Zion Williamson’s Worst Nightmare Has Come True

Zion Williamson’s Worst Nightmare Has Come True

So New Orleans is 0 and6 franchise worst to start the season since 1617. I mean that’s the reality of the situation when you look at an 0 and6 New Orleans. They’ve had five different starting lineups to start the year. We’ve only have six games right now. The pieces right now don’t fit. I’ve covered a lot of horrible NBA decisions on this channel. I mean, we’ve talked about terrible trades, horrible draft picks, franchise killing moves, but what the New Orleans Pelicans have done over the last year and a half, this might be the single most comprehensive destruction of a franchise I’ve ever witnessed. And I’m not being dramatic here. Right now, as I’m recording this, the Pelicans are currently winless at 0 and6, tied with the Brooklyn Nets for the worst record in the entire NBA. But the difference is the Nets are trying to be bad. They’re tanking on purpose. The Pelicans, they thought they were competing. Do you remember Zion Williamson’s dramatic weight loss? They traded away all their best assets to go allin this year. And the worst part of all is they don’t own their own 2026 first round pick. They traded it away. And they also traded away the Indiana Pacers 2026 first round pick. Both of those picks could end up being top five selections, possibly top three. We’re talking about a team that potentially gave away the rights to draft generational talents like AJ Debansa and Camboozer. two prospects being discussed as potential number one overall picks in what’s being called one of the most loaded draft classes in recent memory. So, how did we get here? Buckle up because in this video, we’re going to teach you a master class in how to absolutely annihilate your franchise in a year and a half. If you want the latest NBA news, make sure you subscribe and turn on our notifications on this channel. We’re going to give away a jersey of your choice once a week to a subscriber that has our notifications on just to show my gratitude for you guys. And now that we get all that out of the way, cue the intro. [Music] [Music] Mic check 1212. What’s going on everybody? Let’s start with what might be the most painful trade for Pelicans fans to watch play out in real time. In July of 2024, the Pelicans sent Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr., EJ Little, Cody Zeller, and two first round picks, a 2025 Lakers pick and a conditional 2027 firstround pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Deonte Murray. Now, at the time, this seemed like a reasonable move for a team that was trying to take the next step. Murray was a former all-star, one of the best two-way guards in the league. He averaged 22.5 points and 6.4 assists during his previous season. And the Pelicans desperately needed a true point guard to run the offense alongside Zion Williamson. Dyson Daniels was a relative nobody. He averaged just 5.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in his second season. Shooting poorly and looking like he’d never develop into more than a role player. You fast forward to today and Deonte Murray tore his Achilles tendon and was out for the season, playing 31 games for the Pelicans before going down. That’s it. 31 games. And Dyson Daniels, boy, this is where it gets painful for Pelicans fans. Daniels would average 14.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in his first season with the Atlanta Hawks and a league leading three steals per game. The man finished top two in defensive player of the year voting. He’s the first player to average three steals per game across an entire season since Nate McMillan did it back in 1994. He’s emerged as a legitimate two-way force and won most improved player of the year. The kid the Pelicans gave up on, he turned into exactly what they needed, a defensive stopper who can guard multiple positions and is now developing into a legitimate offensive threat. And that unprotected 2025 Lakers first round pick got significantly less valuable. The Lakers made that massive Luca Donuch for Anthony Davis trade back in February. And while LA did get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, that pick that the Pelicans gave away ended up being more valuable than they anticipated. The Pelicans essentially bet that the Lakers would be a top team, but instead they gifted Atlanta a fringe lottery asset. Bobby Marks put it bluntly when regrading this trade. The Murray trade is an illustration that one ill- fated move can turn a playoff team to one competing for the top pick in the draft. And that’s not hyperbole. That’s exactly what happened. And from here on out, it gets even worse. So, the Dejonte Murray trade blows up in their faces. Surely the Pelicans learned their lesson, right? They’d be more careful with their next moves, right? Just one day before the 2025 NBA draft, the Pelicans traded CJ McCollum and Kelly Olen to the Washington Wizards for Jordan Pool, Sadiq Bay, and the 40th overall pick. Now, let’s break down what they were thinking here. CJ was older. He’s one of only three players to averaged at least 20 points per game in each of his last 10 seasons alongside LeBron James and Demar De Rozan. That’s elite company. He’s also a veteran leader and the NBA Players Association president, the kind of guy who sets the tone in your locker room. Jordan Pool, look, P averaged 20.5 points per game for Washington and had led the Wizards in scoring. He’s younger and in theory, he was supposed to fit better with the Pelicans timeline. But here’s what everyone in the NBA knows about Jordan Pool. There’s a reason why Golden State couldn’t wait to get rid of him after he won a championship with them. There’s a reason why Washington, a team that was actively tanking and had zero expectations, was thrilled to ship him out. The Wizards were reportedly eager to offload P’s terrible contract. He set to make $31.8 8 million in the 2025 to26 season. And one of Washington’s key motivations was to increase ball movement and increase the playmaking opportunities and shot opportunities for the team’s young players. Basically, P was a black hole on offense who wasn’t making anyone better. At the time, CBS Sports gave this trade a C minus for the Pelicans, noting that while P and Bay are younger, the alignment doesn’t mean much if the team doesn’t make sense. They also pointed out something crucial. The Pelicans needed playmaking and ball movement, and the only healthy player from last year’s team that is still on the roster, who averaged five or more assists last season was Zion Williamson. So, they traded away one of their better passes for a guy known for taking bad shots and not involving his teammates. Meanwhile, the Wizards, they’re now positioned to have roughly $100 million in cap space for the summer of 2026. They turned Pool’s bad contract into flexibility and added a veteran leader in Mcllum to mentor their young guys. Washington played this perfectly. At the time, Joe Dumar tried to sell this trade by saying, “If you look around the league right now, it’s almost a requirement to have highlevel guard play, dynamic guard play. Jordan has a skill set that matches most of the dynamic guards in this league.” Bro, someone tell Joe Dumar that Jordan P is not Steph Curry. He’s not Luca Donic. He’s not even Dejonte Murray. This is the kind of spin that makes you wonder if offices actually watch basketball. So, now looking back at the trade deadline of February of 2025, and you see another terrible decision that the Pelicans made. The Pelicans are spiraling at this point. Murray’s out for the year. The roster isn’t working. They’re looking at potentially missing the playoffs. So, what’s their next move? They trade Brandon Ingram, their second leading scorer, for absolute peanuts, and I mean peanuts. The Pelicans send Ingram to the Raptors in exchange for Bruce Brown Jr., Kelly Olen, and a 2026 first round pick and a second round pick. Now, to be fair, Ingram was in the final year of his contract and had turned down extension offers from New Orleans. Reports indicated that he turned down $50 million per season in 2023 and $40 million per year in 2024. So, they were facing the possibility of losing him for nothing in free agency. But here’s where it gets interesting. The first round pick headed to the Pelicans was a top four protected pick in 2026 and came via the Indiana Pacers. So remember this because eventually this trade would make the Pelicans look like geniuses until they would inevitably mess it up. And we’re going to get to that in a sec. Ingram was averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists while shooting 37% from three before he would get hurt. And what they got back was Bruce Brown, a solid role player who has been dealing with injuries himself, Kelly Olen, a veteran center, and draft picks from a Raptors team that isn’t very good. Here’s the crazy part. Executives around the NBA called this trade desperate from Toronto’s perspective. If other GMs thought the team getting Ingram was desperate, what did they say about the return that the New Orleans Pelicans got? The Pelicans had no leverage because everyone knew that Ingram probably wasn’t resigning. So, they had to take whatever that they could get. So, they got fleeced because everyone knew that they were desperate. And at that point, they just waved the white flag on last season and hope to build up the team for this season. But if you just take a look at their off seasonason, the Jordan Pool trade aside, it went from bad to significantly worse. Okay, deep breath because now we get to the part of the story that is so monumentally stupid, so historically bad that it will define the Joe Dumar and Troy Weaver era in New Orleans for decades to come. And I want you to remember this as we go through it. The Pelicans did this to themselves. Nobody forced them to make these moves. Let’s set the scene. It’s June 2025. The NBA finals are happening. The Indiana Pacers are facing off against the OKC Thunder. And what happens is that during the finals, the Pelicans executed a trade with the Pacers, sending the Pacers back their 2026 first round pick in exchange for the number 23 pick in the 2025 draft. At the time, this seemed like a reasonable gamble. The Pacers were in the NBA finals. Surely their 2026 pick would be in the 20s, right? A late first round pick. Meanwhile, the Pelicans would get the number 23 pick immediately and could draft another young player. And then a mere few days later, Tyresese Hallebertton would tear his Achilles in game seven of the finals. The Pacers entire outlook for the 2025 to 26 season changed in an instant. Hallebertton, their start, their entire offensive system gone for months. And that pick that the Pelicans just traded away, well, the Pacers started 0 and5 and now they’re 1 and5. If the season ended today, that pick could be a top five selection. But the Pelicans weren’t done. Oh no. They looked at that number 23 pick they just acquired and thought you know what we need to move up in this draft. There’s someone really special over here. So they made another trade. The Pelicans sent the number 23 pick which became a saw new and an unprotected 2026 first round pick to the Atlanta Hawks to move up 10 spots to the number 13 pick where they selected Derek Queen. Now this wasn’t just any unprotected pick. The pick was the most favorable between the Pelicans own pick and the Milwaukee Bucks pick. So if the Pelicans are bad, Atlanta gets their pick. If the Bucks are bad, Atlanta gets that instead. And guess what? The Pelicans are currently 0 and6 tied for the worst record in the NBA. They are actively on track to have a top three pick that they don’t own. Let me put this into perspective for you. If the Pelicans had done nothing, if Joe Dummars and Troy Weaver had literally gone on a monthsl long cruise without internet or phone signal, they would be holding two of the most valuable draft picks in the 2026 NBA draft. Their own pick, which is shaping up to be top three, and the Pacers pick, which could easily be top five. Instead, the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers will be drafting prospects that could have been the Pelicans. Now, let’s talk about what they actually got for all of this. Derek Queen, the 13th overall pick, a 6’9 center from Maryland, Queen averaged 16.5 points and nine rebounds at Maryland and was named Big 10 freshman of the year. He’s a solid player, good potential, but here’s the thing, he suffered a torn ligament in his wrist during summer league and missed the entire preseason. And in the regular season, he’s averaging eight points and 5.4 rebounds while playing limited minutes. Is Derek Queen a bust? No, not at all. He’s a 20-year-old rookie that’s recovering from injury. He might turn into a really good player, but is he worth two unprotected first round picks that could end up being top five selections? Is he potentially giving up the rights to draft AJ Debansa or Camboozer? Absolutely not. Not even close. An assistant GM speaking anonymously labeled this trade the worst non-luca Donuch trade in at least a decade. Think about that. Other executives, people whose job it is to evaluate talents and trades, are saying this is one of the worst trades in 10 years. Bill Simmons called it one of the five dumbest trades of this decade. And it’s pretty hard to argue with him. But here’s what really stings for Pelicans fans. There were rumors at the time that the Hawks couldn’t believe the offer was actually real and called back to confirm the parameters before sending it to the league office. The Hawks were so shocked by how good this deal was for them that they double checked to make sure it wasn’t a mistake. That’s how lopsided this trade was. So remember, the Pelicans made a bet that they would be much better this season, banking on the return and health of Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, and Herb Jones, while somehow also believing enough in two young offense first rookies that could help them win right away. And as a result, they’re winless and they’re getting blown out. And every loss is making those picks they traded away more and more valuable. I want to take a moment and talk about what the Pelicans potentially gave away because it’s really early in the regular season. And we don’t typically get into our draft coverage until around March or April, but the 2026 NBA draft class is being called one of the most loaded and deepest classes in recent memory. Headlined by three potential franchise changers. AJ Debonsa, Camboozer, and Darren Peterson. Dansa is a 6’9 wing whose scouts are calling a 1% athlete with the ability to create and sustain advantages where others can’t. He’s playing at BYU and is being compared to the kind of versatile scorer every team in the NBA is desperately searching for. In his first exhibition game, he dropped 30 points and seven rebounds on 10 of 19 shooting. Cam Boozer is the son of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer and is being called one of the smartest 18-year-old basketball players in recent memory. He’s at Duke, the same program that just developed Cooper Flag into the consensus number one pick. In his exhibition debut, Boozer put up 33 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists. Scouts love his well-rounded game, his ability to score inside and out, and his advanced playmaking for his position. Darren Peterson is at Kansas and is being called the best guard prospect in a hot minute with comparisons to Damen Lillard and Shay Gilis Alexander for his scoring ability and his playmaking. He scored 26 points on nine of 15 shooting in his first exhibition. Kevin O’ Conor said about this class that I will honestly feel bad for the playin teams that make the playoffs by accident this year. Give me the odds on a top pick in 2026 because this draft class is going to be special. And the Pelicans could have had two of these guys. Two potential franchise cornerstones. Two players who could change the entire trajectory of the organization. AJ Debansa and Camboozer on one team. That could have been the Pelicans reality. Instead, the Pelicans and Brooklyn Nets are the only winless teams. But unlike the Nets, the Pelicans have no future to brag about. The Nets are tanking on purpose and will benefit from their bad record. The Pelicans are just bad. and Atlanta and Indiana will reap the rewards. So, how do we get here? How did an NBA franchise make this many catastrophically bad decisions in such a short period of time? It starts with the Pelicans hiring new management at the end of last season, bringing in Joe Dumar as president of basketball operations and Troy Weaver as senior vice president of basketball operations to run the front office. Now, Joe Dumar has a Hall of Fame playing career and won a championship as the GM of the Detroit Pistons back in 2004, but his recent track record is questionable at best. And Troy Weaver was the GM in Detroit before this where he made some truly baffling decisions. So, the Pelicans brought in two guys with recent histories of questionable moves and gave them the keys to the franchise. The problem is that Dumars and Weaver seem to have come in with this philosophy of we need to win now without actually understanding what their roster was or how to build a winner. They traded the Pacers 2026 pick during the NBA finals because the Pacers were playing in the finals. It seemed like a reasonable bet, but what they didn’t account for was the injuries, regression, or bad luck. They didn’t protect themselves. Then they compounded that mistake by trading their own unprotected 2026 pick to move up 10 spots in the draft. As one source put it, this was one of the top five dumbest trades of the decade. And there’s a reason. They bet everything on the team being good this year while giving up their insurance if anything went wrong. and things went very wrong. The deeper issue is that the Pelicans seem to have no identity. Are they trying to win now with Zion? Then why trade away veterans like CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram. Are they rebuilding? Then why give up future first round picks? Are they trying to develop young talent? Then why is Derek Queen playing 14 minutes a game? One analyst wrote that Dumar and Weaver have already defined their future in New Orleans. Their funeral will be the 2026 NBA draft. That’s brutal but accurate. When the 2026 draft rolls around and Atlanta and Indiana are selecting potential superstars with picks that used to belong to New Orleans, that will be the legacy of this front office. Look, I don’t take pleasure in destroying franchises like this. Pelicans fans have been through enough, but what we’re watching in New Orleans is a cautionary tale for every NBA team. This is what happens when you panic. This is what happens when you make short-sighted moves without protecting yourself. This is what happens when you bet everything on a win now mentality without actually having the pieces to win. The Pelicans could have had two elite prospects to completely transform their franchise. The thought of AJ Debansa and Camboozer on one team seems like an incredible dream, but it was so close to a reality for New Orleans. Instead, they’re winless. They traded away their future. Their franchise player can’t stay healthy, and they’ll have to watch as the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers draft top tier talent that could have been theirs. Let me know what you guys think about this in the comments section down below. Aside from that, I’m your boy Mike and I’m dropping our mic until our next upload.

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