Were the New Orleans Pelicans the biggest losers of the 2025 NBA Draft?

Were the New Orleans Pelicans the biggest losers of the 2025 NBA Draft?

who do you think the Pelicans took based on my reaction i hope it’s Nolan Trayori I think that’d be amazing No they did not take Trayori They took Jeremiah Fierce So they took a player that I have within the next five spots of uh Nolan Trayori for what it’s worth But for for people who don’t know that was a Troy Weaver Killian Hayes joke which we may be able to still apply but might still be able to apply that here So okay Jeremiah Fierce Before we go into Fierce I just want to be very clear with people There’s a very real upside here with Jeremiah Fierce He is a special creator with the ball in his hands Like he has a really creative ability off the bounce to be able to get to his spots to be able to find different creases and cracks He is very quick He is lightning fast and he is very creative in the way that he utilizes his handle I uh it’s everything else with fears that worries me Uh do you want to jump in there and uh talk about that So that it’s not just me No I mean Yeah To me it’s feast or famine like I I literally have it written here in my notes for him Um there’s a lot of projection and you know we talk about this all the time in terms of like providing value to the team that drafts you and I do just wonder like how long will it take for Fierce you mention this all the time Sam with young point guards right and he was another recclass guy right if I’m not mistaken So he’s younger He is only 18 years old Doesn’t turn 19 until October So like the the first step the explo like all of that stuff is truly there really explosive first step But like ball ball screen operation finish like all of those thing the jumper like is the scoring package going to be there and then you know we talk about defensively on ball the size is going to be an issue at times And then the defense like we talk about Ace Bailey off the ball defensively Sam like there’s just as bad with Jeremiah Fears off the ball defensively So um can you imagine so so this was my We brought this up yesterday I’m just going to go I’m going to do it Okay Okay We br now like the camera’s crooked and everything We’re all we’re going into the you know canid angle to talk about Jeremiah Fierce Okay so we talked about like when are they going to build a defensive infrastructure in New Orleans they just traded for Jordan Pool They have Zion Williamson Eve Missy is not a good defender right now Like let’s just be like transparent about that Like it’s going to take him some time to do that Fears I think is the worst defender in the first round that will be taken this year He’s very small He’s very slight There’s no margin for error for him He has moments of like high energy effort in some big spots but the engagement is just not always consistent Like he allowed dribble penetration off the bounce didn’t always like get into a consistent defensive stance would get beaten by guards in straight lines because of it Then in ball screens like he would get crushed in screens and like wasn’t sure what his responsibility was all the time and like slip actions or ghost actions and like opponents could reject screens too easily because he’d be out of position slightly and then like second and third efforts weren’t really consistent So now you’re pairing that with Jordan Pool right all of those same concerns apply offensively again like great at creating the initial advantage Yeah but what happens when he gets it y right he doesn’t really make shots at the rim We talked about VJ Edgeham’s finishing being concerning Fear shot 44 and a half% at the rim this season in half court settings which is concerning according to Synergy Uh he made 28% of his threes so he’s not really a shooter right now What is this you know what I mean like what is the what is the plan I guess like is it just create advantages kick out and then oh by the way he’s like an okay passer there are moments where he can make good passing reads like he is a good jump passer to dump off situations but I just man Bryce this is hard look I have fears at 18 like he’s one of those guys where you either completely buy into Yeah Or you don’t buy into it Yep Right Yep That’s the reality You either get it or you don’t Yep And the people that love them have them in the top five for sure The people that don’t they’re they’re going to have them where I do at 18 Right Yeah I mean and the thing with the three-point percentage is actually like the the catch and shoot numbers aren’t bad He was 36% It was the dribble three-point where he was 21% on 73 attempts The two-point dribble jumper was a little bit better Um you know he’s going to have to have a floater game I I think that’s kind of my worry a little bit is like the the other thing is and we’ll talk about this with a few different guys he kind of has one path to success He has to be a primary creator And with that comes you have to knock down shots off the bounce you have to improve finishing around the rim because if you don’t have that scoring then now you’re a backup primary creator which like in general is okay but is that okay at seven and if you don’t figure out the defensive thing so that there is real upside here because if he is just young and finish figures out the finishing and the he is going to be able to attack cuz that is one number that is impressive is just the sheer number of attempts at the rim that he got this year at Oklahoma If he figures out the floater the dribble three-pointer like those things it all comes together He’s going to be a really really good offensive player I think defensively there’s still going to be some concerns but that’s how it works It’s just like I I would like a few more outs than like all of these have to hit for him to be this one specific archetype of role I think that’s right Shout out to uh JDW Carasu uh me being so polite in disagreeing with Fierce I do disagree with the Fierce pick Uh-oh What the [ __ ] uh-oh Okay so we’re at We’ll talk about 12 in a second here What so 13 has been traded according to Shams The Atlanta Hawks are trading number 13 to the New Orleans Pelicans for number 23 and an unprotected 2026 firstrounder the most favorable of New Orleans and Milwaukee What is happening i I mean look my number one draft loser is going to be New Orleans I can guarantee you that we’re at that point This is the Troy Weaver playbook This is exactly what he did his first draft in Detroit At number seven he took a small guard and then he traded picks to get up in the draft That one at least was a protected pick that finally conveyed But like this is truly what he did his first year in Detroit So the New Orleans Pelicans have traded number 23 and the best of New Orleans and Milwaukey’s first rounder next year for number 13 next year So they give up their own I don’t know what you guys think about the New Orleans Pelicans next year I don’t think this is going to be a good basketball team I think they are going to be one of the three worst defensive teams in the NBA They’re going to be playing Jeremiah Fierce and Derek Queen like theoretically some real minutes here or Eve Missy real minutes who’s still not very good defensively They’re going to be playing Zion They’re going to hope that Zion is like healthy the whole year What if Zion gets hurt they’re totally [ __ ] Th This is honestly This is one of the crazier trades I’ve seen in a while Sam I don’t understand This is a lot Yeah Continue Bryce Like I know you lived through this by the way You’ve been through the Troy Weaver experience I’m telling you this is similar It’s the playbook You know what’s funny i didn’t even think about this the other day Do you know who ended up in New Orleans in that trade with CJ McCollum and Jordan everybody calls it the Jordan Pool trade I don’t think that’s who they were trading for Sadique Bay And Sadi Bay was in Washington with Troy Weaver after being drafted by Troy Weaver and is now in New Orleans with Troy Weaver Um the only thing that breaks out is Troy Weaver actually traded him Derek Queen uh team specific versatile creation big man Like is this the team Sam that makes sense for him in terms of being able to use him the right way on the offensive end like is this a great fit for Zion Williamson is this a great fit for Jeremiah Fears in terms of offensively and then like you’ve already highlighted the defense I like Queen Um I really came around on him like the drafting him at 13 isn’t necessarily an issue to me Trading an unprotected 2026 first round pick to draft him is not necessarily something I would be excited about So they have selected Derek Queen officially I am I am flabbergasted Okay so they have said that they want to keep Zion Like yeah Joe Dumar has said that they are keeping Zion Derek Queen and Zion Williamson do not work together at all Point blank They don’t work together They try to get to the same areas of the court They both love to grab and go I’m all for like having five guys who can dribble pass shoot out there but it doesn’t really work for me They try to get to the exact same areas of the court They’re both want to be like in the mid post Unless you’re going to play Zion as a point guard but oh wait you just drafted your point guard and Jeremiah Fierce and traded for Jordan Pool and traded for Jordan Pool I am so confused I mean I’m not like I I know what this is This is like do we need the league to take over the Pelicans again is that where we’re at like does the does the league have to take over the New Orleans basketball franchise again and just get this thing right Let’s And I like Derk Queen the player We’ll talk about Derrick Queen in a second I actually also like Derrick Queen the player Yeah but this is insane This is absolut You’re building a team off of players that like aren’t really playoff guys too So what’s your goal i don’t talk I don’t know I can’t I can’t with this It It drives me crazy because I like the player Derek Queen Derek Queen That’s a great one Can we just talk about Queen let’s just Can we just do that like we’ll we can we can evaluate offseason moves throughout the whole summer Can we just give Derek Queen his credit for who he is as a prospect derek Queen is one of five freshman since 1980 to averaged 15 points eight rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 50% from the field Um he took about 13 a game He shot 74% from the line Awesome rebounder incredible ball handler for a big Plays it great speed Uh plays like with real control over the ball Just like re he he’s a hooper like he just totally understands That’s what this team is This is Hooper team now Um totally understands like how to be able to size up his man He’ll hit like crossovers with like hesitation He’ll hit like beautiful shot fakes off of pass like pass fakes like into shot fakes and like he’s so so sharp in terms of how he gets guys off balance Great post presence Uh by the way do you know where Derrick Queen is from Bryce no I know Derek Queen I know we went to Baltimore Maryland baby I was going to say Pittsburgh Usually those are the ones you shout out No I’m shouting out Baltimore because who does Troy Weaver tend to value the guys from the DMV baby I mean this is where we’re at They did draft Bub last year Wasn’t he from Baltimore they drafted drafted Bub last year from Baltimore The Wizards where Troy Weaver was so you guys know Yeah Drafted Sadique Bay when he was with Detroit like it it’s the guys that he knows The big questions come on defense Bryce I will let you talk about Derek Queen on defense Yeah I mean so I think he plays with good verticality Um gone for multiple shot fakes though Um and then like closeouts are the biggest issue Like it’s the thing is can you play him at the five does he have the size for this so this was something when the measurements came out I had somebody DM me and be like “Bryce like you need to realize that when this wingspan wasn’t very good this size the measurements aren’t great He is below average in terms of those measurements as a five and they’re not even that great as a four if he can do that and play at the four for the team in the NBA.” And so like that’s where I’m a little bit concerned right like I think he probably I can’t he’s such a good court mapper and like processor of the game to me I can’t imagine that doesn’t translate to the defensive end in some way And so maybe he can figure out to be like neutral maybe Sam like that’s the that’s the best possible outcome if he can figure out the positionality of things Is that fair my hope for him was that he could get to I wouldn’t say neutral I would say a little bit below average just because he moves he he doesn’t move super well right like he moves okay laterally It’s that he doesn’t move super well north south Sure More than anything is the issue Um I worry about him scrambling and like closing out in the modern NBA being able to play defense that way But like he’s going to put up points and rebounds Like he is going to produce I think Derek Queen but he would have produced somewhere I just worry if Zion’s going to gobble up the points and rebounds that he would typically get So like it’s just not even a great fit Yeah I don’t know Fans I’m sorry Checking like some of the group messages like stuff like that everybody’s saying the same thing is like we like the player Derek Queen We don’t love putting him in New Orleans with Zion Williamson

Sam Vecenie & Bryce Simon react to all the moves made by the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2025 NBA Draft.

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Sam Vecenie, a Senior NBA Writer at The Athletic, talks all about basketball. From the NBA, to the NBA Draft, to college hoops and even some high school, Vecenie has you covered in this show.