June 10, 2025 • 46 mins
On the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast for Tuesday, June 10, 2025, Jim Eichenhofer and Gus Kattengell continue their series of draft previews ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft.
They welcome Sixers beat writer Adam Aaronson from the Philly Voice and Pelicans TV Sideline Reporter/Host Andrew Lopez to discuss the Philadelphia 76ers' third overall pick as Lopez breaks down two more 2025 NBA Draft prospects in Jeremiah Fears and Khaman Maluach.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome in to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast, the official
podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans, a podcast dedicated to
everything you need to know about the squad. Here from players, coaches, broadcasters,
and those who cover the NBA on a daily basis.
It's time to flock up. The New Orleans Pelicans Podcast
(00:29):
starts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hello everybody, Welcome to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast. Official
podcasts of your New Orleans Pelicans, presented by New Age Products,
official garage and outdoor kitchen provider of the New Orleans Pelicans.
We're getting closer to the NBA Draft. We've taken a
look at Dallas and San Antonio's. We will take a
look at the Philadelphia seventy six ers, and Jim can
offer us to what they may do in the NBA
(00:55):
draft this year. Overall thoughts on Phili before we get
to Adam Aronson, who covers the seventy six ers for us.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
What an odd draft lottery it was this year that
the three top teams picking, including the MAVs, Spurs and
seventy six Ers, are not in the mode of, you know,
someday we think we're going to be good. They're all
in immediate we want to win now modes. So I
think that's where the Sixers are. That makes that unusual
that they're picking third, But they're also not that far
removed from being a team that won fifty plus games
(01:22):
and was really what we would I think you would
call a contender in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Yeah, well, I'll tell you.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Let's see what their new process maybe going into it.
But we'll talk to him, and also we'll hear from
Andrew Lopez as we break down our continuing prospects.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
The two players he's going to talk about.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Jim, they are Jeremiah Fears and come on malwatch.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
All right, well, we will see what he has to
say about that. But first, up to Philly we go
to get a little low down on what the seventy
six ers may be doing. All right, as we continue
to preview and get everybody ready, mister Jim, I can
offer for the NBA Draft, which is coming up here
at the end of the month. We got to take
a look at what the other teams may be doing.
So up to Philly we go. Adam Aaronson, who covers
(02:04):
the seventy six Ers, joins us, sir, how are.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
You doing doing well, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Guys doing well. How many times do people ask you
about the process? I almost feel like it's synonymous now
with the seventy six.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Ers, right, But that process has been a process.
Speaker 6 (02:17):
Has it been?
Speaker 5 (02:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (02:20):
For I think for as long as Joel Embiid is here,
it's something that we'll hear about quite often around these parts,
and even maybe when he's gone, well we'll still hear
about it too, just because you know, the whole trajectory
of the franchise still is unquestionably tied to that period.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And I want to want to start here in terms
of it's interesting. I feel like the Pelicans, the team
that we cover obviously in the Sixers, that you cover
in ways that we really didn't want to see at all,
had very similar seasons last year where I mean we're
talking rampant injuries. We're talking two teams that went into
the season at least coming off of playoff appearance and
(02:59):
had pretty high expectations and then the whole thing just
goes sideways with major injuries, tons of guys being sidelined,
you know, all the way across the board. And one
of the things I noticed when I look through this
Philadelphia stats is just like the Pelicans, the Sixers only
had two guys that played sixty five games or more
over the course of the whole season, So you only
(03:21):
had two players that if they were in the running
for NBA awards, would have even been eligible for that.
Speaker 8 (03:26):
So, I mean, I feel like.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
How much of that was just the entire story of
the Sixers. I feel like we need to have these
fan bases, need to have needed like a support group,
like a therapy session based on what we experienced over
the eighty two games.
Speaker 7 (03:41):
Yeah, you're exactly right, And I mean both situations, teams
that built good rosters that I think a lot of
people expected to be, you know, contending for a playoff
spot or maybe greater, and then things just never really
got off the ground because the injuries were just completely unrelenting.
I think the Sixers ended up using thirty players over
(04:01):
the course of the season, which is almost unfathomable to me.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
Yeah, I mean it.
Speaker 7 (04:08):
And even you mentioned, you know, the two players that
did play sixty five games. I believe those were gershon
Yabusele and Ricky Council before and you know, Yabusele was
the last guy they signed to their roster on a
minimum contract in August. Ricky Council was an undrafted player
in his first full season in the NBA. Just the
(04:29):
sheer dollars that were being spent on players that were
not playing so consistently was really unlike anything I've seen before.
And yet it's not I certainly agree that Sixers fans
and Pelicans fans probably could work in the same support
group and both benefit from that because it's really, again
(04:52):
just a situation where where neither situation could even get going.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
You couldn't even really see the potential that you imagined.
Speaker 7 (05:00):
It's not like it started out well and then things
went off the rails so quickly.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
It just never got started.
Speaker 7 (05:06):
Yeah, and so you know, both teams at least have clear,
you know, a nucleus of talent that they can build
on moving into next year. There's no question the Sixers
and the Pelicans both have a lot of talented players,
and you know, they got to stay healthy at least
more than they did last.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Year, for sure.
Speaker 8 (05:24):
Yeah, this is something I was talking about with Gus recently.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
It feels like never, It feels in some ways like
last season never started. That it never Actually it feels
like I'm excited to go back to begin next season,
to start back at zero and zero at the beginning
of the year, because I mean, the Pelicans were I
can't remember, it was like four and fourteen, and when
you're at that point, you know, especially in the West,
that things are looking very bleak and it's going to be.
Speaker 8 (05:46):
Tough to come back from that.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
You mentioned that the two players specifically for the Sixers
the Pelicans were pretty similar in that they're two players
that played sixty five games or more. Were Eve mecI,
who was a rookie who is the twenty first pick
in the draft, not you know, one of the top
first guys picked. And then Jeremiah Robinson Earl, who was
really a role player. So that's another interesting comparison. You know,
while these two teams had very similar seasons, Unfortunately from
(06:11):
our end, the lottery was not similar to what happened
with the Sixers, and the Sixers ended up jumping up
to third. Can you describe what the reaction was from
the fan base and people in general with the outcome
that happened in May with the lottery.
Speaker 7 (06:26):
A whole lot of relief because the would not have
kept their pick if it had fallen outside the top six.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
It would have gone to Oklahoma City.
Speaker 7 (06:34):
They had a sixty four percent chance of keeping it,
which is not a you know, it's almost a two
out of three chance, but that means a one to
three chance you lose the pick, and I think people
here were sort of of the mindset of, well, if
this season has gone this disastrously, surely this pick is
going to fall to seven and it's going to be
ast It could be without us getting it. Luckily, for
(06:55):
the Sixers, that was not the case. They jumped up
to three, and they had to jump into three or
four once once the first two picks went to Dallas
and San Antonio. Yeah, so they caught a break that
unfortunately the Pelicans did not. But they still have their
work cut out for them in terms of not just
making this pick, but getting guys like Joel Embiid and
Paul George healthy and building a roster surrounding them that
(07:19):
elevates the whole group and gets them back to the
championship contention status that that they want to be in.
Speaker 8 (07:25):
Were you or people around you.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Confused when on the ESPN broadcast they said Philadelphia loses
their pick and then they actually had to correct it.
Speaker 8 (07:34):
Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Minute later they they realized that they had I mean,
it was really confusing in their defense, but I mean,
was that something that was made you guys kind of
scramble of like, what is going on right now?
Speaker 5 (07:46):
So it's a great question.
Speaker 7 (07:47):
So I unfortunate, for better or worse, I'll say, I
feel like i'm I'm I have a pretty good handle
on how the lottery works, and so I understood what
was going on. And I had written a story that
morning that was based a guide for sixers fans to
watch the lottery.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Here's what you should look for.
Speaker 7 (08:03):
And one of the things I mentioned was if two
teams jump them, they could also jump themselves. So it's
not over until you actually see a card with an
Oklahoma City logo. And and luckily, I think I was
able to prevent a few heart attacks.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
In the Pladelphia.
Speaker 7 (08:20):
There was there was a lot of confusion, and and yes,
as you said, to be fair to to ESPN, it's
a massively confusing system. And I'm sure of all the
scenarios they could have prepared for, uh Dallas and San Antonio,
jumping was probably not near the top of their list.
Speaker 5 (08:39):
But yeah, that was.
Speaker 7 (08:40):
There was quite a few minutes there, and then even
crazier was the you know three minute commercial break where
they get to.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
Jump to one. Now, yeah, it's gonna happen here. Yeah,
it's a It was. It was quite a moment.
Speaker 6 (08:54):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (08:54):
And fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it,
Sixers fans have enough experience watching the draft lottery sure
in the last ten years to have a decent handle
of how things go.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yep, you mentioned the feeling of relief for the Sixers
to know that they're going to keep their pick. Now
that we kind of fast forward to June twenty fifth,
when the draft first round is going to take place,
how do you look at it right now in terms
of I mean, is it more likely that they keep
their pick? It is our trades on the table. How
(09:27):
do you see kind of the perspective. It feels like
every team in the NBA, maybe if they picked, they
ended up one or two in the lottery, you pretty
much know what they're gonna do. But three seems to
be the pivot point. So how do you look at
that in terms of what they might do?
Speaker 5 (09:42):
Yeah, I mean, you're exactly right. Three is the pivot point.
Speaker 7 (09:45):
Of this draft, which is what makes it so interesting
on my end to try to figure out what they're
going to do, because really every option is available to them.
I think it's always smart to guess that the team
will keep their pick and stick there because it's just
hard to make trades. But I would definitely not rule
out the idea of them moving down the board if
there's a team, whether that's you know, the Pelicans at seven,
(10:06):
or Brooklyn behind them, or Washington in front of them,
or Utah, whoever it is. If someone you know believes
that one of these prospects that's going to be available
at number three has you know, star better upside and
the Sixers don't see that player, maybe there's a deal
to be made. Maybe the Sixers can pick up an
additional asset or two, add some more depth, still come
(10:28):
away with a premium young talent. I think that's something
they'd be interested in if the if the right offer
is there. But generally I think, you know, it's sort
of an odd spot on the board for them because
their two best sort of long term cornerstones right now
are both guards and Tyres Maxie and Jared McCain, and
this is sort of a region of the draft where
there are a lot of perimeter oriented guys in that mold.
(10:50):
When you talk about, you know, Trey Johnson from Texas
vj Edgecomb from Baylor, my opinion is that they should
take whoever they think the best player available is and
figure out how it fits together later. I don't think
that their position is necessarily good enough that they can,
you know, worry about fit when you're picking as high
as three. You know they have the thirty fifth pick
in the second round. If they want to focus on
(11:12):
fit there, fine, But I think the third pick is
too significant of a resource when you're talking about a
player that could be the face of your franchise.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
In five years from now and even ten years from now.
Speaker 7 (11:24):
So I think whoever they they view as the best
player available will be the pick. Interestingly, Daryl Morey, we have,
you know, two decades of sample sides of him running
NBA teams and almost none of him making draft picks
this high.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
It's just not something he's done before.
Speaker 7 (11:41):
He said openly before the lottery, after the lottery that
his plan is to take the best player available in
the first first round if they have their pick, and
now knowing that they're at three, and I think that's
what they'll do. There's a chance it, you know, insights
awkward discussions about is their trade that has to happen
down the line to make all of the pieces fit together.
(12:02):
But I think Morey's standpoint here is taking the best
player available, taking the guy with the best chance of
being a star in five years from now, ten years
from now.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Last thing for me, just on the outlook of the
Sixers overall. I'm not sure if you had listened to this. Recently,
there's been a discussion about next season's Eastern Conference because
obviously with Jason Tatum's gonna miss a chunk or maybe
the whole season, it's kind of seems wide open. And
I heard Zach Lowe, Bill Simmons, maybe a couple other
(12:31):
people kind of list, Okay, how do you rank the
East in terms of short term or maybe medium term
over the next three to five years, And it seems
like the opinion on the Sixers is kind of I
think Zach low maybe had them twelve, which to me
is stunning because it just seems like the Sixers you
still view them as a contender despite the fact that
they had the season that they had. But I guess
(12:51):
my question is, I mean, do people in Philadelphia, the
fan base, do you see it just as it's all
about like still trying to be a contender next season,
it's just so much more about the short term of
going back to you know, the fifty win team that
they've been pretty consistently in recent years.
Speaker 9 (13:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (13:11):
I mean, I think there's an overwhelming sentiment here of
frustration that the team has obviously had a lot of
talent for many years now We're talking seven eight years
of clearly they have you know, they've had championship level
talent or borderline but they just I mean, you know,
the infamous conference finals streak that has become a major
(13:34):
taling point here.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
They haven't been to the conference finals in almost twenty.
Speaker 7 (13:37):
Five years, and a lot of people view that now
now as you know, a milestone in and of itself.
And my question is what happens if you get there
and then you get swept in the conference finals?
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Does that make it worth it? But that's a different discussion.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
But there's definitely a sense of frustration with just how
long this has been now and Joel and b ongoing
injury issues and the fact that a lot of people
believe that they're not going to be able to rely
on him moving forward, which is why, like you said,
you know, Zack and Bill and others are sort of
(14:11):
souring on the future of the team. Is because they're
paying himbid two hundred and forty eight million over the
next four years and Paul George, I think one hundred
and sixty one over the next three and they need
those players to be consistently available and you know, play
at the level that the Sixers are.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Paying them to play at.
Speaker 7 (14:31):
So a long winded way of answering your original question
is I just think that there's a lot of frustration
that's been built over the years here, and a lot
of people have just decided that they're inherently skeptical of
everything that the Sixers do. And you know, if things
start to go well and start to click, then I'm
sure they'll all be back and excited. But for now,
(14:53):
there is a little bit of I don't think apathy
is the right word. I think that might have been
what happened if they lost their pick, But I think
the pick has given some renewed optimism, but just a
sense of dread of you know, what's going to be
the next thing that goes wrong that sends the franchise
into a tailspin. And you know, if there's one way
(15:14):
to get out of it, it's to draft a you know,
franchise cornerstone star on the top three of the drafts.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Speak with Adam Aronson at Sixers Adams The Way to Go,
a follow over on xt he covers the seventy six
ers for the Philly Voice. I think what's interesting is
listening to you just now, Adam. You know, Joe Jumars,
who took over here for the Pelicans, recently said the
draft is a public and private way to let everyone know,
from the fans to obviously elsewhere in the NBA what
(15:41):
you would tend to be, like what who you are,
what's your focus, and what's your name?
Speaker 6 (15:45):
Sort of.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
It's interesting because I hear you talk about specifically with
Paul George and also with Joel and b the money
and the contracts are still there, so the Sixers are
still based around them.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
I mean that's yeah, yes, how you look at.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
It, Yeah, Frankly, I'm just operating under that assumption until
there's much reason to expect another team to be interested
in training for either one because right now, I just
don't think it would be like responsible, particularly with EMBIID,
who has such significant health concerns that are also somewhat
(16:24):
mysterious to especially you know now with the second apron
and all of these extremely restrictive salary cap things that
go on. I expect those two to be here for
you know, next year and probably the foreseeable future, particularly EMBIID.
And you know, there are worse positions to be in
than have a nine time All Star in George and
(16:45):
an MVP who might have won his second MVP in
a row if he hadn't gotten hurt two years ago
in EMBIID. But the fact of the matter is George
is you know, he just turned thirty five. He's not
getting any younger. He looked less explosive. EMBID is now
on the wrong side of thirty two. It's not a
perfect situation. It is one that they can look themselves
(17:06):
in the mirror and say, if everything breaks right, we
can be right back in the thick of it, contending
for the championship. And that is true like that they
have the talent to do that. If Embde is playing,
he has the ability to lead a team.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
To those heights.
Speaker 7 (17:20):
If Paul George is healthy and playing, he has the
ability to be a key cornerstone of that team.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
They've both done.
Speaker 7 (17:25):
That before, but a lot of people would rightfully say
there's not much evidence that things are going to break
right for them.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yeah, and I guess that'dam of the reason I asked
you that, in Jim was because something you said earlier about, hey,
maybe drafting somebody in three to five years could be
the cornerstone or somebody that this franchise builds around, because
as you said, you take contract, you take age, you
take that third picks, the ability to be able to
get somebody that maybe you know isn't expected to be
the franchise face now but three to five years could be.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
So it is interesting to kind.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
Of look at it like that for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
And by the way, I mentioned at the beginning the
support group for Pelicans and Sixers fan bases. I think
Paul George needs a support group for the next week
or so.
Speaker 8 (18:07):
With the NBA Finals.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Going on right now, he's the target of everyone's criticism
and I are with these two teams that are playing
in the finals.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
Yeah, I think if you if you try to draw
up a nightmare season for Paul George. It would involve
everything that happened with the Sixers this year and then
a thunder Pacers finals, and.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
All of that came to fruition. I almost feel for
to a degree.
Speaker 7 (18:30):
I was asked on the radio here a few nights
ago if I thought that he was gonna if he
was going to attend the finals the games, and I said,
I don't know if he would, but if he does,
whichever crowded is should give him a standing ovation.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
I was gonna say front, you know, front, court side seats.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
I guess you know.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
He supports, supports both teams.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
My advice for him would be to go to some
tropical beach somewhere, get off your phone, don't get the internet,
and just count the money that's coming in.
Speaker 8 (18:57):
That's that's the way I would cope with the NBA FI.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
Yeah, that's that's how we spent his All Star break.
Speaker 7 (19:03):
And there were some people in Philadelphia who weren't entirely
pleased with the Instagram pictures from from whatever luxurious resort
to that.
Speaker 8 (19:13):
Okay, so maybe scrap that advice.
Speaker 7 (19:16):
If he doesn't post it, if he doesn't post it,
the ideal. Yeah, but you know, it's a big off
season ahead for him. He's got to get healthy. He's
got to look more like the guy that that they
thought they were getting that can If he is, that guy,
can lift a team like this, you know, can be
a significant piece of a contender. But he's got to
(19:39):
prove it. And he's now back to podcasting just like us.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Well, now look at it like this, man, if we
wrap up with you, I don't know if it's a plan,
but it's what we got right now, right with this
fan bases, with both the pels of seventy six ers.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
It's called hope.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And one of the things that we've touched on is
what's crazy is with all the big moves, all the
big trades, all the different things that the NBA has
done with their salary cap structure, this is gonna be
the seventh straight different, you know, NBA champion in seven years.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
So hope is.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
The Sixers or bells at one point, right, I mean
that's how you look at it.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
Yeah, it's I do really enjoy the just it feels
like this.
Speaker 7 (20:18):
These were the least predictable playoffs that I can remember,
at least at least for quite a while. When you
look at a team like Indiana making a run that
they made and having at least one of the most
absurd wins you've ever seen in every series. I think
Oklahoma City everyone expected to be here, but still I
think everyone has a lot of respect for the way
(20:40):
they built this incredible team and are set up to
sustain it.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
Yeah, it's it's been really fun.
Speaker 7 (20:47):
And I think, like you were just mentioning, particularly in
the East, with you know, the Boston's probably going to
be in somewhat of a gap.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
Year, Cleveland should be very good again.
Speaker 7 (20:57):
Obviously Indiana should be very good again, even the nixt
But it does feel, particularly in the East wide open.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Now.
Speaker 7 (21:05):
I think the Pelicans have a fair right to ask why.
Speaker 5 (21:10):
Aren't they in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
I'm with you, I am with you as im sure.
Speaker 7 (21:14):
I'm sure you guys at any many times when looking
at the standings.
Speaker 8 (21:18):
No doubt.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
Yeah, I mean, and the Sixers were in the play
in race for about six weeks longer than they should
have been because the Chicago Bulls also were not winning
any games, and somebody had to be the ten seed,
and it was it was kind of comical to look
at the conference's standings back to back. But yeah, I
mean you just spoke to it.
Speaker 7 (21:40):
There's it feels like there's less predictability than ever in
the NBA right now in terms of which teams from
year to year are going to be really good.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
You know, I want to point out one quick positive.
Let's let's end this on a positive note. For Sixers fans.
Speaker 8 (21:53):
There was a.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Recent excellent development besides what happened in the lottery, and
that was the New York Knicks did not make the
NBA Finals. So thank you to the Pacers from the
Sixers fan base, I'm sure that made people happy that
they didn't have to watch the Knicks in June basketball.
Speaker 7 (22:08):
Not just that, but old friend TJ McConnell in the
NBA Finals.
Speaker 8 (22:12):
Okay, there you go.
Speaker 7 (22:14):
There, I promise you there are Sixers fans that if
TJ McConnell wins the finals, they will celebrate it like
it was the Sixers. TJ McConnell is one of the
most beloved Sixers of the last ten years and right so,
he has an incredible story and worked really hard to
get to where he's at and for him to now
be a ten year NBA veteran who was the six
(22:37):
string point guard entering training camp and then made the
roster of a team that went ten and seventy two
is really remarkable. So yeah, Sixers fans, I think have
have enjoyed this Pacers run, even though maybe there's some
regret that the team didn't trade for Tyrese Haliburton.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
Which they're not the only ones.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
So yeah, it's been a fun playoffs and I think
Sixers fans will definitely be firmly in the corner of Indiana.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Adam as always, man, appreciate the time. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
We'll be following you and check in with you throughout
the season. Hard to believe it's what three weeks until
the NBA Draft as we're recorded, and then boom you
got free agency and then here we go.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
See what takes place here with the September and camp start.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
Should be fun. Thank you guys so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
For sure to give him a follow over on x
at six Ers Adam mister Aaron Arson, Sixers beat writer
over on the Philly Voice, Thank you sir, Thank you Tom.
Now to take a look at another pair of prospects
as we get you ready for the NBA Draft and
Television Solar Reporter for you New Orleans Pelicans, mister Andrew
Lopez continuing to give us all of that info that
he's been studying hours and hours of film and everything
(23:48):
on Jeremiah Fears in common malu watch is that right?
Speaker 4 (23:51):
Hours and hours of film?
Speaker 6 (23:52):
Uh, you could say that, Yeah, let's say that.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
We will, okay, hours and hours of an anyway, two
interesting prospers, so as we continue to take a look
at as we get closer to a draft.
Speaker 9 (24:05):
Yeah, I think one of the things about once you
get past Cooper and Dylan Flag, a lot of the
next dozen or so guys, you could probably stretch that
a little more is really kind of up to.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
The team. I mean, I think there's probably teams who.
Speaker 9 (24:24):
Could have these guys anywhere from three to fifteen, like
I really do. And there's probably teams who have it
that way. Like Sam Vessini from The Athletic. He came
out with his draft guide and for instance, he has
Fears eighteen. He has comment at twelve.
Speaker 6 (24:43):
And I've seen mock drafts that have Jeremiah Fears in
the top five.
Speaker 9 (24:48):
I've seen draft reports that have him in the top
five it's really wow going to be settled on. You know,
what does a team really need from both of the
these guys and what are they expecting from both of
these guys and having a.
Speaker 6 (25:05):
Plan in place.
Speaker 9 (25:05):
And I think that that's kind of the keys is
a lot of these guys, you need to have a
plan in place to make sure that everything is going
going to go in the right direction.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Yeah, you know, Andrew, I think that was one of
the challenges for me of how do I figure out
you know, we decided on a number of twelve guys
that we were going to talk about because we have
six podcasts and we're talking about two players per episode.
So I just decided to use the default of the
NBA dot Com consensus mock draft because I feel like
that's at least some way that we can kind of
look at a bunch of different draft sites, average that
(25:40):
together and say, here's some of the guys that are
going to be or at least projected to be near
the top of the draft or at least in the
lottery park. Because to your point too, I mean, I've
seen Ace Bailey, a guy that we are previously talked
about as three in a bunch of mock drafts. But
then there's other people that have him maybe in the double.
Speaker 8 (25:59):
Figures like it or so.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
So I mean there are there's definitely some I mean
Will Gillery used the word polarizing. There's definitely some guys
that there's a pretty wide range of opinions on some
of these players. I think one of the things that's
I guess we can start with Jeremiah Fears in this
episode today with you is I think this is also
the case with Malo Watch as well, that these are
actually two players that we're seeing their names pop up
(26:23):
a lot in terms of going to the Pelicans at seven.
So on the on the most recent NBA dot Com
consensus mock draft, which could change by the time that
we we post this, but could change at any moment,
Fears is actually number seven to the Pelicans. So I guest,
you know, starting with him, I mean, what are some
(26:43):
of the reasons why this is a guy who has
kind of zoomed all the way to the up the
draft board. I mean, there's people that have him going
even before seven, so it's not like he's definitely gonna
be even available at that pick. But I mean, as
a as a novice college basketball fan or a super
casual fan. He's not somebody that I necessarily knew much about.
(27:03):
But going back a year, but I mean, what do
you think are some of the reasons why teams across
the league are looking closely at him?
Speaker 6 (27:11):
Yeah, So, like Cooper Flag and I don't.
Speaker 9 (27:14):
And obviously we talk a lot about the fact that
Cooper Flag reclassified, right, Like Cooper Flag reclassified and was you.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
Know, playing a year up and should be heading into
Collins this year.
Speaker 9 (27:28):
Jeremiah Fears is the same way. He is eighteen years
old and much much like he'll turn he'll turn nineteen,
I think just before the season started. He'll turn nineteen,
like in training camp or in like he'll play preseason
games at eighteen years old.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
But he still possesses elite tools.
Speaker 9 (27:52):
His draft age is obviously a big key. One thing
he can do is he's going to score and he
can play made.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
Uh So let's start there.
Speaker 9 (28:01):
We'll start with the with the good, uh for Jeremiah Fears,
those two things I think definitely stand out. You look
at how he was scoring, I think towards the end
of the year, and you saw a lot about you know,
his ability.
Speaker 6 (28:19):
One also to get to the free throw line. He
averaged almost six and a half free throw as a game.
He had seven games.
Speaker 9 (28:28):
This season where he got to the line at least
ten times, which for a guy who is six three,
one eighty, it's that's fairly impressive. That's not something that
you would necessarily think that he was going to be
able to do. Also, as the season went on, you
saw him start to kind of pick up his production. Yes,
(28:50):
had a couple of down games in the SEC, had
won against I think A and M well he didn't
score at all. Another against Georgia what he scored two.
But everything else, he had a really good conference tournament.
He had a really good game against Yukon and trying
to get to where he wanted to go in the
NCAA tournament in their long game in there. But overall,
(29:11):
a very good player who can get to a lot
of things. Another guy that I follow it's hard for us,
and I know we're going to talk comps in a
Second's a guy I follow on in draft Twitter, which
is its own animal now is the university.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
Yeah, it's at draft casual.
Speaker 9 (29:31):
And what he does with these guys is he takes
them and he looks purely at the numbers in terms
of their measurements and their production in college and tries
to protect them that way, And so I think that's
kind of a.
Speaker 6 (29:44):
Good way to look at it.
Speaker 9 (29:44):
And you see how he rates the score, how he
raises a playmaker, how he raises the slash, or how
he raises free throw.
Speaker 6 (29:51):
Rate, and then you see some of the other things.
Speaker 9 (29:54):
You know, you don't like necessarily the fact that he
was shooting twenty eight percent from three, but when you
look at some of the threes that he was shooting,
I think he was trying to do a little bit
too much in that system, and I think if you
can get him into a system where he's more controlled,
(30:14):
you should see that go up by evidence of the
fact that you know, he did shoot eighty five percent
from the line, and that is usually more of an
indicator of how you can shoot at the next level.
Speaker 6 (30:23):
Sure.
Speaker 8 (30:23):
Yeah, by the way, his just looked it up.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
His birthday is October fourteenth, So, like you said, he's
going to be turning nineteen about a week I think
exactly a week before the regular season starts next season.
You know, you mentioned the amount of times that he's
able to get to the free throw line. I think
when you watch video of him, one of the things
that immediately stands out is how quick he is and
just his athleticism. Yes, so we're talking about a guy
(30:46):
that gets to the free throw line not by you know,
baiting defenders, not by getting guys off balance and you know,
looking for a whistle. It's more just a guy that
can just get into the paint at will. And I
think he probably puts defenses in a position a lot
of times where it's like he's going to score a
layup or a dunk if you don't follow him. So
I think that's kind of the more the prototype player
(31:07):
that we're talking about. Before we get into the comparisons
you mentioned it, it does seem like the shooting part
of it, the perimeter shooting part of it, is the
thing that people wonder about the most. But basically what
you're saying is that, I mean, on an Oklahoma team
that wasn't loaded with talent, was he had to create
a ton So now when you translate this to the NBA,
(31:29):
there's no way he's going to go to a team
where they're going to say we need to score twenty
points a game. So Basically you're saying, like, you put
him in a role that is more fitting to what
his strengths are, and then maybe he gets more spot
up shots he doesn't have to do so much where
he's taking pull ups and taking contested threes, that kind
of thing, right.
Speaker 9 (31:48):
I think it's kind of the same thing that when
you looked at Dylan Harper, when you looked at East Bailey,
there was just different things that they were going to
be asked to do for that Ruckers team that.
Speaker 6 (31:56):
Didn't have as much talent than what Fears did. I think,
which you do with.
Speaker 10 (32:01):
Fears looking at you know, a kid again who is
not supposed to be in this class.
Speaker 6 (32:07):
Uh, you know, it's supposed to be going to school
right now.
Speaker 9 (32:12):
You look at that and you see, yeah, that's that's
really good and he has some.
Speaker 6 (32:15):
Skills that play right away.
Speaker 9 (32:18):
His ability to get by defenders is one of the
things that makes him at you know, six three sixty
four in in you know, in hues, because that's how
you play basketball. One of the things that makes him
so good is his first step. And when you can
get by guys the way you do and the way
he does, that's.
Speaker 6 (32:38):
What helps you get into the lane. That is what
helps you get all those free throws.
Speaker 9 (32:43):
And it's you know, I think as we have seen,
I think unfortunately this has been a huge part of
discourse because of who the MVP is right now. But
drawing files is a skill, sure, and how and then
to your point.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
Of how you do that is is key. So uh,
I would still like to see him obviously a lot
of areas for improve it.
Speaker 9 (33:12):
But again I think once you fit, even once you
get to once you're or once you by Cohn, and
once you're by VJ, and once you even in that
four or five six range, these guys need fits and
and and strong situations.
Speaker 6 (33:27):
Yeah, to kind of make sure that they can they
can take the assent. And that's that's.
Speaker 9 (33:30):
Probably a you know, for for most draft picks in
most years.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Sure, you mentioned Fear's first step, and I think as
I go into the pro comparisons, I think a lot
of these players, whether they're former players or current players,
a very rapid first step fits the description for pretty
much all of these guys. But some of the names
that came up for Jeremiah Fears are Jeff Tigue, who
(33:55):
I think a lot of people now know as a podcaster,
but he was a very good UH point guard in
the NBA for a long time. Monte Ellis, Reggie Jackson,
John Wall, Jamal Murray, and Jordan Poole. Who are some
of the comparisons that you like among that group.
Speaker 9 (34:11):
Yeah, I like the Monte Ellis one, and I think
that was one that made sense from a numbers perspective,
and you look at against some.
Speaker 6 (34:19):
Of these other things that he does.
Speaker 9 (34:22):
You look at his when again when you go back
to production in college, he does compare Favolo to somebody
like Daron Fox. And I think one of the things
that we look at when we see Aaron Fox, as
we think at of him as one of the fastest
guys in the NBA, I think Jeremy Fears is probably
one of the faster players in this class. You think
(34:43):
of an inconsistent three point shot, I think we've seen
that as well. You know, you're you're hoping you could
see the mechanics, you could see it there. You probably
just need to get somebody.
Speaker 6 (34:56):
To do that. I think one of the things if
you look at it aware, is he getting his change?
And I think that's gonna kind of be key for him.
Is you know he would see he took.
Speaker 9 (35:07):
A lot of pull ups at Oklahoma. In fact, he
took uh seventy one pull up threes. He made fifteen
of those.
Speaker 6 (35:15):
You eliminate that drags automatically that way down. Yeah, and
I think that's going to be a big key where
he's able to kind of get that up.
Speaker 9 (35:28):
And again it's it's it's who's in the right fear
or who who's in the right mind to kind of.
Speaker 6 (35:34):
Look at these guys and you see like a lot
of these guys and how they're able to go. And
you know, I do think that he is somebody who,
in the right situations, uh could could potentially be the
eleague guard.
Speaker 9 (35:47):
Maybe he's not a guy who is gonna, you know,
if he was going to, you know, playing major minutes
on the playoff team right away, but if you're trying
to have somebody who you think can turn to the
league guard sooner rather than later, he's a guy who
kind of fits that mold.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Do we have any good Pelicans comparisons players that have
played here over the last twenty three years that are
similar to Jeremiah Fears.
Speaker 9 (36:14):
It's when I say this, I want to I want
to kind of you know, make sure people realize what
I'm saying. It's what Kiro was supposed to be when
he got here before the knee injury, or what we
what we saw Kira turning into before he Torri the CEO.
(36:34):
Remember that, Yes, there was that that few weeks stretch
right before he had kind of gotten his spot back
in the rotation. He was again Ira, Is that one
of these same guys?
Speaker 6 (36:45):
Kira was a.
Speaker 9 (36:47):
Reclassify early guy who had a very very fast first step.
Speaker 6 (36:51):
Who you know you wanted to see more from the
three point shot.
Speaker 9 (36:57):
I think he's probably the closest on the pills side,
but I think Fears obviously has a lot more tools
when it comes to being able to get to the
free throw line and things like that.
Speaker 6 (37:08):
But in terms of speed, I don't think we've seen
somebody like that since.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Kyder shifting to Kaman Malowatch now. I think one of
the things that stood out from the draft combine when
they did measurements was there a few players that kind
of measured below what people expected, but this guy was
not one of them. I mean, what are some of
the things that make him attractive potentially as a lottery
(37:35):
pick or somebody that could go pretty early in this draft.
Speaker 9 (37:39):
Seven two fifty and again another eighteen year old kit.
Speaker 6 (37:46):
He's going to turn nineteen in September. And I think
one of the more.
Speaker 10 (37:51):
Impressive things about him is the fact that at what
he's seventeen years old and he was in the participating
in the Summer Olympics.
Speaker 6 (38:08):
You know, he was a part of that South Sudan
team that made that run.
Speaker 9 (38:13):
Well obviously what he was getting huge minutes on that team,
but the fact that he was even able.
Speaker 6 (38:17):
To I'm sorry.
Speaker 9 (38:18):
Yeah, he made the World Cup roster at twenty in
twenty twenty three as a sixteen year old, and also
made the team for the Paris Olympics. So he was
you know, all these guys last summer are getting ready
for college and what's going to come and this kid's
playing in the Olympics. Yeah, before going to Duke, so
(38:40):
just an absolute stud and it's still kind of learning
the game. He went to the NBA Academy in Africa.
I remember seeing some early videos.
Speaker 6 (38:48):
Of him trying to learn and trying how he was
going to do this.
Speaker 11 (38:52):
So I think one of the things is he has
a lot of the raw tools you mentioned the measurements,
he's almost seven to one without shoes, nearly seven seven
wings fan nine.
Speaker 6 (39:06):
To six standing reach.
Speaker 9 (39:09):
Like those are and I know we're going to get
into the comps in a second, but those are like
Rudy Todd, Ban Klingen, Mark Williams. Those are those types
of measurements, and there's not many people in NBA who
have measured better than he has.
Speaker 3 (39:25):
Is the in terms of some of the questions or
things that he's going to have to work on. I mean,
is it, to make a long story short, is his
offensive game really more about just trying to expand beyond
the paint and kind of layups, dunks, finishes.
Speaker 8 (39:39):
I mean the video I see of him, he's.
Speaker 3 (39:41):
An incredible lob threat and a guy that can score
around the hoop, But it might be the kind of
thing where you know, you can't always live off of
that diet in the NBA when you're playing against better players.
Speaker 6 (39:53):
Yeah, no, he's got to get a shot. And I
think one of the things is he he started to
work on that shot.
Speaker 9 (39:59):
I think he made some made at least a three
mans a tournament, started to show some some ways there.
Speaker 6 (40:07):
Obviously, I think you want to see his hand get
a little bit better. You know, he's he's not a
guy like once. Once it gets to him on the
offensive end, it's it's gonna stay there.
Speaker 9 (40:17):
Uh, you know, it's it's where can he continue to improve?
And I think we can continue to see you see
that shot and improvement. And again, you look at somebody
like this, you look at their three thrower percentage first
to kind of get this idea of, you know, will
they be or can they be a shooter at the
(40:41):
next level? And I think he is one of those
guys that can. He shot seventy six percent from the line.
He's a guy who, you know, despite a limit, he
had a very small diet of three pointers, didn't make
way and they want to get.
Speaker 6 (40:55):
Some Monte Mary's and Duke's first first game in the tournament.
Speaker 9 (41:00):
But you would again like to see him expand a
little bit to have that part of his game because
you know that is.
Speaker 6 (41:08):
Going to be essential for him at the next level.
Speaker 9 (41:10):
That that's going to take him from being you know,
and that's why so many teams are high on him
because they see that as his offensive potential that's going
to take him from being you know, a Rudy Gobert
ceiling to somebody who we haven't seen before or anything
like that.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yeah, you know, you mentioned the shot in him working
on it and something that he's going to have to
continue to do to expand what he can do offensively.
As we get into some of the pro comparisons, I mean,
I think you'll see from the list of a handful
of guys here that really only one or two of
these guys have that kind of game where they can
shoot threes so they can score from beyond the paint.
(41:48):
But the five guys that I had down here are
Mark Williams, another duke guy, Brook Lopez, that's I guess
one of the guys on this list that can shoot threes,
but it wasn't part of his game early in his career,
Perl Vita Zubots, and then kalel Ware. Of those guys,
which comparison you like the most.
Speaker 6 (42:06):
I think I like the Mark Williams one. I think
that one is the kind of the one that makes
most sense. I think when you look at how he
is to some of these other guys.
Speaker 9 (42:14):
I mean, obviously you're gonna draw some natural things to
Rudy because of a side you're gonna draw some things
to clinging because of his size.
Speaker 6 (42:21):
Both of those guys especially like almost size where they're
they're they're almost exact matches.
Speaker 9 (42:29):
In terms of size, and I think common he's a
little a little faster uh than both of those guys
have tested a little faster despite being two fifty. So
you like what you what you see from him from
that U. The problem is if he can't get that
shot going, where where does that change in that?
Speaker 6 (42:48):
Does that drop him.
Speaker 9 (42:50):
More to uh the you know the Mitches, Mitch Robinson,
the click compared was the Nick Claxton's or you know,
can he be a little bit more? And I think
having to be able to pass out, I mean when
you only had twenty assists in overseas and he has
(43:12):
to be better there, has to be able to make
that play because that's a guy I got to run
a guy at him's going to run the ball over
and I can know I can move out of that.
But he's got great fee, he's got extreme length and
if you get it again, you get him in a
situation where he can develop.
Speaker 6 (43:28):
It's it's one of those guys who you.
Speaker 9 (43:31):
Know, for some teams they see him as again a
guy who could be you know, he's going to go
in probably the six to ten range, six to nine
probably what could end up being the you know, second
or third best player when it's all said and done,
you know, the way some people think about what his
skills can do.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
Lastly, for me on Malawatch, what about Pelicans comparisons anybody
that he's reminiscent of.
Speaker 9 (43:57):
I mean, it's it's hard not to look at Yeah
and kind of follow their same path because of what
they're able to one and what they're going to be
able to do in the defensive vend as soon as
he steps in the court, to the amount of basketball
he has played in his life right before this, and
the you know, the willingness I think to get better
(44:18):
than we've seen that.
Speaker 6 (44:19):
We saw that up close with Eve throughout the year.
You guys have seen it, probably a little more seeing
him be in there throughout the summer.
Speaker 9 (44:28):
So he has to kind of be I think a
little bit of a better, better, bigger force on the
on the on the rebounding an like.
Speaker 6 (44:35):
It's almost like what we saw from Derek Wively when
he was that dude.
Speaker 9 (44:38):
His the rebounding numbers are a little similar, but I
think watching him kind of do that is he's probably
that's That's probably the easiest Hell's comp that I think we'll.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
See Jeremiah Fears come in Malu. Watch little breakdown from
Andrew Lopez, Television solid reporter for your New Orleans Peal
Plicans get back to watching hours and hours and hours
and hours of film for us.
Speaker 4 (45:03):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (45:03):
Thank you, Andrew, well do sir.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Sounds good as always, and we'll continue as we get
you closer for of course, June twenty fifth and twenty six,
Wednesday and Thursday, rounds one and two of the NBA Draft.
As always, Andrew appreciates it, Mister Jimikinoff appreciates it, and
I do as well.
Speaker 4 (45:18):
Thank you for listening to the New.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
Orleans Pelicans Podcast, presented by New Age Products, official garage
and outdoor kitchen provider.
Speaker 4 (45:25):
Of the New Orleans Pelicans. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast. Join
us three times per week on Pelicans dot com, the
Pelicans mobile app, the iHeartRadio app, or where you get
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(45:49):
and Gcat Underscore seventeen. We'll see you next time, right
here on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast.
Speaker 9 (46:00):
Just
Welcome in to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast, the official
podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans, a podcast dedicated to
everything you need to know about the squad. Here from players, coaches, broadcasters,
and those who cover the NBA on a daily basis.
It's time to flock up. The New Orleans Pelicans Podcast
(00:29):
starts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hello everybody, Welcome to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast. Official
podcasts of your New Orleans Pelicans, presented by New Age Products,
official garage and outdoor kitchen provider of the New Orleans Pelicans.
We're getting closer to the NBA Draft. We've taken a
look at Dallas and San Antonio's. We will take a
look at the Philadelphia seventy six ers, and Jim can
offer us to what they may do in the NBA
(00:55):
draft this year. Overall thoughts on Phili before we get
to Adam Aronson, who covers the seventy six ers for us.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
What an odd draft lottery it was this year that
the three top teams picking, including the MAVs, Spurs and
seventy six Ers, are not in the mode of, you know,
someday we think we're going to be good. They're all
in immediate we want to win now modes. So I
think that's where the Sixers are. That makes that unusual
that they're picking third, But they're also not that far
removed from being a team that won fifty plus games
(01:22):
and was really what we would I think you would
call a contender in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
Yeah, well, I'll tell you.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Let's see what their new process maybe going into it.
But we'll talk to him, and also we'll hear from
Andrew Lopez as we break down our continuing prospects.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
The two players he's going to talk about.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
Jim, they are Jeremiah Fears and come on malwatch.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
All right, well, we will see what he has to
say about that. But first, up to Philly we go
to get a little low down on what the seventy
six ers may be doing. All right, as we continue
to preview and get everybody ready, mister Jim, I can
offer for the NBA Draft, which is coming up here
at the end of the month. We got to take
a look at what the other teams may be doing.
So up to Philly we go. Adam Aaronson, who covers
(02:04):
the seventy six Ers, joins us, sir, how are.
Speaker 5 (02:06):
You doing doing well, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Guys doing well. How many times do people ask you
about the process? I almost feel like it's synonymous now
with the seventy six.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Ers, right, But that process has been a process.
Speaker 6 (02:17):
Has it been?
Speaker 5 (02:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (02:20):
For I think for as long as Joel Embiid is here,
it's something that we'll hear about quite often around these parts,
and even maybe when he's gone, well we'll still hear
about it too, just because you know, the whole trajectory
of the franchise still is unquestionably tied to that period.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
And I want to want to start here in terms
of it's interesting. I feel like the Pelicans, the team
that we cover obviously in the Sixers, that you cover
in ways that we really didn't want to see at all,
had very similar seasons last year where I mean we're
talking rampant injuries. We're talking two teams that went into
the season at least coming off of playoff appearance and
(02:59):
had pretty high expectations and then the whole thing just
goes sideways with major injuries, tons of guys being sidelined,
you know, all the way across the board. And one
of the things I noticed when I look through this
Philadelphia stats is just like the Pelicans, the Sixers only
had two guys that played sixty five games or more
over the course of the whole season, So you only
(03:21):
had two players that if they were in the running
for NBA awards, would have even been eligible for that.
Speaker 8 (03:26):
So, I mean, I feel like.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
How much of that was just the entire story of
the Sixers. I feel like we need to have these
fan bases, need to have needed like a support group,
like a therapy session based on what we experienced over
the eighty two games.
Speaker 7 (03:41):
Yeah, you're exactly right, And I mean both situations, teams
that built good rosters that I think a lot of
people expected to be, you know, contending for a playoff
spot or maybe greater, and then things just never really
got off the ground because the injuries were just completely unrelenting.
I think the Sixers ended up using thirty players over
(04:01):
the course of the season, which is almost unfathomable to me.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
Yeah, I mean it.
Speaker 7 (04:08):
And even you mentioned, you know, the two players that
did play sixty five games. I believe those were gershon
Yabusele and Ricky Council before and you know, Yabusele was
the last guy they signed to their roster on a
minimum contract in August. Ricky Council was an undrafted player
in his first full season in the NBA. Just the
(04:29):
sheer dollars that were being spent on players that were
not playing so consistently was really unlike anything I've seen before.
And yet it's not I certainly agree that Sixers fans
and Pelicans fans probably could work in the same support
group and both benefit from that because it's really, again
(04:52):
just a situation where where neither situation could even get going.
Speaker 5 (04:55):
You couldn't even really see the potential that you imagined.
Speaker 7 (05:00):
It's not like it started out well and then things
went off the rails so quickly.
Speaker 5 (05:04):
It just never got started.
Speaker 7 (05:06):
Yeah, and so you know, both teams at least have clear,
you know, a nucleus of talent that they can build
on moving into next year. There's no question the Sixers
and the Pelicans both have a lot of talented players,
and you know, they got to stay healthy at least
more than they did last.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Year, for sure.
Speaker 8 (05:24):
Yeah, this is something I was talking about with Gus recently.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
It feels like never, It feels in some ways like
last season never started. That it never Actually it feels
like I'm excited to go back to begin next season,
to start back at zero and zero at the beginning
of the year, because I mean, the Pelicans were I
can't remember, it was like four and fourteen, and when
you're at that point, you know, especially in the West,
that things are looking very bleak and it's going to be.
Speaker 8 (05:46):
Tough to come back from that.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
You mentioned that the two players specifically for the Sixers
the Pelicans were pretty similar in that they're two players
that played sixty five games or more. Were Eve mecI,
who was a rookie who is the twenty first pick
in the draft, not you know, one of the top
first guys picked. And then Jeremiah Robinson Earl, who was
really a role player. So that's another interesting comparison. You know,
while these two teams had very similar seasons, Unfortunately from
(06:11):
our end, the lottery was not similar to what happened
with the Sixers, and the Sixers ended up jumping up
to third. Can you describe what the reaction was from
the fan base and people in general with the outcome
that happened in May with the lottery.
Speaker 7 (06:26):
A whole lot of relief because the would not have
kept their pick if it had fallen outside the top six.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
It would have gone to Oklahoma City.
Speaker 7 (06:34):
They had a sixty four percent chance of keeping it,
which is not a you know, it's almost a two
out of three chance, but that means a one to
three chance you lose the pick, and I think people
here were sort of of the mindset of, well, if
this season has gone this disastrously, surely this pick is
going to fall to seven and it's going to be
ast It could be without us getting it. Luckily, for
(06:55):
the Sixers, that was not the case. They jumped up
to three, and they had to jump into three or
four once once the first two picks went to Dallas
and San Antonio. Yeah, so they caught a break that
unfortunately the Pelicans did not. But they still have their
work cut out for them in terms of not just
making this pick, but getting guys like Joel Embiid and
Paul George healthy and building a roster surrounding them that
(07:19):
elevates the whole group and gets them back to the
championship contention status that that they want to be in.
Speaker 8 (07:25):
Were you or people around you.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Confused when on the ESPN broadcast they said Philadelphia loses
their pick and then they actually had to correct it.
Speaker 8 (07:34):
Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Minute later they they realized that they had I mean,
it was really confusing in their defense, but I mean,
was that something that was made you guys kind of
scramble of like, what is going on right now?
Speaker 5 (07:46):
So it's a great question.
Speaker 7 (07:47):
So I unfortunate, for better or worse, I'll say, I
feel like i'm I'm I have a pretty good handle
on how the lottery works, and so I understood what
was going on. And I had written a story that
morning that was based a guide for sixers fans to
watch the lottery.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
Here's what you should look for.
Speaker 7 (08:03):
And one of the things I mentioned was if two
teams jump them, they could also jump themselves. So it's
not over until you actually see a card with an
Oklahoma City logo. And and luckily, I think I was
able to prevent a few heart attacks.
Speaker 5 (08:17):
In the Pladelphia.
Speaker 7 (08:20):
There was there was a lot of confusion, and and yes,
as you said, to be fair to to ESPN, it's
a massively confusing system. And I'm sure of all the
scenarios they could have prepared for, uh Dallas and San Antonio,
jumping was probably not near the top of their list.
Speaker 5 (08:39):
But yeah, that was.
Speaker 7 (08:40):
There was quite a few minutes there, and then even
crazier was the you know three minute commercial break where
they get to.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
Jump to one. Now, yeah, it's gonna happen here. Yeah,
it's a It was. It was quite a moment.
Speaker 6 (08:54):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (08:54):
And fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it,
Sixers fans have enough experience watching the draft lottery sure
in the last ten years to have a decent handle
of how things go.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Yep, you mentioned the feeling of relief for the Sixers
to know that they're going to keep their pick. Now
that we kind of fast forward to June twenty fifth,
when the draft first round is going to take place,
how do you look at it right now in terms
of I mean, is it more likely that they keep
their pick? It is our trades on the table. How
(09:27):
do you see kind of the perspective. It feels like
every team in the NBA, maybe if they picked, they
ended up one or two in the lottery, you pretty
much know what they're gonna do. But three seems to
be the pivot point. So how do you look at
that in terms of what they might do?
Speaker 5 (09:42):
Yeah, I mean, you're exactly right. Three is the pivot point.
Speaker 7 (09:45):
Of this draft, which is what makes it so interesting
on my end to try to figure out what they're
going to do, because really every option is available to them.
I think it's always smart to guess that the team
will keep their pick and stick there because it's just
hard to make trades. But I would definitely not rule
out the idea of them moving down the board if
there's a team, whether that's you know, the Pelicans at seven,
(10:06):
or Brooklyn behind them, or Washington in front of them,
or Utah, whoever it is. If someone you know believes
that one of these prospects that's going to be available
at number three has you know, star better upside and
the Sixers don't see that player, maybe there's a deal
to be made. Maybe the Sixers can pick up an
additional asset or two, add some more depth, still come
(10:28):
away with a premium young talent. I think that's something
they'd be interested in if the if the right offer
is there. But generally I think, you know, it's sort
of an odd spot on the board for them because
their two best sort of long term cornerstones right now
are both guards and Tyres Maxie and Jared McCain, and
this is sort of a region of the draft where
there are a lot of perimeter oriented guys in that mold.
(10:50):
When you talk about, you know, Trey Johnson from Texas
vj Edgecomb from Baylor, my opinion is that they should
take whoever they think the best player available is and
figure out how it fits together later. I don't think
that their position is necessarily good enough that they can,
you know, worry about fit when you're picking as high
as three. You know they have the thirty fifth pick
in the second round. If they want to focus on
(11:12):
fit there, fine, But I think the third pick is
too significant of a resource when you're talking about a
player that could be the face of your franchise.
Speaker 5 (11:20):
In five years from now and even ten years from now.
Speaker 7 (11:24):
So I think whoever they they view as the best
player available will be the pick. Interestingly, Daryl Morey, we have,
you know, two decades of sample sides of him running
NBA teams and almost none of him making draft picks
this high.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
It's just not something he's done before.
Speaker 7 (11:41):
He said openly before the lottery, after the lottery that
his plan is to take the best player available in
the first first round if they have their pick, and
now knowing that they're at three, and I think that's
what they'll do. There's a chance it, you know, insights
awkward discussions about is their trade that has to happen
down the line to make all of the pieces fit together.
(12:02):
But I think Morey's standpoint here is taking the best
player available, taking the guy with the best chance of
being a star in five years from now, ten years
from now.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Last thing for me, just on the outlook of the
Sixers overall. I'm not sure if you had listened to this. Recently,
there's been a discussion about next season's Eastern Conference because
obviously with Jason Tatum's gonna miss a chunk or maybe
the whole season, it's kind of seems wide open. And
I heard Zach Lowe, Bill Simmons, maybe a couple other
(12:31):
people kind of list, Okay, how do you rank the
East in terms of short term or maybe medium term
over the next three to five years, And it seems
like the opinion on the Sixers is kind of I
think Zach low maybe had them twelve, which to me
is stunning because it just seems like the Sixers you
still view them as a contender despite the fact that
they had the season that they had. But I guess
(12:51):
my question is, I mean, do people in Philadelphia, the
fan base, do you see it just as it's all
about like still trying to be a contender next season,
it's just so much more about the short term of
going back to you know, the fifty win team that
they've been pretty consistently in recent years.
Speaker 9 (13:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (13:11):
I mean, I think there's an overwhelming sentiment here of
frustration that the team has obviously had a lot of
talent for many years now We're talking seven eight years
of clearly they have you know, they've had championship level
talent or borderline but they just I mean, you know,
the infamous conference finals streak that has become a major
(13:34):
taling point here.
Speaker 5 (13:35):
They haven't been to the conference finals in almost twenty.
Speaker 7 (13:37):
Five years, and a lot of people view that now
now as you know, a milestone in and of itself.
And my question is what happens if you get there
and then you get swept in the conference finals?
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Does that make it worth it? But that's a different discussion.
Speaker 7 (13:51):
But there's definitely a sense of frustration with just how
long this has been now and Joel and b ongoing
injury issues and the fact that a lot of people
believe that they're not going to be able to rely
on him moving forward, which is why, like you said,
you know, Zack and Bill and others are sort of
(14:11):
souring on the future of the team. Is because they're
paying himbid two hundred and forty eight million over the
next four years and Paul George, I think one hundred
and sixty one over the next three and they need
those players to be consistently available and you know, play
at the level that the Sixers are.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Paying them to play at.
Speaker 7 (14:31):
So a long winded way of answering your original question
is I just think that there's a lot of frustration
that's been built over the years here, and a lot
of people have just decided that they're inherently skeptical of
everything that the Sixers do. And you know, if things
start to go well and start to click, then I'm
sure they'll all be back and excited. But for now,
(14:53):
there is a little bit of I don't think apathy
is the right word. I think that might have been
what happened if they lost their pick, But I think
the pick has given some renewed optimism, but just a
sense of dread of you know, what's going to be
the next thing that goes wrong that sends the franchise
into a tailspin. And you know, if there's one way
(15:14):
to get out of it, it's to draft a you know,
franchise cornerstone star on the top three of the drafts.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Speak with Adam Aronson at Sixers Adams The Way to Go,
a follow over on xt he covers the seventy six
ers for the Philly Voice. I think what's interesting is
listening to you just now, Adam. You know, Joe Jumars,
who took over here for the Pelicans, recently said the
draft is a public and private way to let everyone know,
from the fans to obviously elsewhere in the NBA what
(15:41):
you would tend to be, like what who you are,
what's your focus, and what's your name?
Speaker 6 (15:45):
Sort of.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
It's interesting because I hear you talk about specifically with
Paul George and also with Joel and b the money
and the contracts are still there, so the Sixers are
still based around them.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
I mean that's yeah, yes, how you look at.
Speaker 7 (16:03):
It, Yeah, Frankly, I'm just operating under that assumption until
there's much reason to expect another team to be interested
in training for either one because right now, I just
don't think it would be like responsible, particularly with EMBIID,
who has such significant health concerns that are also somewhat
(16:24):
mysterious to especially you know now with the second apron
and all of these extremely restrictive salary cap things that
go on. I expect those two to be here for
you know, next year and probably the foreseeable future, particularly EMBIID.
And you know, there are worse positions to be in
than have a nine time All Star in George and
(16:45):
an MVP who might have won his second MVP in
a row if he hadn't gotten hurt two years ago
in EMBIID. But the fact of the matter is George
is you know, he just turned thirty five. He's not
getting any younger. He looked less explosive. EMBID is now
on the wrong side of thirty two. It's not a
perfect situation. It is one that they can look themselves
(17:06):
in the mirror and say, if everything breaks right, we
can be right back in the thick of it, contending
for the championship. And that is true like that they
have the talent to do that. If Embde is playing,
he has the ability to lead a team.
Speaker 5 (17:19):
To those heights.
Speaker 7 (17:20):
If Paul George is healthy and playing, he has the
ability to be a key cornerstone of that team.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
They've both done.
Speaker 7 (17:25):
That before, but a lot of people would rightfully say
there's not much evidence that things are going to break
right for them.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yeah, and I guess that'dam of the reason I asked
you that, in Jim was because something you said earlier about, hey,
maybe drafting somebody in three to five years could be
the cornerstone or somebody that this franchise builds around, because
as you said, you take contract, you take age, you
take that third picks, the ability to be able to
get somebody that maybe you know isn't expected to be
the franchise face now but three to five years could be.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
So it is interesting to kind.
Speaker 6 (17:56):
Of look at it like that for sure. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
And by the way, I mentioned at the beginning the
support group for Pelicans and Sixers fan bases. I think
Paul George needs a support group for the next week
or so.
Speaker 8 (18:07):
With the NBA Finals.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Going on right now, he's the target of everyone's criticism
and I are with these two teams that are playing
in the finals.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
Yeah, I think if you if you try to draw
up a nightmare season for Paul George. It would involve
everything that happened with the Sixers this year and then
a thunder Pacers finals, and.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
All of that came to fruition. I almost feel for
to a degree.
Speaker 7 (18:30):
I was asked on the radio here a few nights
ago if I thought that he was gonna if he
was going to attend the finals the games, and I said,
I don't know if he would, but if he does,
whichever crowded is should give him a standing ovation.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
I was gonna say front, you know, front, court side seats.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
I guess you know.
Speaker 5 (18:47):
He supports, supports both teams.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
My advice for him would be to go to some
tropical beach somewhere, get off your phone, don't get the internet,
and just count the money that's coming in.
Speaker 8 (18:57):
That's that's the way I would cope with the NBA FI.
Speaker 5 (19:00):
Yeah, that's that's how we spent his All Star break.
Speaker 7 (19:03):
And there were some people in Philadelphia who weren't entirely
pleased with the Instagram pictures from from whatever luxurious resort
to that.
Speaker 8 (19:13):
Okay, so maybe scrap that advice.
Speaker 7 (19:16):
If he doesn't post it, if he doesn't post it,
the ideal. Yeah, but you know, it's a big off
season ahead for him. He's got to get healthy. He's
got to look more like the guy that that they
thought they were getting that can If he is, that guy,
can lift a team like this, you know, can be
a significant piece of a contender. But he's got to
(19:39):
prove it. And he's now back to podcasting just like us.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Well, now look at it like this, man, if we
wrap up with you, I don't know if it's a plan,
but it's what we got right now, right with this
fan bases, with both the pels of seventy six ers.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
It's called hope.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And one of the things that we've touched on is
what's crazy is with all the big moves, all the
big trades, all the different things that the NBA has
done with their salary cap structure, this is gonna be
the seventh straight different, you know, NBA champion in seven years.
Speaker 4 (20:06):
So hope is.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
The Sixers or bells at one point, right, I mean
that's how you look at it.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
Yeah, it's I do really enjoy the just it feels
like this.
Speaker 7 (20:18):
These were the least predictable playoffs that I can remember,
at least at least for quite a while. When you
look at a team like Indiana making a run that
they made and having at least one of the most
absurd wins you've ever seen in every series. I think
Oklahoma City everyone expected to be here, but still I
think everyone has a lot of respect for the way
(20:40):
they built this incredible team and are set up to
sustain it.
Speaker 5 (20:45):
Yeah, it's it's been really fun.
Speaker 7 (20:47):
And I think, like you were just mentioning, particularly in
the East, with you know, the Boston's probably going to
be in somewhat of a gap.
Speaker 5 (20:54):
Year, Cleveland should be very good again.
Speaker 7 (20:57):
Obviously Indiana should be very good again, even the nixt
But it does feel, particularly in the East wide open.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
Now.
Speaker 7 (21:05):
I think the Pelicans have a fair right to ask why.
Speaker 5 (21:10):
Aren't they in the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
I'm with you, I am with you as im sure.
Speaker 7 (21:14):
I'm sure you guys at any many times when looking
at the standings.
Speaker 8 (21:18):
No doubt.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
Yeah, I mean, and the Sixers were in the play
in race for about six weeks longer than they should
have been because the Chicago Bulls also were not winning
any games, and somebody had to be the ten seed,
and it was it was kind of comical to look
at the conference's standings back to back. But yeah, I
mean you just spoke to it.
Speaker 7 (21:40):
There's it feels like there's less predictability than ever in
the NBA right now in terms of which teams from
year to year are going to be really good.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
You know, I want to point out one quick positive.
Let's let's end this on a positive note. For Sixers fans.
Speaker 8 (21:53):
There was a.
Speaker 3 (21:53):
Recent excellent development besides what happened in the lottery, and
that was the New York Knicks did not make the
NBA Finals. So thank you to the Pacers from the
Sixers fan base, I'm sure that made people happy that
they didn't have to watch the Knicks in June basketball.
Speaker 7 (22:08):
Not just that, but old friend TJ McConnell in the
NBA Finals.
Speaker 8 (22:12):
Okay, there you go.
Speaker 7 (22:14):
There, I promise you there are Sixers fans that if
TJ McConnell wins the finals, they will celebrate it like
it was the Sixers. TJ McConnell is one of the
most beloved Sixers of the last ten years and right so,
he has an incredible story and worked really hard to
get to where he's at and for him to now
be a ten year NBA veteran who was the six
(22:37):
string point guard entering training camp and then made the
roster of a team that went ten and seventy two
is really remarkable. So yeah, Sixers fans, I think have
have enjoyed this Pacers run, even though maybe there's some
regret that the team didn't trade for Tyrese Haliburton.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
Which they're not the only ones.
Speaker 7 (22:58):
So yeah, it's been a fun playoffs and I think
Sixers fans will definitely be firmly in the corner of Indiana.
Speaker 4 (23:07):
Adam as always, man, appreciate the time. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
We'll be following you and check in with you throughout
the season. Hard to believe it's what three weeks until
the NBA Draft as we're recorded, and then boom you
got free agency and then here we go.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
See what takes place here with the September and camp start.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
Should be fun. Thank you guys so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
For sure to give him a follow over on x
at six Ers Adam mister Aaron Arson, Sixers beat writer
over on the Philly Voice, Thank you sir, Thank you Tom.
Now to take a look at another pair of prospects
as we get you ready for the NBA Draft and
Television Solar Reporter for you New Orleans Pelicans, mister Andrew
Lopez continuing to give us all of that info that
he's been studying hours and hours of film and everything
(23:48):
on Jeremiah Fears in common malu watch is that right?
Speaker 4 (23:51):
Hours and hours of film?
Speaker 6 (23:52):
Uh, you could say that, Yeah, let's say that.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
We will, okay, hours and hours of an anyway, two
interesting prospers, so as we continue to take a look
at as we get closer to a draft.
Speaker 9 (24:05):
Yeah, I think one of the things about once you
get past Cooper and Dylan Flag, a lot of the
next dozen or so guys, you could probably stretch that
a little more is really kind of up to.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
The team. I mean, I think there's probably teams who.
Speaker 9 (24:24):
Could have these guys anywhere from three to fifteen, like
I really do. And there's probably teams who have it
that way. Like Sam Vessini from The Athletic. He came
out with his draft guide and for instance, he has
Fears eighteen. He has comment at twelve.
Speaker 6 (24:43):
And I've seen mock drafts that have Jeremiah Fears in
the top five.
Speaker 9 (24:48):
I've seen draft reports that have him in the top
five it's really wow going to be settled on. You know,
what does a team really need from both of the
these guys and what are they expecting from both of
these guys and having a.
Speaker 6 (25:05):
Plan in place.
Speaker 9 (25:05):
And I think that that's kind of the keys is
a lot of these guys, you need to have a
plan in place to make sure that everything is going
going to go in the right direction.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Yeah, you know, Andrew, I think that was one of
the challenges for me of how do I figure out
you know, we decided on a number of twelve guys
that we were going to talk about because we have
six podcasts and we're talking about two players per episode.
So I just decided to use the default of the
NBA dot Com consensus mock draft because I feel like
that's at least some way that we can kind of
look at a bunch of different draft sites, average that
(25:40):
together and say, here's some of the guys that are
going to be or at least projected to be near
the top of the draft or at least in the
lottery park. Because to your point too, I mean, I've
seen Ace Bailey, a guy that we are previously talked
about as three in a bunch of mock drafts. But
then there's other people that have him maybe in the double.
Speaker 8 (25:59):
Figures like it or so.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
So I mean there are there's definitely some I mean
Will Gillery used the word polarizing. There's definitely some guys
that there's a pretty wide range of opinions on some
of these players. I think one of the things that's
I guess we can start with Jeremiah Fears in this
episode today with you is I think this is also
the case with Malo Watch as well, that these are
actually two players that we're seeing their names pop up
(26:23):
a lot in terms of going to the Pelicans at seven.
So on the on the most recent NBA dot Com
consensus mock draft, which could change by the time that
we we post this, but could change at any moment,
Fears is actually number seven to the Pelicans. So I guest,
you know, starting with him, I mean, what are some
(26:43):
of the reasons why this is a guy who has
kind of zoomed all the way to the up the
draft board. I mean, there's people that have him going
even before seven, so it's not like he's definitely gonna
be even available at that pick. But I mean, as
a as a novice college basketball fan or a super
casual fan. He's not somebody that I necessarily knew much about.
(27:03):
But going back a year, but I mean, what do
you think are some of the reasons why teams across
the league are looking closely at him?
Speaker 6 (27:11):
Yeah, So, like Cooper Flag and I don't.
Speaker 9 (27:14):
And obviously we talk a lot about the fact that
Cooper Flag reclassified, right, Like Cooper Flag reclassified and was you.
Speaker 6 (27:23):
Know, playing a year up and should be heading into
Collins this year.
Speaker 9 (27:28):
Jeremiah Fears is the same way. He is eighteen years
old and much much like he'll turn he'll turn nineteen,
I think just before the season started. He'll turn nineteen,
like in training camp or in like he'll play preseason
games at eighteen years old.
Speaker 6 (27:48):
But he still possesses elite tools.
Speaker 9 (27:52):
His draft age is obviously a big key. One thing
he can do is he's going to score and he
can play made.
Speaker 6 (28:00):
Uh So let's start there.
Speaker 9 (28:01):
We'll start with the with the good, uh for Jeremiah Fears,
those two things I think definitely stand out. You look
at how he was scoring, I think towards the end
of the year, and you saw a lot about you know,
his ability.
Speaker 6 (28:19):
One also to get to the free throw line. He
averaged almost six and a half free throw as a game.
He had seven games.
Speaker 9 (28:28):
This season where he got to the line at least
ten times, which for a guy who is six three,
one eighty, it's that's fairly impressive. That's not something that
you would necessarily think that he was going to be
able to do. Also, as the season went on, you
saw him start to kind of pick up his production. Yes,
(28:50):
had a couple of down games in the SEC, had
won against I think A and M well he didn't
score at all. Another against Georgia what he scored two.
But everything else, he had a really good conference tournament.
He had a really good game against Yukon and trying
to get to where he wanted to go in the
NCAA tournament in their long game in there. But overall,
(29:11):
a very good player who can get to a lot
of things. Another guy that I follow it's hard for us,
and I know we're going to talk comps in a
Second's a guy I follow on in draft Twitter, which
is its own animal now is the university.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
Yeah, it's at draft casual.
Speaker 9 (29:31):
And what he does with these guys is he takes
them and he looks purely at the numbers in terms
of their measurements and their production in college and tries
to protect them that way, And so I think that's
kind of a.
Speaker 6 (29:44):
Good way to look at it.
Speaker 9 (29:44):
And you see how he rates the score, how he
raises a playmaker, how he raises the slash, or how
he raises free throw.
Speaker 6 (29:51):
Rate, and then you see some of the other things.
Speaker 9 (29:54):
You know, you don't like necessarily the fact that he
was shooting twenty eight percent from three, but when you
look at some of the threes that he was shooting,
I think he was trying to do a little bit
too much in that system, and I think if you
can get him into a system where he's more controlled,
(30:14):
you should see that go up by evidence of the
fact that you know, he did shoot eighty five percent
from the line, and that is usually more of an
indicator of how you can shoot at the next level.
Speaker 6 (30:23):
Sure.
Speaker 8 (30:23):
Yeah, by the way, his just looked it up.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
His birthday is October fourteenth, So, like you said, he's
going to be turning nineteen about a week I think
exactly a week before the regular season starts next season.
You know, you mentioned the amount of times that he's
able to get to the free throw line. I think
when you watch video of him, one of the things
that immediately stands out is how quick he is and
just his athleticism. Yes, so we're talking about a guy
(30:46):
that gets to the free throw line not by you know,
baiting defenders, not by getting guys off balance and you know,
looking for a whistle. It's more just a guy that
can just get into the paint at will. And I
think he probably puts defenses in a position a lot
of times where it's like he's going to score a
layup or a dunk if you don't follow him. So
I think that's kind of the more the prototype player
(31:07):
that we're talking about. Before we get into the comparisons
you mentioned it, it does seem like the shooting part
of it, the perimeter shooting part of it, is the
thing that people wonder about the most. But basically what
you're saying is that, I mean, on an Oklahoma team
that wasn't loaded with talent, was he had to create
a ton So now when you translate this to the NBA,
(31:29):
there's no way he's going to go to a team
where they're going to say we need to score twenty
points a game. So Basically you're saying, like, you put
him in a role that is more fitting to what
his strengths are, and then maybe he gets more spot
up shots he doesn't have to do so much where
he's taking pull ups and taking contested threes, that kind
of thing, right.
Speaker 9 (31:48):
I think it's kind of the same thing that when
you looked at Dylan Harper, when you looked at East Bailey,
there was just different things that they were going to
be asked to do for that Ruckers team that.
Speaker 6 (31:56):
Didn't have as much talent than what Fears did. I think,
which you do with.
Speaker 10 (32:01):
Fears looking at you know, a kid again who is
not supposed to be in this class.
Speaker 6 (32:07):
Uh, you know, it's supposed to be going to school
right now.
Speaker 9 (32:12):
You look at that and you see, yeah, that's that's
really good and he has some.
Speaker 6 (32:15):
Skills that play right away.
Speaker 9 (32:18):
His ability to get by defenders is one of the
things that makes him at you know, six three sixty
four in in you know, in hues, because that's how
you play basketball. One of the things that makes him
so good is his first step. And when you can
get by guys the way you do and the way
he does, that's.
Speaker 6 (32:38):
What helps you get into the lane. That is what
helps you get all those free throws.
Speaker 9 (32:43):
And it's you know, I think as we have seen,
I think unfortunately this has been a huge part of
discourse because of who the MVP is right now. But
drawing files is a skill, sure, and how and then
to your point.
Speaker 6 (33:02):
Of how you do that is is key. So uh,
I would still like to see him obviously a lot
of areas for improve it.
Speaker 9 (33:12):
But again I think once you fit, even once you
get to once you're or once you by Cohn, and
once you're by VJ, and once you even in that
four or five six range, these guys need fits and
and and strong situations.
Speaker 6 (33:27):
Yeah, to kind of make sure that they can they
can take the assent. And that's that's.
Speaker 9 (33:30):
Probably a you know, for for most draft picks in
most years.
Speaker 3 (33:34):
Sure, you mentioned Fear's first step, and I think as
I go into the pro comparisons, I think a lot
of these players, whether they're former players or current players,
a very rapid first step fits the description for pretty
much all of these guys. But some of the names
that came up for Jeremiah Fears are Jeff Tigue, who
(33:55):
I think a lot of people now know as a podcaster,
but he was a very good UH point guard in
the NBA for a long time. Monte Ellis, Reggie Jackson,
John Wall, Jamal Murray, and Jordan Poole. Who are some
of the comparisons that you like among that group.
Speaker 9 (34:11):
Yeah, I like the Monte Ellis one, and I think
that was one that made sense from a numbers perspective,
and you look at against some.
Speaker 6 (34:19):
Of these other things that he does.
Speaker 9 (34:22):
You look at his when again when you go back
to production in college, he does compare Favolo to somebody
like Daron Fox. And I think one of the things
that we look at when we see Aaron Fox, as
we think at of him as one of the fastest
guys in the NBA, I think Jeremy Fears is probably
one of the faster players in this class. You think
(34:43):
of an inconsistent three point shot, I think we've seen
that as well. You know, you're you're hoping you could
see the mechanics, you could see it there. You probably
just need to get somebody.
Speaker 6 (34:56):
To do that. I think one of the things if
you look at it aware, is he getting his change?
And I think that's gonna kind of be key for him.
Is you know he would see he took.
Speaker 9 (35:07):
A lot of pull ups at Oklahoma. In fact, he
took uh seventy one pull up threes. He made fifteen
of those.
Speaker 6 (35:15):
You eliminate that drags automatically that way down. Yeah, and
I think that's going to be a big key where
he's able to kind of get that up.
Speaker 9 (35:28):
And again it's it's it's who's in the right fear
or who who's in the right mind to kind of.
Speaker 6 (35:34):
Look at these guys and you see like a lot
of these guys and how they're able to go. And
you know, I do think that he is somebody who,
in the right situations, uh could could potentially be the
eleague guard.
Speaker 9 (35:47):
Maybe he's not a guy who is gonna, you know,
if he was going to, you know, playing major minutes
on the playoff team right away, but if you're trying
to have somebody who you think can turn to the
league guard sooner rather than later, he's a guy who
kind of fits that mold.
Speaker 3 (36:03):
Do we have any good Pelicans comparisons players that have
played here over the last twenty three years that are
similar to Jeremiah Fears.
Speaker 9 (36:14):
It's when I say this, I want to I want
to kind of you know, make sure people realize what
I'm saying. It's what Kiro was supposed to be when
he got here before the knee injury, or what we
what we saw Kira turning into before he Torri the CEO.
(36:34):
Remember that, Yes, there was that that few weeks stretch
right before he had kind of gotten his spot back
in the rotation. He was again Ira, Is that one
of these same guys?
Speaker 6 (36:45):
Kira was a.
Speaker 9 (36:47):
Reclassify early guy who had a very very fast first step.
Speaker 6 (36:51):
Who you know you wanted to see more from the
three point shot.
Speaker 9 (36:57):
I think he's probably the closest on the pills side,
but I think Fears obviously has a lot more tools
when it comes to being able to get to the
free throw line and things like that.
Speaker 6 (37:08):
But in terms of speed, I don't think we've seen
somebody like that since.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Kyder shifting to Kaman Malowatch now. I think one of
the things that stood out from the draft combine when
they did measurements was there a few players that kind
of measured below what people expected, but this guy was
not one of them. I mean, what are some of
the things that make him attractive potentially as a lottery
(37:35):
pick or somebody that could go pretty early in this draft.
Speaker 9 (37:39):
Seven two fifty and again another eighteen year old kit.
Speaker 6 (37:46):
He's going to turn nineteen in September. And I think
one of the more.
Speaker 10 (37:51):
Impressive things about him is the fact that at what
he's seventeen years old and he was in the participating
in the Summer Olympics.
Speaker 6 (38:08):
You know, he was a part of that South Sudan
team that made that run.
Speaker 9 (38:13):
Well obviously what he was getting huge minutes on that team,
but the fact that he was even able.
Speaker 6 (38:17):
To I'm sorry.
Speaker 9 (38:18):
Yeah, he made the World Cup roster at twenty in
twenty twenty three as a sixteen year old, and also
made the team for the Paris Olympics. So he was
you know, all these guys last summer are getting ready
for college and what's going to come and this kid's
playing in the Olympics. Yeah, before going to Duke, so
(38:40):
just an absolute stud and it's still kind of learning
the game. He went to the NBA Academy in Africa.
I remember seeing some early videos.
Speaker 6 (38:48):
Of him trying to learn and trying how he was
going to do this.
Speaker 11 (38:52):
So I think one of the things is he has
a lot of the raw tools you mentioned the measurements,
he's almost seven to one without shoes, nearly seven seven
wings fan nine.
Speaker 6 (39:06):
To six standing reach.
Speaker 9 (39:09):
Like those are and I know we're going to get
into the comps in a second, but those are like
Rudy Todd, Ban Klingen, Mark Williams. Those are those types
of measurements, and there's not many people in NBA who
have measured better than he has.
Speaker 3 (39:25):
Is the in terms of some of the questions or
things that he's going to have to work on. I mean,
is it, to make a long story short, is his
offensive game really more about just trying to expand beyond
the paint and kind of layups, dunks, finishes.
Speaker 8 (39:39):
I mean the video I see of him, he's.
Speaker 3 (39:41):
An incredible lob threat and a guy that can score
around the hoop, But it might be the kind of
thing where you know, you can't always live off of
that diet in the NBA when you're playing against better players.
Speaker 6 (39:53):
Yeah, no, he's got to get a shot. And I
think one of the things is he he started to
work on that shot.
Speaker 9 (39:59):
I think he made some made at least a three
mans a tournament, started to show some some ways there.
Speaker 6 (40:07):
Obviously, I think you want to see his hand get
a little bit better. You know, he's he's not a
guy like once. Once it gets to him on the
offensive end, it's it's gonna stay there.
Speaker 9 (40:17):
Uh, you know, it's it's where can he continue to improve?
And I think we can continue to see you see
that shot and improvement. And again, you look at somebody
like this, you look at their three thrower percentage first
to kind of get this idea of, you know, will
they be or can they be a shooter at the
(40:41):
next level? And I think he is one of those
guys that can. He shot seventy six percent from the line.
He's a guy who, you know, despite a limit, he
had a very small diet of three pointers, didn't make
way and they want to get.
Speaker 6 (40:55):
Some Monte Mary's and Duke's first first game in the tournament.
Speaker 9 (41:00):
But you would again like to see him expand a
little bit to have that part of his game because
you know that is.
Speaker 6 (41:08):
Going to be essential for him at the next level.
Speaker 9 (41:10):
That that's going to take him from being you know,
and that's why so many teams are high on him
because they see that as his offensive potential that's going
to take him from being you know, a Rudy Gobert
ceiling to somebody who we haven't seen before or anything
like that.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Yeah, you know, you mentioned the shot in him working
on it and something that he's going to have to
continue to do to expand what he can do offensively.
As we get into some of the pro comparisons, I mean,
I think you'll see from the list of a handful
of guys here that really only one or two of
these guys have that kind of game where they can
shoot threes so they can score from beyond the paint.
(41:48):
But the five guys that I had down here are
Mark Williams, another duke guy, Brook Lopez, that's I guess
one of the guys on this list that can shoot threes,
but it wasn't part of his game early in his career,
Perl Vita Zubots, and then kalel Ware. Of those guys,
which comparison you like the most.
Speaker 6 (42:06):
I think I like the Mark Williams one. I think
that one is the kind of the one that makes
most sense. I think when you look at how he
is to some of these other guys.
Speaker 9 (42:14):
I mean, obviously you're gonna draw some natural things to
Rudy because of a side you're gonna draw some things
to clinging because of his size.
Speaker 6 (42:21):
Both of those guys especially like almost size where they're
they're they're almost exact matches.
Speaker 9 (42:29):
In terms of size, and I think common he's a
little a little faster uh than both of those guys
have tested a little faster despite being two fifty. So
you like what you what you see from him from
that U. The problem is if he can't get that
shot going, where where does that change in that?
Speaker 6 (42:48):
Does that drop him.
Speaker 9 (42:50):
More to uh the you know the Mitches, Mitch Robinson,
the click compared was the Nick Claxton's or you know,
can he be a little bit more? And I think
having to be able to pass out, I mean when
you only had twenty assists in overseas and he has
(43:12):
to be better there, has to be able to make
that play because that's a guy I got to run
a guy at him's going to run the ball over
and I can know I can move out of that.
But he's got great fee, he's got extreme length and
if you get it again, you get him in a
situation where he can develop.
Speaker 6 (43:28):
It's it's one of those guys who you.
Speaker 9 (43:31):
Know, for some teams they see him as again a
guy who could be you know, he's going to go
in probably the six to ten range, six to nine
probably what could end up being the you know, second
or third best player when it's all said and done,
you know, the way some people think about what his
skills can do.
Speaker 3 (43:51):
Lastly, for me on Malawatch, what about Pelicans comparisons anybody
that he's reminiscent of.
Speaker 9 (43:57):
I mean, it's it's hard not to look at Yeah
and kind of follow their same path because of what
they're able to one and what they're going to be
able to do in the defensive vend as soon as
he steps in the court, to the amount of basketball
he has played in his life right before this, and
the you know, the willingness I think to get better
(44:18):
than we've seen that.
Speaker 6 (44:19):
We saw that up close with Eve throughout the year.
You guys have seen it, probably a little more seeing
him be in there throughout the summer.
Speaker 9 (44:28):
So he has to kind of be I think a
little bit of a better, better, bigger force on the
on the on the rebounding an like.
Speaker 6 (44:35):
It's almost like what we saw from Derek Wively when
he was that dude.
Speaker 9 (44:38):
His the rebounding numbers are a little similar, but I
think watching him kind of do that is he's probably
that's That's probably the easiest Hell's comp that I think we'll.
Speaker 2 (44:52):
See Jeremiah Fears come in Malu. Watch little breakdown from
Andrew Lopez, Television solid reporter for your New Orleans Peal
Plicans get back to watching hours and hours and hours
and hours of film for us.
Speaker 4 (45:03):
Appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (45:03):
Thank you, Andrew, well do sir.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
Sounds good as always, and we'll continue as we get
you closer for of course, June twenty fifth and twenty six,
Wednesday and Thursday, rounds one and two of the NBA Draft.
As always, Andrew appreciates it, Mister Jimikinoff appreciates it, and
I do as well.
Speaker 4 (45:18):
Thank you for listening to the New.
Speaker 2 (45:19):
Orleans Pelicans Podcast, presented by New Age Products, official garage
and outdoor kitchen provider.
Speaker 4 (45:25):
Of the New Orleans Pelicans. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (45:29):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast. Join
us three times per week on Pelicans dot com, the
Pelicans mobile app, the iHeartRadio app, or where you get
your podcast, and be sure to give Jim and Guss
a follow on x at Jim Underscore I Can Offer
(45:49):
and Gcat Underscore seventeen. We'll see you next time, right
here on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast.
Speaker 9 (46:00):
Just
Host
Jim Eichenhofer
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