2025 NBA Draft

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

I agree that both Zion and DJM will be traded by next offseason for a complete team rebuild. If Zion produces an all star caliber season, we should at minimum net 3 or 4 unprotected 1st round picks and a reasonable player. We will be lucky to get 1 1st rounder for DJM.

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No team will ever trade 3 or 4 frps for Z and to think so is straight up fan delusion. Dude hasnt show to be able to stay on the court for 7 years and one magical season won't change that.

Tbh if we want to recoup a pick in 2026 or future picks our best asset is trading Trey Murphy which will suck but that's realistically where we are at.


We better hope Jordan Poole has an all-star year so we can trade him at the deadline with a desperate team and hope they miss the playoffs to get back into our lotto range for next year stacked draft. Either way it's alot of ifs for both ways to go so more than likely we are screwed.

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Originally Posted by Silverfoxx

No team will ever trade 3 or 4 frps for Z and to think so is straight up fan delusion. Dude hasnt show to be able to stay on the court for 7 years and one magical season won't change that.

Tbh if we want to recoup a pick in 2026 or future picks our best asset is trading Trey Murphy which will suck but that's realistically where we are at.


We better hope Jordan Poole has an all-star year so we can trade him at the deadline with a desperate team and hope they miss the playoffs to get back into our lotto range for next year stacked draft. Either way it's alot of ifs for both ways to go so more than likely we are screwed.

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Yeah I agree with this.

If you're already planning the rebuild, trading away your FRP in the next draft (which is going to be a good one) is one of the more headbangingly stupid things you could do.

Yes, you're planning on trading Zion to try and recoup some of that value and maybe getting another pick in next year, but no garbage team is trading for Zion to be a centrepiece with his current track record of health and injuries. The only teams who would try that are going to be teams on the cusp of contention who think he might tip them over the edge, and frankly, none of those teams are going to have high value FRPs.

We essentially traded a shot at AJ Dybantsa for Derik Queen.

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Originally Posted by Silverfoxx

No team will ever trade 3 or 4 frps for Z and to think so is straight up fan delusion. Dude hasnt show to be able to stay on the court for 7 years and one magical season won't change that.

Tbh if we want to recoup a pick in 2026 or future picks our best asset is trading Trey Murphy which will suck but that's realistically where we are at.


We better hope Jordan Poole has an all-star year so we can trade him at the deadline with a desperate team and hope they miss the playoffs to get back into our lotto range for next year stacked draft. Either way it's alot of ifs for both ways to go so more than likely we are screwed.

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I said if Zion has an all star caliber season and plays 70 games or so, then he could net 3 or 4 1st rounders. Did you not see what a mid player like Desmond Bane just netted? A healthy Zion is still a star. Hell, a geriatric Kevin Durant is still netting quality players and top 10 picks.

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

I said if Zion has an all star caliber season and plays 70 games or so, then he could net 3 or 4 1st rounders. Did you not see what a mid player like Desmond Bane just netted? A healthy Zion is still a star. Hell, a geriatric Kevin Durant is still netting quality players and top 10 picks.

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Desmond Bane is healthier than Zion has ever been thus far in his career and is an elite shooter who can fit around anyone and who has averaged 21/5/5 over his last 3 years. You can't talk about him like he's some kind of scrub :hihi:

Similarly, Kevin Durant might be geriatric but he's still a top 10 player in the NBA. Outside of brief flashes before injuries, Zion has yet to prove that.

I don't think anyone is paying 4 FRPs for a guy who, thus far, has yet to show he can play even 65 games in a single season consistently. I think most teams would want to see at least 2 years worth of that before paying that kind of value, so there's at least some implication that he's past the injury stuff a little.

Maybe I'm wrong. There are some horrifically run teams in the NBA outside of New Orleans who make horrible decisions all the time, but I think you're betting on a lot to assume that Dumars is capable of identify them and rinsing them.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Desmond Bane is healthier than Zion has ever been thus far in his career and is an elite shooter who can fit around anyone and who has averaged 21/5/5 over his last 3 years. You can't talk about him like he's some kind of scrub :hihi:

Similarly, Kevin Durant might be geriatric but he's still a top 10 player in the NBA. Outside of brief flashes before injuries, Zion has yet to prove that.

I don't think anyone is paying 4 FRPs for a guy who, thus far, has yet to show he can play even 65 games in a single season consistently. I think most teams would want to see at least 2 years worth of that before paying that kind of value, so there's at least some implication that he's past the injury stuff a little.

Maybe I'm wrong. There are some horrifically run teams in the NBA outside of New Orleans who make horrible decisions all the time, but I think you're betting on a lot to assume that Dumars is capable of identify them and rinsing them.

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Yeah, Pelican front office and head coaching competency is far more of a fairy tale than getting multiple 1sts for Zion.

One of the Pels commentators noted that, at this point, it may take more than just one season of Zion playing 60+ games to restore most of his value as a trade asset. Not sure about that, but sounds plausible.

I think if he has a good, healthy season and looks like he's matured on and off the court, some GM would roll the dice on him to the tune of a real player + a lottery pick. If he is healthy, I don't doubt he will produce and, other things being equal, the Pels will be a mid-tier team in the west.

If we are projecting trades, I think it's much more likely Herb gets moved before Zion, either for a starting defensive center (over the summer) or a draft pick + prospect at the deadline...

PG: Dejounte Murray, Jose Alvarado, Jeremiah Fears
SG: Jordan Poole, Herb Jones, Antonio Reaves Jordan Hawkins
SF: Trey Murphy, Saddiq Bey, Brandon Boston, Micah Peavy
PF: Zion Williamson, Karlo Matkovic
C: Yves Missi, Derik Queen

This team so far, they might not be finished, is at the very least can be fun to watch. however, making the 6th seed would be good too.

Just watched his highlights and I?m in 18 years old plays aggressive(strong) got that swagger
Not afraid to take the shots and and real good handle I see a lot of Westbrook in his game but with less athleticism

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

My bold prediction is that Dumars' Plan A is to spend the first half of the season repairing Zion's prestige and then trading him at the deadline. DJM is gone, too. And unfortunately since that would put us in a longer rebuild mode, Herb Jones will also be gone but that we keep TMIII to move into the new era.

I don't think they want to trade Zion now, or they would have coveted our 2026 1st rounder more....plus he's at a low currently...see I also think that Zion wouldn't have been shut down last season had we been competing for something
So NOLA brass thinks he can stay relatively healthy again. If Zion plays the first half of this season and stays healthy, he'll be back to being able to fetch a superstar trade package.

Saddiq Bey and Micah Peavy are other big clues to this conclusion for me. Saddiq Bey is not a throw away player from that trade. This is now the third team Weaver has brought Bey onto and after drafting Peavy we now have a log jam at the wing. Especially with 3 n D wings. Herb wouldn't really fit the post-Zion timeline. So bring Bey in to rehabilitate his career and draft Peavy to be the younger cheaper version.

Queen just seems like such an odd player to draft on a Zion led team....but you trade away Zion and suddenly he fits Fears, Poole, TMIII, and Missi really well. Also it makes sense being so lackadaisicle with our assets knowing that we're about to receive more assets than we can place on a team next year. It fits all the puzzle pieces. We'll start the season pushing hard, playing vets, and showcasing Zion. Trade Zion, DJM, and Herb at the deadline after we've built up a decent record, let the youth takeover but still not be in the bottom 10.

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Yes, the guy with a .233 winning percentage as GM (that's a grand total of 74 wins over 4 years, if you're counting) has a master plan that's four moves ahead. If you think that's improbable, don't forget that his boss spent the latter half of his tenure in Detroit stacking big men that can't shoot on top of one another (most famously Monroe and Drummond). So there's definitely a plan here, there's no chance that we're run by incompetent morons (like everyone else thinks).

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Originally Posted by ml wave

Yes, the guy with a .233 winning percentage as GM (that's a grand total of 74 wins over 4 years, if you're counting) has a master plan that's four moves ahead. If you think that's improbable, don't forget that his boss spent the latter half of his tenure in Detroit stacking big men that can't shoot on top of one another (most famously Monroe and Drummond). So there's definitely a plan here, there's no chance that we're run by incompetent morons (like everyone else thinks).

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You mean non shooting bigs like Zion and Queen?

Even though I hated the price paid to get him, I'm intrigued by Derik Queen. He's comparable to Sengun in terms of height and wingspan and his FT numbers suggest his shooting mechanic is more advanced than Sengun or DeMarcus Cousins at the same age. His good standing reach compared to his size and wingspan indicates that his shorter wingspan may come from narrower shoulder, given that he's still growing, reportedly by one inch in the last year, I wouldn't be surprised to see his wingspan improve in the next couple years especially if/once his shoulder broadens.

I don't see him thrive as a 4 but used as hub-5 in the mold of Jokic/Sengun, there's a clear path to succeed for his archetype.

Now team building wise, this type of players are the most successful while flanked with mobile defensive specialist at the 4, so basically the opposite of Zion and he's neither a clean fit with Missi.

Will the Pelicans be involved in free agency? I am not sure they have the rim protector they are looking for.

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

You mean non shooting bigs like Zion and Queen?

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Wait, wut? Oh no!

If we're comparing Zion & Queen's jump shooting to Drummond and Monroe then the mid range game really is lost. Monroe was like 20% from beyond 16 feet. Queen in college was about 47%.

Zion's not elite but he's ok from mid range. Neither are dominant 3 point shooters but both of them are worlds beyond Monroe and Drummond on shooting outside the paint.