as they try and kind of figure out all the puzzle pieces that they have I don’t think that’s their plan for the reasons we mentioned earlier in this segment talking about how I think they like him and dejonte Murray together also his off-ball shooting last year was great like I know people want to rag on CJ McCullum and I think that’s very incorrect given the shooting that he displayed last year that’s very valuable when you need spacing around Zion weaves he took 8 point four threo attempts per game last season season and shot 43% he made 3.6 three-pointers per game in under 33 minutes that’s really good like really really good and really important if you stretch that out to 36 minutes you know kind of average what a starter often plays that’s almost that’s exactly four made threes per game you need something like that and with Willie Green talking about the other day how the team needs to get up more threes they got to get more threes CJ’s key to that you need that spacing with Zion Williamson out there so I don’t know if you can bring him off the bench but he can still even be your backup point guard when he’s in the starting lineup as you rotate guys kind of in and out we’ll see what they end up doing there but I think right now when you’re looking at kind of the Guard spot that first guard Off the Bench is going to be Jose Alvarado and we’ll see what the Olympics kind of do for his fortunes next season but I’m excited for what we might see so a couple of other notes Here the Pelicans have a new assistant coach let’s break down what he’s going to bring to this team who he’s going to be working with and then also a new two-way guy that is a replacement for a departed player Naji Marshall let’s break down the the new new new faces here with this Pelicans organization coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans is brought to you by FanDuel America’s number one sports book I love sports and I love him so much I never want him to stop but as the playoffs wind down and we’re getting fewer games and the sports just aren’t sporting like we want them to Fel is going to let me keep the sports going whenever I want because all I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I’m in the mood so while there’s no NBA the soccer tournaments are over you have the Olympics coming up Major League Baseball is in full swing and there’s tons of prop bets from the Home Run Derby which is tonight maybe it’s already done by the time you’re listening to this but you have the All-Star Game you have the rest of the season as well so this summer fuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily it’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball and the official sports betting partner of locked on 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 and now for your second listen you watching Fox sports ESPN on your TV all day long do you have to turn down the volume with all that yelling make the switch to locked on sports today a free 24/7 Sports streaming Channel program for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the yelling lockdown supports today brings you C Miss analysis opinions and news streaming 24/7 on YouTube with the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day so let’s wrap up the show with two additions for the Pelicans here let’s start with the newest player and that is Jamal Kane who just signed a two-way deal with the New Orleans Pelicans he is going to probably be with the G League a lot but this is a guy that I view as like the direct replacement for or the hope maybe not direct replacement the hope that he replaces Naji Marshall Jamal Kane was previously with the Miami Heat the past couple of years but this is you know kind of an energetic guard Wing player that comes off the bench and can kind of give you a lot of what Naji Marshall gives he’s 6’6 and with Miami over the past two seasons averaged eight points 5.3 boards as well um along with a couple of and that’s during some of their the longer minutes that he’s played with the team there you know this is a guy that at times I think has kind of looked like he could be a rotation player for the Miami Heat but they’re kind of in a crunch with some of their players and really like the luxury taxs and everything here um last season was 3.7 points per game in very limited games just 26 being on a two-way deal with that team but he has a bit of a three-point shot shooting 35% from three has pretty good size for being on the wing too and again the energy that he brings to the team I think is really the important thing and this was someone who was pretty sought after kind of in the undrafted Market with all of this and he’s done well with Miami in when he’s been allowed to shine in preseason he’s looked pretty good in summer league previously he’d looked good as well so this is a guy that you know you can maybe have at the g-league play with this the parent Club the Pelicans a little bit and maybe give you some of what you need from Naji Marshall if it turns out Jose Alvarado is a little too under sized or you need some more help on the wing which is looking a little bit weaker after losing Nai this is the guy that I think can really step in the only other person the Pelin have on a two-way deal right now is Malcolm Hill so they have one other one open and we’ll see what they end up doing with that but kind of getting a guy from the Miami Heat development program known for Player Development bringing these guys along I kind of like that sort of move here so this is someone that I do think could do well in the g-league the past two seasons averaging over 21 points per game and almost 10 rebounds from that Wing Spot while shooting decently from three that I think is perfect it’s kind of what you want in a two-way player we’ll see if he ends up making some sort of impact on the team older he’s 25 not exactly what you’re looking for age-wise but he has some NBA experience already g-league experience and I think he just kind of brings that I want to say like veteran presence to the team cuz it’s not that but some experience for what’s looking to be a bit of a younger team than it’s been here in New Orleans in the past couple of years the other worthwhile note here is the Pelicans are getting a new assistant coach this comes from Tim bontemps and this has been reported elsewhere too that Dan garot is joining the New Orleans Pelicans as an assistant coach he’s been with Cleveland for the past nine years including spending one year as the Canton charges head coach their g-league team he works with big men this is someone that worked with Jared Allen with Moy a lot the past couple of seasons and look those are two guys that New Orleans was interested in and with a very inexperienced I guess you could call it that you know centered position going back to what we talked about in the beginning of today’s show having someone who has a lot of experience working with big men who has done Player Development with them I think that’s kind of important for this team this is the guy that’s going to be really tasked with working with Eve Mei with Carlo movich as well if you can get any sort of the production that you’ve gotten from you know the guys with the Cleveland Cavaliers I think that’s encouraging their two big men while they didn’t work really well together individually have played well Jared Allen at one point being an All-Star with Cleveland Moy looking like a guy you could potentially have as a Cornerstone for the team those are what you want to try and see and they’ve come along really well Moy taking a step forward Allen taking a big leap forward as well with the Cleveland Cavaliers you know that seems like it’s going to be attributed to Dan Garett here so that’s a good move I think to kind of shake up the staff for Willie Green bring in that Player Development because the Pelicans are kind of banking on that right now I think they’d still like to upgrade at the center position I don’t think this necessarily means it’s more likely that they trade for Jared Allen or anything like that I think this was them just going and getting a guy that they think can really help this squad and help develop some of the players because particularly in a small Market you got to do do that so I like this move I like both these two moves the two-way and the coaching staff addition here for the New Orleans Pelicans do you think these are important let me know in the comments Down Below on YouTube that’s going to do it for this episode of lock on Pelicans I appreciate yall so much for listening as always I’m your host Jake Madison Nola Jake on Twitter and I’ll be back with you all tomorrow we’ll look at more Brandon Ingram trades what about DeAndre Aon is there any chance the pelons could get him from the Portland Trailblazers since they’re not really trying to win we’ll break it all down probably into tomorrow’s episode of Locked on Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans say they like who they have at the center position but given the lack of a top end starter they’ll need to play a lot of small ball with Zion Williamson. Jake Madison looks at how that would work and what the strengths and weaknesses are. Plus, is Jose Alvarado the backup point guard for the Pels? Or is there someone else who will fill the role. Plus, Dan Geriot is joining the coaching staff and Jake tells you what his role will be. And the Pels signed Jamal Cain on a two-way contract.

Join the Locked On Pelicans Insiders: https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonpelicans

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPelicans?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

#NewOrleansPelicans #ZionWilliamson #NBA #pelicans

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
eBay Motors
From brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.

FanDuel
FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM and add a big win to your summer bucket list!

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)