FINALLY! Herb Jones makes NBA’s All-Defensive First Team and proves he’s the backbone of Pelicans

FINALLY! Herb Jones makes NBA’s All-Defensive First Team and proves he’s the backbone of Pelicans

finally it’s official herb Jones is First Team all defense today I’m going to tell you why that makes him the backbone of this Pelicans team plus is there any point in drafting a rookie if Willie Green won’t play him it’s the locked on Pelicans podcast 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 at NBA part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day available wherever you get your podcast and available on YouTube I’m your host pelan Insider credential member of the media Jake Madison @ NOA Jake on Twitter here with yall on this Wednesday and we got a fun show planned for y’all we’re going to look at herb Jones being the backbone of this Pelicans team that I want to get into some of the philosophy behind drafting or not drafting someone in the first round because of head coach Willie Green looking at the pros and cons of it because I actually think this is pretty interesting particularly because of a listener friend had an idea we’ll talk about that in the second and third segment of today’s show today’s episode of lock on Pelicans is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on MBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply Li so let’s get into this here oh no sorry thank you for making lockdown Pelicans your first listen today and every day we’re here Monday through Friday the number one Pelicans podcast coming to you like you want talking about all the topics that you want to hear on this show so please subscribe wherever you get your podcast join over 10,000 Pelicans fans on YouTube and become an everyday that means you listen Monday through Friday and let me know in the comments down below if you’re an every day or part of the club there so now let’s get into it herb Jones first team all defense finally finally this is long overdue this is long overdue herb Jones easily could have made the all defensive teams his rookie year or his second year in the league as well so this is a long overdue award Accolade for herb Jones here he joins Rudy gobear Victor wanyama bam ATO and Anthony Davis on the first team second team is Alex Caruso Drew holiday Jaden McD Jaylen Suggs and Derek white finally herb should have been on it for sure last year really should have been on it after his rookie year as well but look he’s finally on there and it seems like he’s going to be a fixture of this going forward and where he finished in this year’s voting is kind of wild and incredible to me he was basically considered by the league Riders and people that cover the league the best non Center this season the best Wing stopper the best backcourt stopper when you look at that first team Rudy goar Victor wanyama bam atabo Anthony Davis they’re all centers they’re all big men right big men tend to get a lot more credit for their shot blocking ability the rim protection herb Jones isn’t one of them and Herb Jones is put in that group he finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and when you look at the all defensive first team voting and just the voting in general here he finished with the fourth most he actually finished ahead of Anthony Davis this is just the mark and the sign of respect for the preeminent Wing defender in the NBA and I think it’s become clear that he’s the backbone of the Pelicans here not the best player not necessarily the most important player but the backbone when you look at the squad with back-to-back years of finishing sixth in terms of Defense you know and more importantly it’s because of herb Jones elevating other guys it’s not just herb Jones doing that one of the things this team did really well this year which is a herb Jones thing is forcing turnovers Force turnovers then get out in run you know I’ve talked a lot this year if you’re an everyday you you know what I’m going to say right offense and defense are interconnected herb Jones helped them to the 11th best offense not just with his shooting which we’ll get into but by elevating this defense they were really good at forcing opponents to turn the ball over they were fifth best opponents turn the ball over over 133% of their offensive possessions against New Orleans herb Jones this year averaged where the numbers just go 1.4 steals and8 blocks those are incredible numbers and you even got other guys to buy in because of his effort on defense Zion Williamson said you know I had to commit on defense because of what herb Jones is doing you just saw the best defensive season at least in a pelic uniform from Brandon Ingram herb Jones has an impact on those kind of guys elevating their level of play elevating the defense helping it be six best it’s not just a herb Jones thing it’s a team thing but it’s also a team thing because of herb Jones that’s in incredible to me what he is doing and just kind of leading by example and he did all of this while elevating his offensive stats the raw numbers don’t really kind of indicate how much he was doing he was about a point more per game than he was last season but he shot it 42% from three on 3.6 attempts per game as some of his usage went down because Zion willamson was actually playing this year and he kind of was relegated to more of a spot-up shooting role he did that He adjusted his offensive role and shot the heck out of the ball 42% on 3.6 threo attempts per game making one and a half threes per if you can double that number for him he’s going to be an elite elite player did this while giving you 2.6 assists 3.6 rebounds and oh just also shooting the ball well from the free throw line 87% which is a career high for him so he put in work on offense which can sometimes hurt you defensively but still had that same level of defensive production this is a special player in the Pelicans did a very good move by extending his contract and locking him in at f you know for a three-year 50 no sorry where is it here um the fouryear $ 54 million deal his contract might be one of the best ones in the NBA he was just flat out good here and it’s nice to see him just get the accolades that he deserves and that’s I think an important thing you need a guy like this on the team I’d argue that he’s probably untradeable for the New Orleans Pelicans right now with what brought to this team what he’s capable of doing and what he means to this team and he’s also just a fun and easy guy to root for and I think that also goes a really long way but just getting everyone to buy an on defense doing what head coach Willie Green wants them to do and they’ve been good on that side of the ball we’re going to we’re going to critique Willie Green coming up in the next segment but when it comes to the defense and stuff he’s been right on and getting these guys going you know what I also kind find of kind find what I also find there we go kind of interesting is of all like the rookies on this team he’s such an outlier herb Jones is because he’s basically the only guy the only rookie that Willie Green has really trusted and played and that leads to the next segment what’s the point of drafting someone if the head coach won’t play them and would it be better to trade the pick then let’s look at that with the first round and trying to draft an impactful player which the Pelicans need to do this season and maybe it is better to trade back and I’ll tell you what that trade would be that’s coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans right now though I’m excited to tell you about game time look the NBA playoffs are going on it’s that summer in New Orleans where you’re trying to stay indoors but you want to go out and you want to do things but what do you do that’s where game time can come in this is the ticketing app that I use because game time makes it easy to find last minute deals to figure out what you want to do on a Friday or Saturday if you’re going to an event you’re going to get the best price no matter what last minute deals you can save up to 60% off buying last minutes for sports concerts comedy theater and more through game time and they also have seat views if you’re going to a place you’ve never been you can see the view from your seat before you buy like I did when I went to Sofi Stadium to go watch the saints and rams play got the seats that I wanted and I wasn’t scared to buy because of the game time guarantee if you find tickets in the same section in row for Less game time will credit you 110% of the difference so you’re always going to get the best price no matter what so take the guess work out of buying NBA tickets or comedy tickets or theater tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account use code locked on MBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account redeem code locked on NBA l c k d o and NBA for $20 off download game time today last minute ticket lowest prices guaranteed today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans is brought to you by the Nola Star Bar I want to invite you to come over there give it a shot this place is awesome and they’re right down the street from the Smoothie King Center so next season your pregame your postgame livations get them at the Nola Star Bar they play every Pelicans game Home and Away throughout the season on their big screen have the NBA playoffs going on right now there’s a pool table video poker an internet jukebox in karaoke every Wednesday night feature over 100 worldwide spirits and a hefty selection of local beers true Pelicans Fans Bar they even created and produced the Pelicans Anthem fly Pelicans fly complete with a music video join your fellow Pelicans fans at Nola Star Bar at 212 lyola Avenue open 7 days a week 6:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. and check out their Pelicans anthem on the Nola Star Bar page on YouTube and thank you for making lockdown 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 Please Subscribe wherever you get your podcast join over 10,000 Pelicans fans on YouTube as well we got a lot to talk about this off season and we are going to keep going forward doing just that we’re going to get back into a little bit of draft talk here in just a second be also be coming every day or listen Monday through Friday to lockon Pelicans as well here and now for your second listen don’t listen to Fox Sports don’t watch ESPN on your TV all day long or any other place where they’re not actually talking about the topics that you want to hear or just yelling or whatever make the switch to lockdown sports today free 24/7 Sports streaming Channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all that yelling lockdown sports today brings you the can’t 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 Team every day so coming up later in the week we’re going to look at the Cleveland Cavaliers we’re going to do a whole show on just trade targets around them because honestly I think you could come up with three or four different deals involving a variety of different players that makes a ton of sense for New Orleans particular if you’re looking at Brand Ingram so that’s going to come on either Thursday or Friday I’m not sure just yet but stay tuned for that later in the week so let’s pivot a little bit to draft and kind of some of the philosophy behind it and this comes from for Lauren on Twitter here she is _ YF one of my favorite like follows on Twitter actually mean this so this came up of like what do you do at 21 when you look around the league when you look around the league particularly at the you know all rookie team here you see impactful rookies on winning teams haime hakz Jor of the Miami Heat a team that made the postseason was the first team player he got significant minutes for them Brandon psky from the Golden State Warriors played a very important role for them they didn’t make the postseason but they were in the running for right Chad holgren as an impactful rookie but those are you know when you look at hakz when you look at psky and some of the other names here right Derek Lively thei of the Dallas Mavericks you have K Wallace from the Thunder as well aan Thompson to the Houston Rockets they didn’t make the postseason but they were trying you look at these guys how helping Propel their teams to victories on teams that you know look H grds may be a bit of an outlier as the second round as the second overall pick but hakz wasn’t psky wasn’t right case Wallace wasn’t derck Lively wasn’t a top five pick all of those guys had impactful seasons and look the Mavs wouldn’t be in the Conference Finals without drick Lively the second right now he was good he played better than Daniel Gafford who was like a minus 26 in that game Off the Bench Lely was a plus 25 it’s important these guys all played significant minutes on the all rookie you know on as as a rookie notice one name isn’t on there and that is Jordan Hawkins because Willie Green gave him so many dmps in the second half of the Year even after big games that he was he got like two votes basically got no no consideration for this but when you look at the Pelicans what they’re trying to do this offseason with two what feels like two really big holes the starting center position and another offensive Creator Maybe a point guard maybe something else but a creation engine you can probably trade brain inam from one of those you know do you want Jared Allen or do you want Trey young you choose you can probably get either one of them I think but you can’t get both so you’re going to need to fill that hole somewhere through the draft and this draft does look like it’s going to have impactful rookie centers in this range while this is a downdraft overall I do think there’s some value to be at 21 so Kell wear is right there right you have Kyle Philip howski as an option as well Zach Edy could be there as well would you draft one of those guys but what’s the point of drafting one of those guys if Willie Green’s not going to play him he doesn’t trust rookies same for Dyson Daniels same for Trey Murphy in their rookie years he went to Tony Snell Off the Bench in that win or go home playin Tournament game against the Clippers and Snell sucks instead of going to Trey Murphy last year Dyson Daniels didn’t play that much we think it’s because of defense and things like that right but Dyson Daniels was a ready-made Defender for the NBA he didn’t play very many minutes Jordan Hawkins played barely more minutes than Dyson Daniels did his rookie year and we saw the impact there now I don’t know if it’s necessarily the wrong move I don’t know if Jordan Hawkins I couldn’t tell you for sure would have fixed what bothered the Pelicans would have helped them significantly in the playoffs maybe not but you don’t know unless you at least try it and Willie Green said you know after he played Jordan Hawkins in game four in The Sweep game you know yeah he wasn’t just really ready for that moment well he wasn’t ready because he didn’t play during the regular season it’s again the hot dog meme guy right like we’re all trying to find the guy who did this it’s you it’s the head coach if what’s the point of drafting a guy that you need to be an impactful player if the head coach isn’t going to do that and I think that’s something that the Pelicans are kind of facing right now they need to kind of nail this off season right like they absolutely have to and I don’t think you’re going to be able to get your creation guy and a starting center that fits at the same time maybe I have some other trades that maybe we’ll talk about in the live show I got kind of a crazy one involving CJ McCullum going to the Orlando Magic which kind of came up from talking with Philip Rossman Reich our Orlando Magic host lock on Magic host so there maybe are ways to do it but if you need to draft someone and go this is going to be the guy that fixes it can you actually do that can you actually do it if you get if you get Zack Edy Kyle filipowski are they gonna play Kell we are they gonna play when they probably would help this team there’s some shooting in some of those BS not Edy but the other two there’s Rim protection there too but if the head coach isn’t going to play them it it does you no good and this team is going to be in trouble you know when they hired Willie Green you know it seems like David Griffin wants to have a little bit of control over some of the rotations and other things where is that control being exerted right now because I don’t think he’s particularly happy with what Willie Green has done one of the things you’ve noticed here is and this could just be conjectured by national NBA writers is you’ve already seen a list or two where it’s like Wily Green’s on the hot seat going into next season it’s getting either they’re just making that up and it’s just kind of an assumption which it easily could be or it’s getting leaked from somewhere if it’s getting leaked from somewhere that’s what they’re feeling right so there’s some pressure being put on Willie Green here to grow and change and adapt and that’s something he needs to do herb Jones has been the only rookie that he has really trusted and played other than maybe Jose Alvarado later down the line but you need these guys that you draft in the first round to get minutes to be ready for the NBA playoffs and to grow and develop now Trey has developed very nicely and I think we’re very happy with him him so maybe it was a good move not to play him a ton as rookie year I don’t really know Dyson looks okay but that offense is still very much a work in progress but you only really kind of figure some of that out through live ball reps you know Jordan Hawkins trying to get better on defense you only do that by playing defense I don’t know if that’s like a practice thing as much so play him they need the shooting or a guy that’s Fearless to shoot now Jordan Hawkins did go a little bit cold from three you know as the season wore on and we’ll see what Hawkins does you know this season he only shot 36.6% from three so it wasn’t like an insane insane number but they could have used the 4.4 attempts per game in the post season certainly he’s third on the team in attempts per game from three but he was ninth in terms of three-point percentage so that’s kind of the trade-off here they’re going to need to use this 21st or 17th pick on a guy that’s going to have an impact but they won’t have an impact unless Willie Green plays them so let me ask you this and this kind of gets into the Crux of the question here would it then be better to trade back I’m going to tell you the trade that furen said and let me know what you think and kind of get into this it involves second round pick something that I said is really important for New Orleans to try and get a couple of so is maybe that the move instead of drafting a player knowing your head coach I’ll explain what I mean and I’ll tell you the trade that’s coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans today’s episode of Locked on Pelin is brought to you by better help look we all carry around different stressors in our lives big or small and when you keep them bottled up it can start to affect you negatively but therapy is a safe space to get things off your chest and to figure out how to work through whatever is weighing you down life doesn’t come with an instruction manual sometimes you just need a little bit of help there’s nothing wrong with that and therapy is a great way just to sort through some things in your life to figure out how to approach problems that you have from a different angle and get the desired outcome and I’ve used better help before because I don’t have time to go to a doctor’s office I’m me recording shows for y’all but when I need some help with things or want to work through something and you want that kind of unbiased opinion on it better helps the way to go because it’s entirely online and designed to be convenient flexible and suited to your schedule so get it off your chest with betterhelp visit betterhelp.com lockon MBA today to get 10% off your first month that’s betterhelp hp.com lockon NBA to get started and thank you for making lock on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are hearing 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 for your second listen go check out lockon Saints host Ross Jackson breaking down everything you want to know about the black and gold making sense of their offseason getting some mini camps and things like that going on very cool he’s got the scoop over at the locked on Saints podcast start to wrap up the show we’re talking about second round picks now switching from the first round of maybe don’t drave someone willly Green’s not going to play him or if Willie Green is committed to that growth and will play the players that you need him to play Draft someone but say he isn’t right like say he’s a little bit rigid and there’s a there’s a concern about that right is there another move to be made and as I said this one comes from for Lauren noore YF here and she says what about if Indiana who has three second round picks calls you and offers you 36 49 and 50 Andor another future second for the 21st overall pick if tella Weare is there at 21 or Kyle filipowski is there at any at 21 Zack Ed is not going to be there at 21 I feel I feel very confident in that and one of those guys is there and they could maybe have an impact on the team if Willie Green’s going to play him but if you know he’s not would it be better to trade back second round picks are really important for kind of greasing the wheels of Trades I did a whole show about this talking about that the Pelicans don’t have a second round pick to trade until 2030 they need more second round picks particularly for a team that’s getting expensive because that’s how you add some cheap useful players the example I used was the pho Phenix Suns trading a future pick swap just a pick swap with the Memphis Grizzlies for three second round picks that’s a really useful deal for them and then they use those second round picks to add to their roster it was a smart move so should New Orleans do the same so if Indiana calls the Pacers and go 36 4950 and I’ll say another future first for 21 is that the move the Pelicans should make so they have more flexibility going into the trade deadline or in the beginning of free you know around that time so I first I was like you know I don’t hate this idea I’d ideally rather trade a future pick swap so at least still that draft you get a first round pick similar to how the Pelicans ended up with 21 instead of 23 24 because they had that pick swap available to them with the Milwaukee Bucks and it was exercise because they got the better of the two picks but the Bucks still have a first round pick in this draft and that’s kind of important for them so I’d rather do a pick swap rather than straight up trading 21 the other thing that I don’t like about this deal the more I thought about it because at first I was like yeah actually probably would is I don’t want three second round picks in this draft because you need to use them immediately unless you can flip them for future seconds I’d rather do this deal with three or four future second round picks would Indiana do this if you gave them 21 for their second rounders the next three years I would really consider that deal particularly if you could do it on a pick swap I think would be really important but when you look at New Orleans and their flexibility to try and go and make a move one of the areas that are lacking is some of that mid-tier salary that $20 million guy that they don’t really have the other thing is second round picks if they don’t trade Brandon Ingram if they don’t trade C.J McCollum and they just extend Trey Murphy and sign him to a new big deal this team in the future is super duper expensive you need to find cheap ways to add to the roster because while this team maybe will pay the luxury tax they’re not going to go into that second apron and other layers of it that really limit what you can do to add to your team to build onto your team as well so that I think is the thing to look at for them I wouldn’t do it for three second round picks in this draft because then you need to flip those on draft night or really the second day right that’s I think easier said than done even if you trade them for future seconds but if you all of a sudden can’t move those picks for whatever reason you could sell one you’re you’re stuck with three second round players that are either going to be draft and stash guys in Europe or g-league players or players you don’t really want and I don’t think that’s a position that I want to see the Pelicans in so you could convince me to trade 21 for four future second round picks yeah especially depending on who’s on the board if wear’s gone if fow’s gone if a couple other guys are gone like yeah absolutely but without that being the case I don’t know I think I’d rather draft Kell where filipowski Ed if he’s there he’s not going to be and and force Willie Green to play them you know I think it would be I think those guys can have maybe not a full-on Derrick Lively the second impact this year because I think he was a better Prospect than those guys are but there’s some shooting there there’s some rebounding there there is some other things and that that’s what you’re looking for they need this pick to be an impactful player this season so hopefully Willie Green just gets that you got to do it because saying out loud trading 21 for three second round picks in this draft like that isn’t it right like I don’t think that’s the move four future second round picks yeah but not in this draft do you want to use three second round picks so you’re going to end up drafting someone it feels like unless this pick’s included in a trade but for this discussion it’s not and you’re just going to have to force Willie Green to to do things he doesn’t feel fully comfortable with in all of that because you’re going to need these guys to make an impact and I think you can get an impactful player at 21 let me know what you think would you trade 21 for future second round picks let me know in the comments Down Below on YouTube so that’s going to do it for this episode of Locked on Pelicans thank you all so much for listening as always I’m your host Jake Madison at Nola Jake on Twitter this is the locked on Pelicans podcast part of the lockdown podcast Network your team every day subscribe join over 10,000 Pelicans fans on YouTube and I’ll be back with y’all all tomorrow

It’s about time for Herb Jones to make the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team! Today he did and Jake Madison explains why that makes him the backbone of the New Orleans Pelicans. Plus, is there any point in drafting a rookie for the Pels if Willie Green won’t play him? Does that mean it’s better to trade back in the draft and stockpile 2nd round picks?

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!
Yahoo Finance
For comprehensive financial news and analysis, visit the brand behind every great investor, YahooFinance.com.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNBA. Terms and conditions apply.

BetterHelp
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month.

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.
PrizePicks
Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!

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. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

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)