Pelicans’ New Big 3: Playoff Bound or Just Hype? Zion’s Final Shot at Greatness!

Pelicans’ New Big 3: Playoff Bound or Just Hype? Zion’s Final Shot at Greatness!

In the Wild Western Conference, you need a very strong core of players that you know is going to be able to ride this long journey we call it NBA season. And where does Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy, and Jordan Pool rank up against the best out the West? So, we going to break this down right now in the Pelican Scoop. So, cue my music. This is the Pelican Scoop with Jordan Kitchens, breaking down everything under the sun about your New Orleans Pelicans. Smash that like button, leave a comment, and subscribe to stay on top of your Pel’s content. Now, Running Point, here’s Jordan. What is good, YouTube? Welcome back to another edition of the Pelican Scoop. I am your host for the most, Jordan Kitchens. And ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are talking Western Conference. Look, look, look, look. Ladies, gentlemen, we are in the prime, the prime part of the summer. the summer where only thing that’s on TV is baseball and the WNBA with Sydney are praying for football season to come right around the corner. This coming I think football’s back this week. Matter of fact, I think it’s back on Thursday, Hall of Fame game. Even though I ain’t going to be watching Hall of Fame game, but football is right around the corner. So, you know what that means about the NBA. This is the dog days. This is the dog days of the summer. We we are a couple months away from, you know, media day and training camp. So, right now, this this is the prime off season. So, we are just talking about anything and everything under the sun. So, today class, for this exercise, we’re going to talk about where does the Pelicans three core players at this moment, the core the three main pillars of this roster going into this season, where do these boys rank up against the best out the west? Because unfortunately, until the there’s some type of expansion in the NBA, the Pelicans are going to be in the Western Conference. I think they should be in the Eastern Conference. And I think all of you guys should be rooting for the team to get out the goddamn West, please. All right. All right. You see in the Eastern Conference, it’s any and everybody. Now, the West. Yeah, man. It’s a bar fight. Either you going to be at the bar sitting there trying to get a drink and somebody just comes up in the back and just stabs you with a with a r with a rusty fork that he was holding in his sock for about three years. Like, it’s just those type of scenarios that happen in the West. So, good or bad, this team has to find a way to survive. So, guys, we just got to talk about this. Where does a core of Jordan P, Trey Murphy, and Zion Williamson rank amongst these guys? Cuz regardless of the fact, no matter how you want to chop it up or how you want to slice it up, however you want to dress the sandwich, whatever you like to do, if you like mayonnaise, you don’t like mayonnaise, you like musty, you like mustard, it doesn’t matter, the Pelicans have to make the playoffs next year regardless. Now, it can be they can be a first round exit, whatever. It’s cool. They just have to make the playoffs. No if buts about it. Joe Dumar has already put all his chips on middle of the table saying we’re going to give up our pick next year to for Atlanta, you know, the worst out of the Milwaukee, whatever. You know, whatever the how the pick swap and protections work on that. Actually, there was no protections on it because that was a problem and there was no protections on it. It’s an unprotected pick. You have put your cards in the middle of the table saying that this team is going to make the playoffs. I’m not saying the Pelicans going to make the finals. You got to crawl before you can walk, but they have to make the playoffs. Now, that’s sneaking through the plan. Regardless of the fact, they just have to find a way to make it. Now, we would all love for them to hit the 50 win threshold that we all like, you know, be the franchise record and all that, but god damn it, it’s going to be real tough in the West this year. It’s going to be real tough. So, I’m looking at the Western standings last year. 50 wins got you to the fifth seed. Okay, so the Timber Bulls had 49, there was the six seed, the Warriors had 48, they seven seed, the Grizzlies had 48, and they was the eight seed. Ninth seed was 40 wins, 10 seed was the Mavericks, they got 39 wins, ended up getting the number one pick in the draft. So that’s why I’m so adamant about the Pelicans making the playoffs because if they sit there and get knocked out in the playin, there is a very good chance that pick could end up being the number one pick. Adam Silver has already come out and said he’s not rewarding the tanking squads and all the teams they feel like they’re tanking. He going to try and get some. He’s going to give it to one of these teams. But where does a season where you have Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy, and Jordan Pool, hopefully he’s able to go along for the ride for at least 65 games. If you can get them for 65 games, where is the ceiling for this team? And yeah, the roster is flawed. Okay, we’re not going to see him act like the Pelicans are world beaters, but anything is possible in the NBA. I think the Pelicans have a fighting chance cuz, you know, you got to account for some teams getting hurt and some, you know, teams regressing and not being as well. I think the Grizzlies, I don’t think they’re going to be that good this year. I just don’t see it because, you know, they got rid of Bane. Jiren Jackson Jr. just had surgery like he just he got paid and just immediately had a surgery on like his ankle, his toe, something in the foot region. That’s never good for a sevenfooter. So, let’s see what they do. You know, you got to count on John Morant, you know, missing games and maybe get suspended. I don’t know. But I think the Grizzly be seems to take a step down. So, let me just talk about the teams I feel like are I ain’t going to say significantly better than the Pelicans, but it’s like not indisputable. Their core three are better than what the Pelicans have going on for them. So obviously OKC doesn’t need to be explained with, you know, the reigning MVP, reigning finals MVP. You know, you got JDub, you still got CE, still have a million first round picks. They don’t need to be explained. I think the Nuggets, I think they’re significantly better than the Pelicans right now. Obviously, they got probably the best player on the planet with Nicole Joic and got his running mate Jamal Murray. You flip NPJ for Cam Johnson. So I think the Nuggets, as long as Jokic is on the floor, they’re just gonna be better. It is what it is. He just raises the ceiling for all the everybody else on the floor. He makes everybody else better. He’s the Energizer Bunch. So, if he’s out there, they’re going to be formidable no matter what. That just is what it is. He’s just one of those great players where it doesn’t matter. So, that’s season’s one and two. So, next on the third seat, I have the Rockets, which you know, between Kevin Durant, Singon, Thompson, still have a good squad. I mean, adding Kevin Durant on a team full of dirty guys. I’m not saying dirty guys and the bad word, but like everybody on the Rockets team is going to do the dirty work. everybody between Van Fleet, you know, Stephen Adams, Tari, Bari, Thompson, of course, they got a whole bunch of guys are gonna get grimy and get dirty and let Kevin Durant beat Kevin Durant. So, I think the Rockets will be like a third, fourth seed. Um, in the fourth seed, I have the Timberwolves, Ant Goar, Randall, you know, maybe Terence Shannon Jr. steps up, Rob Dillingham. We’ll see. You know, still got uh Deveno, I about to say White Bull with the haircut. They still got Deveno. So, I think the Timber Bulls, it’s kind of indisputable. And you know for a fact Anthony Edwards is going to be out there. You know that’s one of the best qualities about Ant is he doesn’t miss games. Ant plays almost every single game. So you can count on Ant still being there. Now in the fifth and six seed range now this Rafael the Pelicans if they if Willie Green can finally find some type of way to stop being silly Willie. stop being wet behind the ears and and be able to elevate the roster, you know, put guys in the right position, you know, not have this crazy streak where they went 0 and 26 when they’re going to le going to the fourth quarter, being down and all that. Being find some type of way to be able to squeeze close games, be able to win close games, not blow four quarter lead, third quarter leads. This where I feel like the Pelicans could make their money. They could find a way to be a six seed. But that’s just if everything goes right. And I and that’s just a caveat you cannot put with this team. So like I said in this range I have the Clippers with Kawhi Harden Bill Zubac whatever whichever one you want to put probably Zubac at this stage of career Bills. So Kawhi Harden Bill I mean Zubac still got to have it’s still Kawhi L still James Harden. Yeah they get to the playoffs and going to flame out but they still going to be a regular season monster and the Pelicans always play up against the Clippers. The Pelicans play the Clippers extremely well. So that’s not really a problem. Then now you start talking about the Warriors or Steph Jimmy and Dre. You know what do the Warriors have left in the tank? We don’t know. Steph Curry is gonna be Steph Curry, but can the guys around Steph Curry answer the bell? We just don’t know. Then now we’re talking where oh snap I kind of my range is a little bit off. So I’m include the Lakers in that little five six range too. I forgot about the Lakers. So the Lakers I think they’ll be around the fifth six seat possibly could be a playin between LeBron Luca uh Ree and you want to say DeAndre Aid and two I think the Lakers are going to be you know they’re going to be good. They’re the Lakers but do they have enough? I don’t think the Lakers have enough necessarily, but they will be in the mix regardless of the fact. And I think their core three, because they have LeBron, James, and Luca Donic are better than what the Pelicans are offering. So, I will include the Lakers above them. Now, this range, this where I feel like the Pelicans, this might be the play in, but this where I feel like the Pelicans, they got to make their money. This is where I feel like they can attack this group and be able to, you know, oversee it. So, in this order, these guys are, these teams I’m naming are not in order where I’m saying this seven, this eight, this nine, 10. No, no. I’m just naming that this is a group of teams where I feel like the Pelicans, they got to eat. They got to eat. So, first is the Grizzlies. All right, John Morant. You gota expect them to miss some games. Jiren Jackson Jr., he’s out right now. He’s not going to be there for the start of the season. Who else do they have, right? You already traded Desmond Bane. They got some good picks from Orlando necessarily and Orlando doesn’t really do much. And I think they end up getting one of the Phoenix picks. So, GG Jackson, maybe, you know, Zack Edy. I just feel like the Pelicans have a lot more to offer than the Grizzlies at this point. You know, we’ll see where the season goes. and also they fired the head coach Taylor Jenkins. So we’ll see with the Grizzlies. I just think the Pelicans I think the Grizzlies will take a step back. Pelicans should be able to take a step up. Next I have the Dallas Mavericks, Anthony Davis, Cooper Flag, you know, they still got Kyrie Irving, he’s come back from the ACL, so you’re not going to see Kyrie till 2026. So I think with Kyrie not being there and it’s just being, you know, Anthony Davis is Mr. Glass, like he’s going to miss games regardless, too, you know, and Cooper Flag can only do so much. So we just have to see what that roster is able to do. They have still have a very decent roster. The Mavericks are still pretty decent, but you know, if Anthony Davis missed some games without Kyrie and just relying on Cooper Flag, I I’ll take the Pelican chances against the Mavericks. I still think that Jason Kid’s a better head coach than Willie Green, but again, I will take the Pelicans chances against the Rockets. I mean, not the Rockets, the Mavericks, the other the other Texas team. I think that I like their chances against them. And the next two spots that I have in this group, like I said, the Pelicans are grouped in with this team. So, it’s the Pelicans, the Grizzlies, the Mavericks. Next, let’s talk about the San Antonio Spurs. Now, the San Antonio Spurs are kind of like the dark horse with this group with this big three. I do like Wimby a lot. You know, I like Wimby. I do like Darren Fox and I do like Stefan Castle. You know, they get Dylan Harper in in the draft, but it’s like can Victor Wbeyama have a healthy season? Can D’Arren Fox have a healthy season at this point? You know, yeah, you like the core, but if Wimby can’t reach that fulfilling of being there because, you know, has Wimby has yet to finish a season yet. He’s yet to finish the season healthy. So, can Wimi answer that noise and step up? He I I think we went Victor Wamb at his best is a little bit better than the Pelicans. And then the Portland Trailblazers, you know, it’s just a bunch of guys. It’s a big group of guys. I can’t really name a big three from them other, you know, they got Drew Holidayiday, Dame coming back, not this year, but next year. You know, Scoot, they got the Yang guys. So, we’ll see about Portland, but I think that mix is where the Pelicans have to eat. They got to be able to eat with those teams and be able to beat those guys. So when it comes down to it, the Pelicans can be able be primed right there for the play in seven to eight or, you know, they can find a way to to sneak in to five and six. But four through one, I don’t I don’t think the Pelicans have a chance. I’m going to just be honest with you, guys. I don’t see the Pelicans being the upper echelon team in the West. And honestly, that’s not the goal. The goal is just to make the playoffs. I know it sounds crazy, whatever it might be loser talk. No, this team has I don’t think this team should even have no aspirations on winning an NBA championship because that’s not coming no time soon. You got to make the playoffs first. You got to be able to win some series first before you can start thinking about, oh yeah, this is a finals team. No, let’s just make the playoffs. I don’t even care to get first round bounce. They just need you to make the playoffs. That’s where I stand. Let me know how you guys feel down in the comments, man. I’ve been your host, the most Jordan Kitchens, ladies and gentlemen. I’m just trying to find a way. So, yeah. Y’all comment video ideas, whatever you want me to talk about. Anything, man. It’s dog days, bro. It’s dog days. And I’m I’m scraping that bowl like I’m cooking up. So, I’ve been yelling kids. I’m signing out. P.

The Western Conference is STACKED — but can the New Orleans Pelicans break through with their new core of Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, and Jordan Poole? In this video, Jordan Kitchens breaks down how this trio stacks up against the West’s elite, what Zion needs to prove this season, and whether this squad has what it takes to make a serious playoff push.
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