July 9, 2025 • 44 mins
On the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast for Wednesday, July 9, 2025, Jim Eichenhofer and Gus Kattengell continue their preview of Pelicans Summer League as Game 1 tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, July 10. Tune-in on the Gulf Coast Sports and Entertainment Network.
Hear from Pelicans second round draft pick Micah Peavy on his desire to play defense as two-way contract players Hunter Dickinson and Trey Alexander speak on their opportunities with the team.
Also hear from Pelicans Summer League head coach Corey Brewer on what he’s seen from the Pelicans roster as they head to Vegas.
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Episode Transcript
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(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.
Hear from players, coaches, broadcasters, and those who
cover the NBA on a daily basis. It's time to flock up.
(00:27):
The New Orleans Pelicans Podcaststarts right now.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the New Orleans Pelicans
Podcast, official podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans, Gus
Kattengall. Mr. Jim, I can offer
pelicans.com. No, he's not tearing up the
strip in Las Vegas, but that will happen very shortly as your
New Orleans Pelicans will tip off Summer League tomorrow on
(00:50):
Thursdays. We record here on Wednesday.
It is here the eve of summer league action.
You've seen practice, now you get to see some games.
You're how excited are you, Sir?I'm excited, Gus.
And by the way, I'm supposed to get there around 8:30 tonight.
So by 9:00 I I should be tearingup Las Vegas.
That's it. You just.
Described. No, no, I'm ready for these
games. I think this is one of the most
(01:10):
anticipated summer leagues in a while for the Pelicans.
Maybe in the time since I've been here.
I mean, considering the fact that they have, by consensus,
they have two of the top ten players in the draft this year
and they're going to get to maketheir debuts Thursday against
Minnesota. So looking forward to this and
it should be a, an interesting thing.
I mean, we'll, I'm sure we're going to get into this.
(01:32):
It's not just the 2 lottery picks.
There's a bunch of other playersthat are worth keeping an eye on
for the Pelicans. That's a good point.
I kind of want to start there aspeople maybe are are are tuning
in and listening. And I get it, it's summer
league, right? And a lot of people will look at
it as well. It's not the real team and it's
not all that, but I have two I, I wouldn't say cases to present
or arguments to that. Or maybe I'll, I'll say, hey,
(01:53):
reasons why. Maybe you'll pay attention the
next two weeks. First and foremost, if you're a
Saints fan, it's two weeks to get you a little distracted and
then boom, when this ends, guesswhat?
It is the start of training camp.
So there you go. The Saints will be at training
camp on Wednesday, two days after the championship game of
summer league, to give you an idea.
But the main reason is it's whatyou said back on Monday.
(02:16):
We're done, right? You put the period on last
season, you close the chapter. This really does begin the next
era under Joe Dumars, the new season, all of those different
things. When you are at practice, do you
get that sense and feel that everyone was just ready to kind
of turn the page no matter what it is?
Yeah, I think so. And I mean, I would also add to
(02:37):
that if you think about it, withthe three draft picks to them,
last season was completely irrelevant.
So I mean, it's not just that we're turning the page from last
season, but just the fact that everything is kind of starting
fresh. So, yeah, I mean, there there
aren't that many guys on the summer league team that played
prominently for last year's teamEve me see, it would would be
the one guy that played a ton. There's a few other players that
(02:58):
played kind of we saw them more at the end of the season.
But yeah, I I definitely am looking forward to looking ahead
and not looking behind. And I do think that hopefully
with the performance of some of the younger guys and some of the
rookies starting in Thursday's game, that we will be able to
say, OK, this is a new day for the franchise and we'll be able
to start getting excited about what is going to happen a few
(03:20):
months down the road when the games start counting for real.
We're going to talk in specificsabout a couple of players here.
We kind of mentioned Fears and Queen obviously back on Monday.
We'll focus on PV, the third draft pick for the Pelicans who
came in the second round, who look here, here's my little, you
know, foreshadowing. I'm impressed.
I I love the way he speaks and what he wants to do and his
(03:41):
goals and everything. But and and then some, some two
way contract players. Here's what's an interesting
roster, right? It's an interesting roster when
you look at it from top to bottom and players.
Sometimes in some summers, Jim, you and I are like, hold on,
let's Google the others. It's very specific, like when
Zion a couple of years ago and it's about him.
Let's see what he does and everybody else, whatever.
(04:03):
But I feel like this summer league it's we want to set a
tone, want to set a culture. We want to set maybe some
foundations with some of these younger players.
Here's head coach Corey Brewer of the summer league teams.
Thoughts on a question you askedhim.
Hey, look at your rosters. Very interesting.
What does that present for you? Very exciting, that player.
I got a lot of dudes that can play and the best players are
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going to play like I've been around a long time.
I've been in the same situation.They've been in both draft picks
fighting for my job like so. You play hard, you get to play.
If you ain't playing the right way, doing the right thing does.
That seem like it's, I would sayit's a mandate, but it's, it's,
it's definitely a, a, a vision of what we want to see here for
(04:46):
people that are tuning in and what to expect.
Yeah, I mean, I think going intothe regular season, the real NBA
season, I think that's going to be at the top of the list.
This team is going to have to play really hard.
I mean, we we're already seeing projections for them to be near
the bottom of the West. So I mean, to prove people
wrong, I think that's going to be one of the first things that
you have to check is that you'regoing to have to be one of the
most hard working teams, a team that consistently out hustles
(05:09):
your opponent. So I think, yeah, I think some
of the things that he described are going to be crucial for
summer league but also carrying over into the Pelicans 2526
season. We'll get into a couple of two
way contract players here in a little bit Eve me see somebody I
really want to get into. But look, you've been at
practice and a lot of people that are listening right now
haven't had a chance to see it like me.
(05:32):
Maybe you get to see some some highlights and you know, some
interviews, some post practice, but you actually get to see the
work and stuff. The things that keep standing
out to me is I keep hearing man fears is fast.
Wow, Queen seems like he can kind of play.
Macy looks bigger. I give us some, I guess,
observation, Sir, from actually being on the court and watching
this team practice. Yeah, I think specifically to
(05:53):
Eve Macy, a lot of it is just how I think how rapidly the
other players, including a bunchof guys that obviously had never
played with and before, understand how much of A of a
alley oop threat he is. And just, I mean, his
athleticism. We saw that a lot throughout his
rookie season where he was coming up with dunks that got
him on the ESPN highlight reels and that kind of thing.
(06:14):
But but yeah, I think people are, it seemed like players are
really looking for him constantly.
I I saw fears make some good passes to him.
Queen as well. They just recognize how much of
A of a dangerous guy he is as far as finishing around the
basket with the height and the length that he has and also that
athleticism and and the fact that he's gotten a little bit
(06:35):
stronger too. And that's smart, right?
If I'm one of these guys that's trying to make an impression on
this team, I just realized that guy started in NBA games.
He made one of the all rookie teams.
Feed my man, right? He's going to make me look good
and I can get on some highlights.
What What specifically though? Maybe about the draft picks and
fears Queen and PV stood out to you.
(06:57):
With fears it's definitely the ball handling I mean you watch
him play 2 possessions and you're like, man, this guy's
ball handling is is really good yeah I mean I, I want to I want
to I don't want to get too crazyhere and go overboard with some
of what I'm saying I want to seehim play obviously at the at the
very start Thursday against other NBA players and it gets
Minnesota. But yeah I I think he's he's
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he's unique from the standpoint of coming into the NBA with the
ball handling package that he has.
It seems like if you pressure him he can kind of easily spin
off of you in the other direction.
He's just really tied to the ball so it it allows him to get
wherever he wants on the floor again, want to see that against
(07:39):
another NBA team and not just inpractice.
But it that doesn't surprise me because we saw that on video a
ton from his year at Oklahoma where he was just somebody that
you had difficulty keeping out of the paint with Queen.
I think he just plays he plays avery methodical game.
I mean, but I mean that in a good way.
You you definitely notice that he doesn't he's not crazy
(08:01):
athletic and his feet aren't crazy fast either, but he plays
at his own speed. It's hard to to kind of speed
him up. I saw some plays where he he
looked like he was kind of caught in the air with nowhere
to go with the ball. But he's so under control that
he can kind of make a last second decision or a pass.
And it looks like he's got, you know, he's caught in the air
with nowhere to go with the balland then he just drops it off to
(08:23):
somebody that he saw open. And PV to me is just as defense
stands out that he's just reallyaggressive and he's one of those
guys that is going to get in your face and also that he can
shoot threes as well. So I mean, I like what all of
them have shown and and now justlooking forward to seeing what
they can do in in summer league games.
Well, we spoke specifically about the the first two draft
(08:45):
picks and I think that's what's interesting to back on Monday,
Jim, is that look, but the Pelicans need ball handlers one
way shape or form. Things could be one of those
interesting battles when they have training camp here and when
they play in Australia in that pre season.
Who's going to start? We, we love the Jante Murray,
but he's not going to be available in October.
We know that, right? So who will get those minutes?
(09:06):
There's different players. I know the team officially
announced the arrival of Jordan Poole.
We can touch a little bit on that.
But it's going to be a handful of people vying to have those
ball, you know, the ball in their hands throughout the game.
To me, it's more of who's going to have it in the last stages of
that game, that fourth quarter, right?
Or when a team makes a run. The ability to understand that
sometimes maybe I get we get caught up on who's starting, but
(09:30):
a guy like Fears Jose who came off the bench, they're going to
play key minutes and moments. And in a game of runs when
they're on the court, they may be, they may be asked, hey, stop
that run on another team or extend the lead or cut into a
lead. I think sometimes, right, Jim,
we think of point guards, we think of starters.
But how important is a point guard when he comes off the
(09:52):
bench? Just as important as the
starters. Sometimes we see all the time
where Jose comes in and changes games.
He was able to do that a lot more two seasons ago when the
injuries were way less and his. He was in that role of six man
who plays a certain amount of minutes and just can go 100% all
out in that time. As opposed to, you know, games
(10:12):
last season where he played 3035minutes.
And you kind of have to conserveyour energy a little bit because
you don't want to end up in the ER at the end of the night with
IV in your arm. So yeah, I think we saw in the
playoffs too. I mean, with, for example, the
pressure defense that Indiana can put on the court and
Oklahoma City's defense just in general, that it's very
(10:33):
important that you have multipleguys that can do something off
the dribble. Because if you only have one guy
out there and they double tripleteam that guy and you don't have
other people that can make plays, it can really turn your
offense into a, into a, a mess. So, so yeah, I, I think that it
is important. It's something that we'll be
watching as, especially when we get into training camp, to see
how that kind of plays out. Mike so with with fears ball
(10:56):
handler guy can score Queens a guy who seems to be able to make
different place a matter of factCorey Brewer after a practice 2
practices ago was very specific in in answering this question
about what he thinks about Queens so far through a couple
of practices you. Can see Queens do a lot of
things, playmaker, he can play multiple positions and of course
and he's worth 5 pick and roll, you'll see that.
(11:18):
OK, so we'll we'll see what thatis.
We haven't had a chance to really talk about Micah Peavey,
the third draft pick for the Pels this past draft.
And I I don't know it. I don't get carried away kind of
like you are with with Jeremiah Fears.
But he sounds like a pro. I mean, he just, he, he sounds
completely. Polished.
Yeah. And the other thing I was going
(11:38):
to say is this is my role. This is who I am.
I'm I'm all about it. And in terms of what I'm getting
at, see if you guys can pick this up and Jim will kind of
detail it here. Mike is a really good defender,
you know, you can tell that he loves play defense and he plays
hard. So for us around here, that's
breath of fresh air, so we're happy to have.
All right, so that's the coach saying he likes to play defense.
(12:00):
Here is PV A. Lot of guys don't like playing
defense and I love it. I like being scored on.
I like other the other team getting buckets.
So I just like to take pride in that and get some stuffs have.
You always kind of been that way.
On that, yeah, that's ever sinceI was little.
That's my dad's a coach and that's what he preaches.
So that's what I've always. Been.
I love that. Kind of sounds like the son of a
(12:20):
a basketball coach. Yeah.
I mean, he's really mature. We've we've talked about this I
think over the last few years that the the maturity of a lot
of the players that are coming into the NBA is at a higher
level than maybe it was 1015 years ago.
Not sure how much of that is because of the players are more
savvy, they're more media trained.
They get maybe more instruction at a younger age than they used
(12:44):
to. But yeah, I'm, I'm impressed
with PB. You know, another thing about
him too, I know we're going to probably talk a lot about his
defense, not in just summer league but going forward in his
career. But he also made a big jump
offensively in his last season in college at Georgetown.
He averaged 17 points a game andhe shot 40% from 3 point range.
I think he's mentioned that a couple times lately too, that he
(13:04):
knows that at the offensive end of the court, the most important
thing for him, especially in theNBA where he's not going to be
the number one option, is to be able to make some of those spot
up shots. Here's what he had to say after
practice. I'm.
Just knocking down that corner three, I got to be ready to
shoot. I got to show that I can shoot
at this level. It's it's deeper, it's different
ball, but I think I'm going to show that I can't shoot at this
(13:26):
level. I mean, and again, it's, it's,
it's knowing what you can do right and being ready for that.
I, I think that's so important. And I guess what I mean by that
is there are certain ways on this team you're going to make
the the floor. It just is right.
And that is well defending. And I thought it was
interesting. After practice, he was asked,
(13:47):
you had a chance to meet Willie Green briefly after practice.
How? How was that conversation?
I mean, I, I like him a lot. Like I said, I like how he plays
the defensive wings and he was just talking about my defense
and how it's going to get me on the court.
So I'm a just just keep doing that.
You got to have the self-awareness to know when you
come into the NBA of what not just what you can do, but what
(14:09):
may be our areas. You don't want to stay away from
me. I think he understands, as a lot
of rookies do, that he's not going to come out of the court
and play ISO ball and say, hey, can let's run a play for me and
I'm going to dribble 15 times and everyone else stands around.
I mean, it's it's going to be more you catch the ball, you
make a decision, you move it. We talked about .5 basketball in
terms of, you know, making quickdecisions and not just holding
(14:31):
the ball. So yeah, I think he definitely
seems to have a really good understanding of, I'm sure based
on conversations that he's had, not just with the Pelicans after
they drafted him, but team leading up to the draft, meeting
with teams and them explaining to him like this is what we see
from you. It seems like he has a pretty
good handle on what his strengths are and how he's going
(14:52):
to be not just effective, but you know what, give himself the
best chance to actually get on the court and get minutes, which
is not something at all that's agiven for a second round pick in
the NBA. I'm asking an overall thought
here in a quick SEC, but something keeps standing out to
me, Jeremiah Fears said this week.
I, I can't wait to put on the show right, Derek Queen.
(15:14):
I'm looking forward to day one of showing people they were
wrong. He's got that old chip on his
shoulder. Here's what Micah Peavey says
he's interested in showing in Vegas.
It's not my dog that I just makewhen he plays.
I want to. I want to guard the best player
on the court. I want to show what I can do.
I'm fully understanding it's July 9th as we record.
Nothing's been played, but coming off of a season like we
(15:37):
just saw, I'm a Pels fan. Am I wrong to get excited about
hearing these three new additions to this team eager to
do this? Corey Brewer We're we're here to
win. I want to win.
We want to play hard and want towin.
I'm OK with whatever and howeverit is because I can almost
picture you in so many podcasts last season, man.
(15:59):
What what are we here to do? Are we here to win?
It's about competition, right? Whether it's I'm tossing the
ball with my son, you're playingpick up it in the driveway.
The whole point is to win and I like that.
It almost seems like these threeguys, you're going to get to a
couple other guys, these two wayplayers here as well.
Me see, trying to get I like thefact, hey, let's go out there
(16:20):
and compete and win. And I love hearing this guy in
particular saying I want to guard the best player on their
team. I like hearing that.
My sense is that you're not alone in that at all.
Because just from kind of a cursory look at people talking
on social media, whatever platform, I have heard seen some
fans say, man, it's refreshing to listen to some of these guys
(16:40):
talk because they are injecting some level of belief and
confidence into the team that, you know, obviously we'll see
you. You want to be able to maintain
that after you start playing andyou real in some of the
realities of the NBA as a rookiecoming to play where you're
going to face obstacles, you're going to have challenges, you're
going to have games where you don't play well.
(17:00):
But but as a starting point, I Iagree.
I mean, I, I like the way that all of them are talking about
the season. And so for people that have feel
dejected by the 21 season and the way things have gone, maybe
you want to just listen to theseguys.
We'll send them to your house and and they can give you a pep
talk. Look, I think having the right
(17:20):
mindset matters. It just really does right.
And it goes again to what Joe Dumar said back day one and on
the night of the draft. It's getting players in here
where you don't have to go tell,hey, we need you to play hard
tonight. It's going and getting players
where, hey, we need to do this for what's better for the team,
you know, and, and again, I understand we, we've gotten 2-3
(17:42):
days of them, but it's got to start somewhere.
And I think maybe at the very least, I can say maybe we're
seeing why every time Joe Moore's Joe Dumar speaks on
these players, he's so high on them.
Maybe you see why they were veryspecific and very no, the these
they, we target them for a reason or targeted them for a
(18:04):
reason, right? When would you kind of feel that
when you're watching them at practice?
There's a reason. Definitely.
And by the way, I don't want to go down this rabbit hole again
because I'll probably do this many times over the next few
months. Hopefully.
I do it a lot actually, because I bring it up for a good reason.
But I mean, when you see some ofthe assessments, evaluations of
the draft that the Pelicans had with these three players, it
(18:25):
does blow my mind sometimes. That's like people are talking
about everything except for the players that they drafted.
No, 2026 is much more important I.
Don't know if you knew that. I mean, the fact that it does
seem like, and I don't think there's many people that would
disagree with me on this, especially in New Orleans, but
it does seem like at times it's like you for you're in the whole
conversation. You're losing sight of the fact
(18:45):
that they drafted a guy at 7:00 that a lot of people feel like
has potential to be a star player in the NBA someday.
And they also got two guys in the top 10.
If you look at the consensus they got from nba.com, that they
got the 7th best player on the mock drafts and the 9th best
player. It feels like that that part of
the conversation is lost. And it's like the point of the
(19:05):
draft is to add good players andto add guys that you feel
excited about and that have the potential to impact you in
winning games, hopefully immediately.
So it does, it does seem, but again, I don't want to get into
that. I'm sure we'll have plenty of
time to discuss that throughout the season.
And if things go the way that I think that they could, maybe
(19:26):
you'll have to talk to me. You'll have to tell me.
Hey, Jim, you can't talk about this again today.
No, I, I'm with you. I love it.
So kind of wanted y'all to kind of get an idea of these these
draft picks. But Jim, I got to be honest,
when I look up and down that roster, there's a player that
I'm very eager to see here as well because I thought he had a
tremendous rookie season. Leave me see and one of the
(19:46):
things that everyone has pointedout already in the lab videos.
He has his own YouTube channel. I don't know if you knew that I
am not even take some friends. Seen it, but yeah, I've heard
about it. He put on a little size and I
thought it was interesting. After practice, he tells us why
he thought it was important. I mean, the league is more
physical edition every year. So we have guys that are like
(20:07):
250 on both, mostly center. So I got to get up there.
Obviously don't mess around withmy atheism.
And obviously. I'm the gorgeous guy every
night, so it doesn't make it forme.
I'm going to ask you to comment about whether or not he looks
bigger or not and how that may help, but I really thought
something else stood out. Corey Burr on what he sees the
difference between BC last year and this year.
(20:28):
That's going to help him a lot. But the main thing that's
helping Eve right now, he's confident.
We know a lot of times, you know, you can put on a way, you
can do different things, but confidence is very important to
basketball and he's very confident right now and so I'm
happy with. You How much have you seen this
confidence grow from like? He got here from last year on
this time for now. When he got here, he didn't know
if he was. He didn't know what he was.
(20:49):
He was just happy to be here. Now he's like he knows he
deserves to be here and he's just getting better and it's
just great. Kid works his butt off.
That's that's why I love. You and I called his games in
Summer League last year. We were in Nashville and we
obviously saw him there in the season.
When you were out there this past weekend, what did you see?
(21:09):
Yeah, I thought he's at a different level physically.
As we mentioned. It doesn't surprise me that his
confidence has gone up. Because if you think about it,
if you rewind all the way back to the draft in 2024, there were
a lot of people projecting that he was going to have a red shirt
year, that it was going to be one of those things where maybe
he doesn't play a ton. Maybe they bring him along
slowly and what do you know, theopener against Chicago, you're
(21:32):
already like, this guy is playing like he's a legit NBA
player. And then a couple games later, I
believe he was already a starter.
So, yeah, I, I, I can totally see how after he went through
the experience of last year where even I don't want to put
words in his mouth, but even to me, maybe he, he even had the,
the, IT kind of dawned on him. Like, man, I think I'm, I get,
(21:54):
maybe I'm more ready to, to contribute than even I thought I
was going to be. So, I mean, yeah, he, he seems
like a quick learner to. I think he's really smart.
And I think that's one of the reasons why we saw some just
epic strides. I remember people around the
team saying that even from, you know, we talked about I, I
remember talking to somebody about like in October when the
(22:15):
regular season started. Like, man, what a difference
between now in July summer league and somebody said to me,
what a difference between now and yeah, a week ago or, or the
beginning of training camp, which was the same month in
October. It is crazy.
I mean, sponge was something youheard a lot too that it and it's
something else too where you just have to tell him once and
he figures it out and he doesn'ttake long to understand and get
(22:37):
better at it. And again, one of those players,
Jim, I know it wasn't under Joe Dumars, but one of those players
that he's a hard worker already.That's all anybody ever really
talks about how hard he works and does that.
He answered to the question, youknow what, what did you want to
improve on this year? This way, like I said, get
bigger and then my finishing. I feel sometime I just get to
(23:00):
finish a little more. It's not something it's not
something I can not really do. I just get to focus a little
more. So also doesn't know anything
for me. And I think what he says
finishing, it's probably some ofthose times where the ball is
handed to him in the paint, right?
And he goes off his hands and things that nature or or he
misses the dumb. Yeah.
Exactly, but the opportunities at least they'll be there.
I I think something else that's interesting that I'm going to be
paying attention to again as summer league starts.
(23:21):
As you know, the game start thisweek tomorrow.
Him, I mean, he he should look like the best player in the team
and we kind of hint at it already.
He's he should help Jeremiah fears, he should help Derrick
Queen should help those guys. I I thought it was interesting
he brought up how Derrick Queen can maybe help him.
Yeah, obviously we're trying some stuff obviously for the
somebody when we were playing around and then just play he and
(23:44):
I on the court and then see how it looks like it.
I like it so far, right? So what exactly can he do?
I will say on Defect I can see because he brings size.
So on the rebounding side is better.
Now guys have to worry about himand I and obviously in the
offense he can play me for everyone, not only me, and I can
just play off him. Game guys attracted to about
him. Again.
(24:05):
Just play all that. I think that's going to be near
the top of our list of things that we're going to be watching
is those two, two guys playing off of each other with Queens
passing that Eve mentioned and Eve's ability to finish around
the basket. I think some of what Eve talked
about in terms of that he wants to improve on how much he
converts around the rim or even at the rim is a matter of the
(24:26):
game slowing down for him a little bit.
I think there were times where, you know, not to make excuses
for him, but there was, I think there were times where he was a
little rushed on some of his plays at the basket where he
some of his missed dunks might have been, you know, he's
worried about getting his shot blocked.
I think as you get more experience and you play against
some of the best centers in the league, you get a better feel
for, OK, I can take a half second longer than I think and I
(24:49):
can finish this play. So I think, I think that's some
of it is just the experience that he got from last season.
I think something else that stands out to me is a lot of
people, and rightfully so, we include him.
I'm excited to see how that offensive game sort of develops
here as well. One of my highlights of last
season was the Miles Turner, right, Duncan block and all
these different by I think he blocked Yokich.
(25:11):
I mean, he he had some pretty big defensive moments in the
season. And I would say that's probably
one of the things that was really surprising from the get
go. And he talked about how Jimmy,
it wasn't just I'm going to jumpand hope this he studies the
film, what a player likes to where to meet the player on the
basket, where to step on the court so he doesn't come in a
foul while doing those things. So I thought it was interesting
(25:34):
going back to Micah Peavey, a second round draft pick for the
Pelicans. He was asked about me.
See. Listen to what he had to.
Say throw it up there. He don't catch everything he
guards. So it's easy and it's meet him
fears and everybody's on the court guard and it's it's it's
fun to watch and it's fun to play with.
Are you interested to see him inthese games defensively, how
(25:54):
maybe guys like that can can work together?
Definitely, because as Micah Peavey mentioned there, they do
have the ability to put some groups of players out there
together that you would think have potential to be really
dangerous defensively, may be disruptive, get some steals, get
some turnovers, run out the other way.
I won't. I'm curious to see how fast they
play, if they try to play a little faster than, you know,
(26:17):
average or what they did during the regular season.
So I mean, just overall too, I mean, we, we kind of touched on
this a little bit at the beginning, but I mean, if you
want to kind of give like a broad overall picture of this
roster. I mean, the most, one of the
most concise ways I would put itis you have the three draft
picks that we mentioned. You have 4 guys, veteran players
that played on the team last last season.
(26:38):
We we talked about Misi, they also have Lester Quinones who
was on a two way contract, Keon Brooks and then Antonio Reeves
as well. So that's four guys that played
a good amount on the roster. And then you have the 2 two way
contracts guys, the new 2 two way guys with Hunter Dickinson
and Trey Alexander. So I mean that's nine guys
between the three draftees, the four vets in the 2 two way guys
(27:00):
that have a, a very defined connection to the roster.
They're not just players that were signed that are just going
to kind of pass through in summer league and then you might
not hear from them again, as we see with, you know, teams,
Pelicans teams and summer teams in the past and you know, squads
across the league. So I mean that that's part of
it. It's this is a very relevant
summer league. It's not one of those things
(27:21):
like as you mentioned at the beginning, that you're going to
have to do a bunch of Google searches.
We've already gotten to know a lot about these players because
they played on the Pelicans or were drafted a couple weeks ago
in in Brooklyn all. Right, so I'm excited, right to
to see what he means he can sortof do and what this roster can
sort of do anything else on me before we move on that stood.
Out No, I think I think that's mostly, mostly it with him.
(27:45):
I I just want to see him, you know, as you said, be one of the
better players in summer league and just kind of carry over the
experience they had last year. I don't know if we're going to
go into this saying, you know, he for him to do that, he has to
average 2025 points a game. But but yeah, be a defensive
presence, be a be a consistent rebounder.
(28:05):
I mean, he was really good in the rebounding category
throughout his rookie season as well.
So just just to see him take another step and and as we go
forward into the season. We're going to talk about
pressure on a certain player in a fun way here in a little bit,
but no pressure on him for me onEve Macy.
But I'm interested if if it's similar to a couple of summer
(28:30):
leagues ago, the night and day. I wouldn't even say night and
day, but just a hey, there's something to this guy
transformation. Trey Murphy, remember after year
1, summer league, going into Year 2, that guy was dominant.
And I remember watching those games going, oh, we can.
We knew he could shoot the three, but he he added driving
(28:51):
to the basket, he dunked later that year.
He would enter the dunk contest,right?
But we didn't see that before the season before the summer
before, like that summer league.We're like, hey, this guy might
be a player and now, now he's a starter, right?
I mean, now you look at so I'm interested to see what kind of
vision or you know, what he's going to look like.
(29:13):
I, I, I just feel like Misi could probably dominate, you
know, you know, So I'm interested in that.
Yeah, I think it's about branching out.
It's about just going beyond what the normal scope of what
you're you do during the regularseason and even if he does some
things in summer league that aren't necessarily going to
carry over to the regular season.
And I I guess part of what I mean with that is just if he's a
(29:34):
higher usage offensive player insummer league, I don't know
necessarily if that's going to carry over because you know,
he's not going to be, you know, the second option, the starting
lineup or the third option. He's going to be more of a
opportunistic guy, But it would be good to see him do just kind
of add to his arsenal offensively.
I loved what I saw from him as arookie in terms of the progress
(29:55):
that he made in the low post, some of his footwork, and so if
we can see some of that in summer league, that would be a
positive as well. All right.
So let's wrap up with I guess the other elements to this
roster. That's I guess an interesting
point, Jim, and that is the factthat you have a couple of two
way contract players in which you mentioned Hunter Dickinson
and Trey Alexander. Would you like to start off
(30:17):
with? Let's start with Trey Alexander.
He had an outstanding G league season.
He was with Denver on a two way contract.
He was the rookie of the year inthe G league.
He averaged 25 ish points per game.
But he was in a situation where with the Nuggets, the the main
run, he played in 24 games, but it was almost exclusively games
(30:39):
where it was a blowout and he played at the end of the game.
Incidentally, he played two minutes against the Pelicans in
a game in February in Denver that people probably remember
but would like to forget where the Nuggets were up by, you
know, 25 points and they won. Yeah, one of one of
unfortunately, there were quite a few of those, especially on
the road last season. But I think I'm curious to to
(31:00):
watch him because, I mean, if you look at what he did in the G
League, it's impressive. And so I think he he talked
about it a little bit after practice on Tuesday about how he
was looking for the opportunity to contribute more.
I think with Denver, I mean, there's no guarantees here in
terms of what he's going to to do for the Pelicans during the
(31:21):
real season. But with Denver, they had a
bunch of guys that they drafted recently that I think they're, I
know their front office wanted to get opportunities that were
he was, they were kind of ahead of him in the in the depth chart
in the pecking order, whether itwas Julian Strother, players
like that. So he really didn't get a great
chance to play last season. So I he cited that as one of the
reasons why he wanted to come toNew Orleans.
(31:43):
And by the way, two people, if you have time, you should check
out the interviews from after Tuesdays practice with Trey
Alexander. And then the other two way
contract signee is Hunter Dickinson, who played for Kansas
and Michigan in college. They both gave really good
interviews. They both spoke for quite a
while, which was, I wasn't really expecting them to, to be
kind of at the podium for as long as they were, but they both
(32:06):
had some interesting things to say.
And as far as Dickinson goes, I think the most notable part
about his story is that he was agreat college player.
I mean, he was wooden All American for both Michigan and
Kansas, which the only player I,I, I read this that he's the
only player in college history that was a wooden all American
for two different colleges. He was one of the best players
(32:28):
in in the the conference for Kansas the last couple years as
well. But he was not in for example,
he wasn't in the top on the big board of the athletic.
They posted the 75 best draft prospects.
He wasn't on that. So I think he has a little bit
of motivation from the fact thatdespite he was constantly
accomplishing good things and outplaying other players at the
(32:49):
college level, but it seemed like his, he was still kind of
discounted and downplayed as he entered the draft.
And he wasn't surprised that he wasn't picked because of I'm
sure he heard all of those, all of those reports.
The old chip on the shoulder. Yeah, no, definitely.
I think, you know, everybody's trying to look for a chip on
their shoulder. I think a lot of people feel
like that helps them play. And I knew with my age and how
many years I've been in college is going to be really hard for
(33:11):
me This, you know, that's the name of the game now.
But I knew once I got here, I have a shot and that's all I was
looking for was, you know, to have a shot, to be able to prove
myself. And, you know, again, that's why
I said earlier, that's why I wanted to go to New Orleans
because I feel like the organization had, you know, a
plan for me and then felt like, you know, the I felt like I
deserved and belonged here. So and.
(33:32):
When he talked about he his age and that he played in college
for five years, when he said it,I knew it was going to be hard
for me. I think he specifically meant it
was going to be hard for me to get drafted, not that it was
going to be difficult to play inthe NBAI think he was
referencing just his acceptance and understanding and just being
realistic about going into draftnight or the I guess to draft
(33:54):
night, two nights of drafts, that it was pretty likely that
he wasn't going to be get picked.
So then he had already moved on mentally to OK, where do I find
the best situation for me? And then obviously the Pelicans
wanted to sign him to a 2 two way contract and he decided that
this was the best place for him.Yeah, along those lines.
Yeah, I felt like it was a greatfit for me.
You know, I felt like, you know,wherever I wanted to go, I
(34:16):
wanted someone that believed in me and believed that I was an
NBA caliber player. And I felt like here, you know,
after my workout, they they spoke really highly of me and
felt really confident in my game.
And that's where I wanted to go,somewhere that believed in me
and wanted to give me a chance. So.
Again, look what those draft picks, guys that are looking to
prove themselves and and know kind of what they want to bring
(34:37):
specifically or their roles or whatever.
And then when you hear these players too, it's hey, I know
why here. There's a reason for it, I guess
you know. And then to your point with Trey
Alexander, him on his opportunity here.
I mean, just, you know, just going back and forth between
this and the G, but, you know, just being able to have more NBA
opportunities. I've been able to, we'd be
(34:58):
blessed to go to Denver and now come here where we have more of
a younger team and like we're trending towards trying to get
to, you know, one of the better teams in the West.
So I'm excited to be here. And, you know, for me as a
player is just one to get that opportunity.
And that's kind of what presented itself.
And you brought up with him the whole G League season thing.
Sometimes players look at that as, you know, not the league and
all that stuff. And I'm not saying it's not a
(35:20):
bad thing, but some players are obviously embrace it more than
others, I guess is a good way tosay it.
Here's what he had to say about that season.
He said he had a good G League season.
It was great, man. I was, it was a great year for
me. I was just excited to be able to
showcase what I could do since Iwasn't able to do it on the NBA
level. I mean, so it was just, you
know, having a chip on my shoulder every night down there
and you know, having fun with it.
(35:41):
At the end of the day, it's basketball.
I just play my game and and obviously I had a great year.
So that was that was good for me.
Yeah, I mean one of the biggest things that he showed in the G
League, beyond the scoring ability that was obvious of the
average that he put up was his three-point shooting as well.
I think he shot in the high 30s percentage wise in the G League.
He I had heard people mention this a little bit when they look
(36:03):
at his stats from the NBA seasonwith Denver that he shot, only
shot 18% from 3 point range. But I mean, let's be honest, I
mean, I think 90% of his minuteswere at the end of games in
games that were already decided.So I don't really know how much
of that really factors into to very much.
I mean, some guys he was, he was3 for 17 for just to give you
(36:25):
numbers. Some guys can go in at the end
of the game after they haven't played for two hours and go in
and play well. And other guys can't as much.
And Even so, like it's just not a fair, it's not a fair way to
judge his. And that what he did in the NBA,
because I mean, he not only did he play in only 24 games and he
played only 117 minutes, but I think in some of those cases, he
(36:47):
played two minutes on January 2nd and then two minutes on
January 28th. And you know what I mean?
It's like there's just no way that you can get into any kind
of rhythm or be able to fairly assess what that means.
I, I don't think it really meansa whole lot.
But what, what, what you saw himdo in the G League, though, was
just consistently be one of the best players in, in the league.
(37:08):
And that's one of the reasons why he was named the top rookie
in the G League. Very interesting about that.
He also didn't mention he playedwith the Denver Nuggetry and
they're a player on that team that's, I don't know, he's kind
of good, yes. Multiple.
Multiple MVP. Three times, I believe.
Pels might have drafted a playerthat I, I, I look, I'm not
(37:28):
saying he's going to be that kind of player, but can you, can
you explain for maybe some Pels fans that have no idea what I'm
kind of. You are.
Refining to. The NBA draft bio, I did not
realize this until I read this on the NBA official bio that
they distributed to everyone that when he when Derek Queen
was at Maryland, his teammates started calling him Baby Yokich.
(37:51):
So after, yes, after Denver's outstanding player.
So interesting, interesting thing that comes to mind.
Being the reporter that you are,what did you do?
Intrepid reporter After practiceJim Corners Trey Alexander says
he cannot go get a sip of water until you answer the following
question, which was. Which was what were basically,
(38:14):
what were your thoughts? I mean, you played with Yokich
for all of last season. You got to see him up close.
You got to see him in the playoffs, do what he does.
What do you think about the comparison, now that you've had
a couple practice days with their queen, of why his
teammates called him Baby Yokich?
Yeah, I mean, for sure, obviously he's he's a big,
probably not the most athletic like yoke, but he's very
(38:35):
skilled. He can beat you in many ways,
whether it be on the perimeter, he can knock down to three or he
can kill you down low. So I mean, I I like the
comparison for him. I feel like he's very comparable
to yoke like at a obviously his ceiling and even maybe maybe
even being better when in the years coming.
But I think that that's a great comparison.
(38:55):
I think that his game favors that very much because he can
play in and out and he's very hard to guard in any situation.
So I mean, I'd like to be compared to Brad Pitt, but I
that's not. He'd like to be called not just
Brad Pitt, but more even more handsome than.
Even more handsome than. Brad Tray Alexander, man, he
needs to Derrick Queen needs to hire him as his no doubt is his
(39:18):
marketing guy or his agent because he said in the clip that
you played, you know that he hasthe potential to be Jokic and
maybe even a level higher than that.
So, you know, no pressure, Derrick Queen.
We just want you to be better than than a guy who's won the
MVP award three times. No, no, no problem.
I'm sure that you can easily do that.
I do like this as we wrap up andyou you got to get to the plane,
man. You got to get to Vegas.
(39:38):
So, but here's the thing. I I think Rod Walker or the pic
of you and columnist, we've had him on on the podcast, he said
it best to you too as well. And I think we all kind of get
it. These guys are have have at the
very least breathe a little fresh air, right.
Would you would you say? I mean, I kind of sound like
Yoda right now trying to put these phrases together, but you
(40:00):
get I'm trying to get at it's just.
It's nice, right? I like hearing guys that are
hungry. I like hearing guys that are
hey, I'm going to go play some defense.
I want to guard the best player like in MICA, PV, Dairy Queen,
I'm the best player in the draft.
Can't wait to prove it, Jeremiahfears.
I'm ready to put on a show. These two way contract guys.
Hey, I came here because there'sopportunity here.
(40:21):
So you got two guys there they're looking to prove and
stuff. To your point, we've covered
teams and leagues and that's notbeing disrespectful where it's
like after a game or two, let's see what happens.
I, I kind of feel, I like what Ithink training camp is going to
be like. I think that whoever is on the
floor and it says Pelicans on their jersey might be playing
hard. And if you play hard, stuff can
(40:44):
happen. Good stuff.
And I think if you're a Bells fan, hey, why not TuneIn to
Thursday at 2:30, Saturday at 7:30 against the Lakers, you
know, and then next week at 9:00game and 830 game against the
Trail Blazers and Thunder in theback-to-back, which is very
weird. And some really have a
back-to-back. But still, it's it's at least I,
(41:05):
I, I want to tune in. I want to tune in, don't you?
Yeah, I mean, I think people should be excited for this.
And I mean, these games are alsogoing to be on Gulf Coast Sports
Network and Pelicans Plus as well.
I believe on Thursday, I know I will be there.
I believe Andrew Lopez and I aregoing to participate in a jet a
chat on Pelicans plus. So yeah, I'm excited.
(41:26):
I mean, I think we've done a decent job of getting people
fired up for summer league. And I know I'm, I'm ready for
this to get started and to see what some of these guys can do.
So let's tip the ball off. Yes, let's let's get started.
And look, we've we've gotten permission to to come back with
you on Friday. So obviously we'll talk about
the game on Thursday. We'll be with you next Monday,
Wednesday, Friday as well, Jim and company.
(41:48):
And again, we got a host of people that'll be out there, the
errands going towards the end. So we're going to have somebody
from the staff that covers your pills for you there throughout.
And then, you know, we'll be doing these podcasts here as
well. I might be able to even get the
graph to come watch the games with me or we're staying back.
We got to do some other things, but we're going to be doing all
that. So I, I'm interested to kind of
(42:08):
look at it from, hey, this is what it looked like on TV.
You're there Post game recaps, all of that, pelicans.com and of
course on the Pels podcast, right?
Yep, can't wait. I'm excited about 12:30 Pacific
Time on Thursday, 2:30 Central. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to be
getting there tonight and basically.
You're not going to go to sleepy, honest.
It's going to stay up the entire.
(42:30):
Time No, I, I, I probably shouldget some sleep, but yeah.
But yeah, I'm got a got a plane to catch in a little bit here
and so I'm ready to ready to play some summer league
basketball here. All right, Jim, I can offer
pelicans.com and again, we'll see you back on Friday to talk
about the Pels taking on the T Wolves.
It is a 2:30 central game tomorrow, which again you can
(42:52):
watch. It'll be on Pelicans Plus.
It'll be on GCGCSN. You'll be able to find it in one
way, shape or form for sure. And then, of course, Saturday
night, what else you got to do? 7:30 central time, Pelicans.
Lakers, Jim gets to see Ronnie James in person over there to
Thomas and Mack Center and it will tell you about the other
two games on Tuesday, Wednesday as we get closer to that.
(43:14):
But two games coming up Thursdayand Saturday, 2:30 tomorrow,
7:30 on Saturday. We'll be talking about it, of
course, here on the Pills podcast.
Thank you, Jim. Safe travel, Sir.
Thank you, Gus. Yep, and thank you for
listening. We'll see you next time on the
New Orleans Pelicans Podcast. Thanks for listening to the New
Orleans Pelicans Podcast. Join us three times per week on
(43:36):
pelicans.com, the Pelicans mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,
or where you get your podcast. And be sure to give Jim and Gus
a follow on X at Jim under scoreI Can offer and G Cap under
score 17. We'll see you next time right
here on the New Orleans PelicansPodcast.
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.
Hear from players, coaches, broadcasters, and those who
cover the NBA on a daily basis. It's time to flock up.
(00:27):
The New Orleans Pelicans Podcaststarts right now.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the New Orleans Pelicans
Podcast, official podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans, Gus
Kattengall. Mr. Jim, I can offer
pelicans.com. No, he's not tearing up the
strip in Las Vegas, but that will happen very shortly as your
New Orleans Pelicans will tip off Summer League tomorrow on
(00:50):
Thursdays. We record here on Wednesday.
It is here the eve of summer league action.
You've seen practice, now you get to see some games.
You're how excited are you, Sir?I'm excited, Gus.
And by the way, I'm supposed to get there around 8:30 tonight.
So by 9:00 I I should be tearingup Las Vegas.
That's it. You just.
Described. No, no, I'm ready for these
games. I think this is one of the most
(01:10):
anticipated summer leagues in a while for the Pelicans.
Maybe in the time since I've been here.
I mean, considering the fact that they have, by consensus,
they have two of the top ten players in the draft this year
and they're going to get to maketheir debuts Thursday against
Minnesota. So looking forward to this and
it should be a, an interesting thing.
I mean, we'll, I'm sure we're going to get into this.
(01:32):
It's not just the 2 lottery picks.
There's a bunch of other playersthat are worth keeping an eye on
for the Pelicans. That's a good point.
I kind of want to start there aspeople maybe are are are tuning
in and listening. And I get it, it's summer
league, right? And a lot of people will look at
it as well. It's not the real team and it's
not all that, but I have two I, I wouldn't say cases to present
or arguments to that. Or maybe I'll, I'll say, hey,
(01:53):
reasons why. Maybe you'll pay attention the
next two weeks. First and foremost, if you're a
Saints fan, it's two weeks to get you a little distracted and
then boom, when this ends, guesswhat?
It is the start of training camp.
So there you go. The Saints will be at training
camp on Wednesday, two days after the championship game of
summer league, to give you an idea.
But the main reason is it's whatyou said back on Monday.
(02:16):
We're done, right? You put the period on last
season, you close the chapter. This really does begin the next
era under Joe Dumars, the new season, all of those different
things. When you are at practice, do you
get that sense and feel that everyone was just ready to kind
of turn the page no matter what it is?
Yeah, I think so. And I mean, I would also add to
(02:37):
that if you think about it, withthe three draft picks to them,
last season was completely irrelevant.
So I mean, it's not just that we're turning the page from last
season, but just the fact that everything is kind of starting
fresh. So, yeah, I mean, there there
aren't that many guys on the summer league team that played
prominently for last year's teamEve me see, it would would be
the one guy that played a ton. There's a few other players that
(02:58):
played kind of we saw them more at the end of the season.
But yeah, I I definitely am looking forward to looking ahead
and not looking behind. And I do think that hopefully
with the performance of some of the younger guys and some of the
rookies starting in Thursday's game, that we will be able to
say, OK, this is a new day for the franchise and we'll be able
to start getting excited about what is going to happen a few
(03:20):
months down the road when the games start counting for real.
We're going to talk in specificsabout a couple of players here.
We kind of mentioned Fears and Queen obviously back on Monday.
We'll focus on PV, the third draft pick for the Pelicans who
came in the second round, who look here, here's my little, you
know, foreshadowing. I'm impressed.
I I love the way he speaks and what he wants to do and his
(03:41):
goals and everything. But and and then some, some two
way contract players. Here's what's an interesting
roster, right? It's an interesting roster when
you look at it from top to bottom and players.
Sometimes in some summers, Jim, you and I are like, hold on,
let's Google the others. It's very specific, like when
Zion a couple of years ago and it's about him.
Let's see what he does and everybody else, whatever.
(04:03):
But I feel like this summer league it's we want to set a
tone, want to set a culture. We want to set maybe some
foundations with some of these younger players.
Here's head coach Corey Brewer of the summer league teams.
Thoughts on a question you askedhim.
Hey, look at your rosters. Very interesting.
What does that present for you? Very exciting, that player.
I got a lot of dudes that can play and the best players are
(04:25):
going to play like I've been around a long time.
I've been in the same situation.They've been in both draft picks
fighting for my job like so. You play hard, you get to play.
If you ain't playing the right way, doing the right thing does.
That seem like it's, I would sayit's a mandate, but it's, it's,
it's definitely a, a, a vision of what we want to see here for
(04:46):
people that are tuning in and what to expect.
Yeah, I mean, I think going intothe regular season, the real NBA
season, I think that's going to be at the top of the list.
This team is going to have to play really hard.
I mean, we we're already seeing projections for them to be near
the bottom of the West. So I mean, to prove people
wrong, I think that's going to be one of the first things that
you have to check is that you'regoing to have to be one of the
most hard working teams, a team that consistently out hustles
(05:09):
your opponent. So I think, yeah, I think some
of the things that he described are going to be crucial for
summer league but also carrying over into the Pelicans 2526
season. We'll get into a couple of two
way contract players here in a little bit Eve me see somebody I
really want to get into. But look, you've been at
practice and a lot of people that are listening right now
haven't had a chance to see it like me.
(05:32):
Maybe you get to see some some highlights and you know, some
interviews, some post practice, but you actually get to see the
work and stuff. The things that keep standing
out to me is I keep hearing man fears is fast.
Wow, Queen seems like he can kind of play.
Macy looks bigger. I give us some, I guess,
observation, Sir, from actually being on the court and watching
this team practice. Yeah, I think specifically to
(05:53):
Eve Macy, a lot of it is just how I think how rapidly the
other players, including a bunchof guys that obviously had never
played with and before, understand how much of A of a
alley oop threat he is. And just, I mean, his
athleticism. We saw that a lot throughout his
rookie season where he was coming up with dunks that got
him on the ESPN highlight reels and that kind of thing.
(06:14):
But but yeah, I think people are, it seemed like players are
really looking for him constantly.
I I saw fears make some good passes to him.
Queen as well. They just recognize how much of
A of a dangerous guy he is as far as finishing around the
basket with the height and the length that he has and also that
athleticism and and the fact that he's gotten a little bit
(06:35):
stronger too. And that's smart, right?
If I'm one of these guys that's trying to make an impression on
this team, I just realized that guy started in NBA games.
He made one of the all rookie teams.
Feed my man, right? He's going to make me look good
and I can get on some highlights.
What What specifically though? Maybe about the draft picks and
fears Queen and PV stood out to you.
(06:57):
With fears it's definitely the ball handling I mean you watch
him play 2 possessions and you're like, man, this guy's
ball handling is is really good yeah I mean I, I want to I want
to I don't want to get too crazyhere and go overboard with some
of what I'm saying I want to seehim play obviously at the at the
very start Thursday against other NBA players and it gets
Minnesota. But yeah I I think he's he's
(07:19):
he's unique from the standpoint of coming into the NBA with the
ball handling package that he has.
It seems like if you pressure him he can kind of easily spin
off of you in the other direction.
He's just really tied to the ball so it it allows him to get
wherever he wants on the floor again, want to see that against
(07:39):
another NBA team and not just inpractice.
But it that doesn't surprise me because we saw that on video a
ton from his year at Oklahoma where he was just somebody that
you had difficulty keeping out of the paint with Queen.
I think he just plays he plays avery methodical game.
I mean, but I mean that in a good way.
You you definitely notice that he doesn't he's not crazy
(08:01):
athletic and his feet aren't crazy fast either, but he plays
at his own speed. It's hard to to kind of speed
him up. I saw some plays where he he
looked like he was kind of caught in the air with nowhere
to go with the ball. But he's so under control that
he can kind of make a last second decision or a pass.
And it looks like he's got, you know, he's caught in the air
with nowhere to go with the balland then he just drops it off to
(08:23):
somebody that he saw open. And PV to me is just as defense
stands out that he's just reallyaggressive and he's one of those
guys that is going to get in your face and also that he can
shoot threes as well. So I mean, I like what all of
them have shown and and now justlooking forward to seeing what
they can do in in summer league games.
Well, we spoke specifically about the the first two draft
(08:45):
picks and I think that's what's interesting to back on Monday,
Jim, is that look, but the Pelicans need ball handlers one
way shape or form. Things could be one of those
interesting battles when they have training camp here and when
they play in Australia in that pre season.
Who's going to start? We, we love the Jante Murray,
but he's not going to be available in October.
We know that, right? So who will get those minutes?
(09:06):
There's different players. I know the team officially
announced the arrival of Jordan Poole.
We can touch a little bit on that.
But it's going to be a handful of people vying to have those
ball, you know, the ball in their hands throughout the game.
To me, it's more of who's going to have it in the last stages of
that game, that fourth quarter, right?
Or when a team makes a run. The ability to understand that
sometimes maybe I get we get caught up on who's starting, but
(09:30):
a guy like Fears Jose who came off the bench, they're going to
play key minutes and moments. And in a game of runs when
they're on the court, they may be, they may be asked, hey, stop
that run on another team or extend the lead or cut into a
lead. I think sometimes, right, Jim,
we think of point guards, we think of starters.
But how important is a point guard when he comes off the
(09:52):
bench? Just as important as the
starters. Sometimes we see all the time
where Jose comes in and changes games.
He was able to do that a lot more two seasons ago when the
injuries were way less and his. He was in that role of six man
who plays a certain amount of minutes and just can go 100% all
out in that time. As opposed to, you know, games
(10:12):
last season where he played 3035minutes.
And you kind of have to conserveyour energy a little bit because
you don't want to end up in the ER at the end of the night with
IV in your arm. So yeah, I think we saw in the
playoffs too. I mean, with, for example, the
pressure defense that Indiana can put on the court and
Oklahoma City's defense just in general, that it's very
(10:33):
important that you have multipleguys that can do something off
the dribble. Because if you only have one guy
out there and they double tripleteam that guy and you don't have
other people that can make plays, it can really turn your
offense into a, into a, a mess. So, so yeah, I, I think that it
is important. It's something that we'll be
watching as, especially when we get into training camp, to see
how that kind of plays out. Mike so with with fears ball
(10:56):
handler guy can score Queens a guy who seems to be able to make
different place a matter of factCorey Brewer after a practice 2
practices ago was very specific in in answering this question
about what he thinks about Queens so far through a couple
of practices you. Can see Queens do a lot of
things, playmaker, he can play multiple positions and of course
and he's worth 5 pick and roll, you'll see that.
(11:18):
OK, so we'll we'll see what thatis.
We haven't had a chance to really talk about Micah Peavey,
the third draft pick for the Pels this past draft.
And I I don't know it. I don't get carried away kind of
like you are with with Jeremiah Fears.
But he sounds like a pro. I mean, he just, he, he sounds
completely. Polished.
Yeah. And the other thing I was going
(11:38):
to say is this is my role. This is who I am.
I'm I'm all about it. And in terms of what I'm getting
at, see if you guys can pick this up and Jim will kind of
detail it here. Mike is a really good defender,
you know, you can tell that he loves play defense and he plays
hard. So for us around here, that's
breath of fresh air, so we're happy to have.
All right, so that's the coach saying he likes to play defense.
(12:00):
Here is PV A. Lot of guys don't like playing
defense and I love it. I like being scored on.
I like other the other team getting buckets.
So I just like to take pride in that and get some stuffs have.
You always kind of been that way.
On that, yeah, that's ever sinceI was little.
That's my dad's a coach and that's what he preaches.
So that's what I've always. Been.
I love that. Kind of sounds like the son of a
(12:20):
a basketball coach. Yeah.
I mean, he's really mature. We've we've talked about this I
think over the last few years that the the maturity of a lot
of the players that are coming into the NBA is at a higher
level than maybe it was 1015 years ago.
Not sure how much of that is because of the players are more
savvy, they're more media trained.
They get maybe more instruction at a younger age than they used
(12:44):
to. But yeah, I'm, I'm impressed
with PB. You know, another thing about
him too, I know we're going to probably talk a lot about his
defense, not in just summer league but going forward in his
career. But he also made a big jump
offensively in his last season in college at Georgetown.
He averaged 17 points a game andhe shot 40% from 3 point range.
I think he's mentioned that a couple times lately too, that he
(13:04):
knows that at the offensive end of the court, the most important
thing for him, especially in theNBA where he's not going to be
the number one option, is to be able to make some of those spot
up shots. Here's what he had to say after
practice. I'm.
Just knocking down that corner three, I got to be ready to
shoot. I got to show that I can shoot
at this level. It's it's deeper, it's different
ball, but I think I'm going to show that I can't shoot at this
(13:26):
level. I mean, and again, it's, it's,
it's knowing what you can do right and being ready for that.
I, I think that's so important. And I guess what I mean by that
is there are certain ways on this team you're going to make
the the floor. It just is right.
And that is well defending. And I thought it was
interesting. After practice, he was asked,
(13:47):
you had a chance to meet Willie Green briefly after practice.
How? How was that conversation?
I mean, I, I like him a lot. Like I said, I like how he plays
the defensive wings and he was just talking about my defense
and how it's going to get me on the court.
So I'm a just just keep doing that.
You got to have the self-awareness to know when you
come into the NBA of what not just what you can do, but what
(14:09):
may be our areas. You don't want to stay away from
me. I think he understands, as a lot
of rookies do, that he's not going to come out of the court
and play ISO ball and say, hey, can let's run a play for me and
I'm going to dribble 15 times and everyone else stands around.
I mean, it's it's going to be more you catch the ball, you
make a decision, you move it. We talked about .5 basketball in
terms of, you know, making quickdecisions and not just holding
(14:31):
the ball. So yeah, I think he definitely
seems to have a really good understanding of, I'm sure based
on conversations that he's had, not just with the Pelicans after
they drafted him, but team leading up to the draft, meeting
with teams and them explaining to him like this is what we see
from you. It seems like he has a pretty
good handle on what his strengths are and how he's going
(14:52):
to be not just effective, but you know what, give himself the
best chance to actually get on the court and get minutes, which
is not something at all that's agiven for a second round pick in
the NBA. I'm asking an overall thought
here in a quick SEC, but something keeps standing out to
me, Jeremiah Fears said this week.
I, I can't wait to put on the show right, Derek Queen.
(15:14):
I'm looking forward to day one of showing people they were
wrong. He's got that old chip on his
shoulder. Here's what Micah Peavey says
he's interested in showing in Vegas.
It's not my dog that I just makewhen he plays.
I want to. I want to guard the best player
on the court. I want to show what I can do.
I'm fully understanding it's July 9th as we record.
Nothing's been played, but coming off of a season like we
(15:37):
just saw, I'm a Pels fan. Am I wrong to get excited about
hearing these three new additions to this team eager to
do this? Corey Brewer We're we're here to
win. I want to win.
We want to play hard and want towin.
I'm OK with whatever and howeverit is because I can almost
picture you in so many podcasts last season, man.
(15:59):
What what are we here to do? Are we here to win?
It's about competition, right? Whether it's I'm tossing the
ball with my son, you're playingpick up it in the driveway.
The whole point is to win and I like that.
It almost seems like these threeguys, you're going to get to a
couple other guys, these two wayplayers here as well.
Me see, trying to get I like thefact, hey, let's go out there
(16:20):
and compete and win. And I love hearing this guy in
particular saying I want to guard the best player on their
team. I like hearing that.
My sense is that you're not alone in that at all.
Because just from kind of a cursory look at people talking
on social media, whatever platform, I have heard seen some
fans say, man, it's refreshing to listen to some of these guys
(16:40):
talk because they are injecting some level of belief and
confidence into the team that, you know, obviously we'll see
you. You want to be able to maintain
that after you start playing andyou real in some of the
realities of the NBA as a rookiecoming to play where you're
going to face obstacles, you're going to have challenges, you're
going to have games where you don't play well.
(17:00):
But but as a starting point, I Iagree.
I mean, I, I like the way that all of them are talking about
the season. And so for people that have feel
dejected by the 21 season and the way things have gone, maybe
you want to just listen to theseguys.
We'll send them to your house and and they can give you a pep
talk. Look, I think having the right
(17:20):
mindset matters. It just really does right.
And it goes again to what Joe Dumar said back day one and on
the night of the draft. It's getting players in here
where you don't have to go tell,hey, we need you to play hard
tonight. It's going and getting players
where, hey, we need to do this for what's better for the team,
you know, and, and again, I understand we, we've gotten 2-3
(17:42):
days of them, but it's got to start somewhere.
And I think maybe at the very least, I can say maybe we're
seeing why every time Joe Moore's Joe Dumar speaks on
these players, he's so high on them.
Maybe you see why they were veryspecific and very no, the these
they, we target them for a reason or targeted them for a
(18:04):
reason, right? When would you kind of feel that
when you're watching them at practice?
There's a reason. Definitely.
And by the way, I don't want to go down this rabbit hole again
because I'll probably do this many times over the next few
months. Hopefully.
I do it a lot actually, because I bring it up for a good reason.
But I mean, when you see some ofthe assessments, evaluations of
the draft that the Pelicans had with these three players, it
(18:25):
does blow my mind sometimes. That's like people are talking
about everything except for the players that they drafted.
No, 2026 is much more important I.
Don't know if you knew that. I mean, the fact that it does
seem like, and I don't think there's many people that would
disagree with me on this, especially in New Orleans, but
it does seem like at times it's like you for you're in the whole
conversation. You're losing sight of the fact
(18:45):
that they drafted a guy at 7:00 that a lot of people feel like
has potential to be a star player in the NBA someday.
And they also got two guys in the top 10.
If you look at the consensus they got from nba.com, that they
got the 7th best player on the mock drafts and the 9th best
player. It feels like that that part of
the conversation is lost. And it's like the point of the
(19:05):
draft is to add good players andto add guys that you feel
excited about and that have the potential to impact you in
winning games, hopefully immediately.
So it does, it does seem, but again, I don't want to get into
that. I'm sure we'll have plenty of
time to discuss that throughout the season.
And if things go the way that I think that they could, maybe
(19:26):
you'll have to talk to me. You'll have to tell me.
Hey, Jim, you can't talk about this again today.
No, I, I'm with you. I love it.
So kind of wanted y'all to kind of get an idea of these these
draft picks. But Jim, I got to be honest,
when I look up and down that roster, there's a player that
I'm very eager to see here as well because I thought he had a
tremendous rookie season. Leave me see and one of the
(19:46):
things that everyone has pointedout already in the lab videos.
He has his own YouTube channel. I don't know if you knew that I
am not even take some friends. Seen it, but yeah, I've heard
about it. He put on a little size and I
thought it was interesting. After practice, he tells us why
he thought it was important. I mean, the league is more
physical edition every year. So we have guys that are like
(20:07):
250 on both, mostly center. So I got to get up there.
Obviously don't mess around withmy atheism.
And obviously. I'm the gorgeous guy every
night, so it doesn't make it forme.
I'm going to ask you to comment about whether or not he looks
bigger or not and how that may help, but I really thought
something else stood out. Corey Burr on what he sees the
difference between BC last year and this year.
(20:28):
That's going to help him a lot. But the main thing that's
helping Eve right now, he's confident.
We know a lot of times, you know, you can put on a way, you
can do different things, but confidence is very important to
basketball and he's very confident right now and so I'm
happy with. You How much have you seen this
confidence grow from like? He got here from last year on
this time for now. When he got here, he didn't know
if he was. He didn't know what he was.
(20:49):
He was just happy to be here. Now he's like he knows he
deserves to be here and he's just getting better and it's
just great. Kid works his butt off.
That's that's why I love. You and I called his games in
Summer League last year. We were in Nashville and we
obviously saw him there in the season.
When you were out there this past weekend, what did you see?
(21:09):
Yeah, I thought he's at a different level physically.
As we mentioned. It doesn't surprise me that his
confidence has gone up. Because if you think about it,
if you rewind all the way back to the draft in 2024, there were
a lot of people projecting that he was going to have a red shirt
year, that it was going to be one of those things where maybe
he doesn't play a ton. Maybe they bring him along
slowly and what do you know, theopener against Chicago, you're
(21:32):
already like, this guy is playing like he's a legit NBA
player. And then a couple games later, I
believe he was already a starter.
So, yeah, I, I, I can totally see how after he went through
the experience of last year where even I don't want to put
words in his mouth, but even to me, maybe he, he even had the,
the, IT kind of dawned on him. Like, man, I think I'm, I get,
(21:54):
maybe I'm more ready to, to contribute than even I thought I
was going to be. So, I mean, yeah, he, he seems
like a quick learner to. I think he's really smart.
And I think that's one of the reasons why we saw some just
epic strides. I remember people around the
team saying that even from, you know, we talked about I, I
remember talking to somebody about like in October when the
(22:15):
regular season started. Like, man, what a difference
between now in July summer league and somebody said to me,
what a difference between now and yeah, a week ago or, or the
beginning of training camp, which was the same month in
October. It is crazy.
I mean, sponge was something youheard a lot too that it and it's
something else too where you just have to tell him once and
he figures it out and he doesn'ttake long to understand and get
(22:37):
better at it. And again, one of those players,
Jim, I know it wasn't under Joe Dumars, but one of those players
that he's a hard worker already.That's all anybody ever really
talks about how hard he works and does that.
He answered to the question, youknow what, what did you want to
improve on this year? This way, like I said, get
bigger and then my finishing. I feel sometime I just get to
(23:00):
finish a little more. It's not something it's not
something I can not really do. I just get to focus a little
more. So also doesn't know anything
for me. And I think what he says
finishing, it's probably some ofthose times where the ball is
handed to him in the paint, right?
And he goes off his hands and things that nature or or he
misses the dumb. Yeah.
Exactly, but the opportunities at least they'll be there.
I I think something else that's interesting that I'm going to be
paying attention to again as summer league starts.
(23:21):
As you know, the game start thisweek tomorrow.
Him, I mean, he he should look like the best player in the team
and we kind of hint at it already.
He's he should help Jeremiah fears, he should help Derrick
Queen should help those guys. I I thought it was interesting
he brought up how Derrick Queen can maybe help him.
Yeah, obviously we're trying some stuff obviously for the
somebody when we were playing around and then just play he and
(23:44):
I on the court and then see how it looks like it.
I like it so far, right? So what exactly can he do?
I will say on Defect I can see because he brings size.
So on the rebounding side is better.
Now guys have to worry about himand I and obviously in the
offense he can play me for everyone, not only me, and I can
just play off him. Game guys attracted to about
him. Again.
(24:05):
Just play all that. I think that's going to be near
the top of our list of things that we're going to be watching
is those two, two guys playing off of each other with Queens
passing that Eve mentioned and Eve's ability to finish around
the basket. I think some of what Eve talked
about in terms of that he wants to improve on how much he
converts around the rim or even at the rim is a matter of the
(24:26):
game slowing down for him a little bit.
I think there were times where, you know, not to make excuses
for him, but there was, I think there were times where he was a
little rushed on some of his plays at the basket where he
some of his missed dunks might have been, you know, he's
worried about getting his shot blocked.
I think as you get more experience and you play against
some of the best centers in the league, you get a better feel
for, OK, I can take a half second longer than I think and I
(24:49):
can finish this play. So I think, I think that's some
of it is just the experience that he got from last season.
I think something else that stands out to me is a lot of
people, and rightfully so, we include him.
I'm excited to see how that offensive game sort of develops
here as well. One of my highlights of last
season was the Miles Turner, right, Duncan block and all
these different by I think he blocked Yokich.
(25:11):
I mean, he he had some pretty big defensive moments in the
season. And I would say that's probably
one of the things that was really surprising from the get
go. And he talked about how Jimmy,
it wasn't just I'm going to jumpand hope this he studies the
film, what a player likes to where to meet the player on the
basket, where to step on the court so he doesn't come in a
foul while doing those things. So I thought it was interesting
(25:34):
going back to Micah Peavey, a second round draft pick for the
Pelicans. He was asked about me.
See. Listen to what he had to.
Say throw it up there. He don't catch everything he
guards. So it's easy and it's meet him
fears and everybody's on the court guard and it's it's it's
fun to watch and it's fun to play with.
Are you interested to see him inthese games defensively, how
(25:54):
maybe guys like that can can work together?
Definitely, because as Micah Peavey mentioned there, they do
have the ability to put some groups of players out there
together that you would think have potential to be really
dangerous defensively, may be disruptive, get some steals, get
some turnovers, run out the other way.
I won't. I'm curious to see how fast they
play, if they try to play a little faster than, you know,
(26:17):
average or what they did during the regular season.
So I mean, just overall too, I mean, we, we kind of touched on
this a little bit at the beginning, but I mean, if you
want to kind of give like a broad overall picture of this
roster. I mean, the most, one of the
most concise ways I would put itis you have the three draft
picks that we mentioned. You have 4 guys, veteran players
that played on the team last last season.
(26:38):
We we talked about Misi, they also have Lester Quinones who
was on a two way contract, Keon Brooks and then Antonio Reeves
as well. So that's four guys that played
a good amount on the roster. And then you have the 2 two way
contracts guys, the new 2 two way guys with Hunter Dickinson
and Trey Alexander. So I mean that's nine guys
between the three draftees, the four vets in the 2 two way guys
(27:00):
that have a, a very defined connection to the roster.
They're not just players that were signed that are just going
to kind of pass through in summer league and then you might
not hear from them again, as we see with, you know, teams,
Pelicans teams and summer teams in the past and you know, squads
across the league. So I mean that that's part of
it. It's this is a very relevant
summer league. It's not one of those things
(27:21):
like as you mentioned at the beginning, that you're going to
have to do a bunch of Google searches.
We've already gotten to know a lot about these players because
they played on the Pelicans or were drafted a couple weeks ago
in in Brooklyn all. Right, so I'm excited, right to
to see what he means he can sortof do and what this roster can
sort of do anything else on me before we move on that stood.
Out No, I think I think that's mostly, mostly it with him.
(27:45):
I I just want to see him, you know, as you said, be one of the
better players in summer league and just kind of carry over the
experience they had last year. I don't know if we're going to
go into this saying, you know, he for him to do that, he has to
average 2025 points a game. But but yeah, be a defensive
presence, be a be a consistent rebounder.
(28:05):
I mean, he was really good in the rebounding category
throughout his rookie season as well.
So just just to see him take another step and and as we go
forward into the season. We're going to talk about
pressure on a certain player in a fun way here in a little bit,
but no pressure on him for me onEve Macy.
But I'm interested if if it's similar to a couple of summer
(28:30):
leagues ago, the night and day. I wouldn't even say night and
day, but just a hey, there's something to this guy
transformation. Trey Murphy, remember after year
1, summer league, going into Year 2, that guy was dominant.
And I remember watching those games going, oh, we can.
We knew he could shoot the three, but he he added driving
(28:51):
to the basket, he dunked later that year.
He would enter the dunk contest,right?
But we didn't see that before the season before the summer
before, like that summer league.We're like, hey, this guy might
be a player and now, now he's a starter, right?
I mean, now you look at so I'm interested to see what kind of
vision or you know, what he's going to look like.
(29:13):
I, I, I just feel like Misi could probably dominate, you
know, you know, So I'm interested in that.
Yeah, I think it's about branching out.
It's about just going beyond what the normal scope of what
you're you do during the regularseason and even if he does some
things in summer league that aren't necessarily going to
carry over to the regular season.
And I I guess part of what I mean with that is just if he's a
(29:34):
higher usage offensive player insummer league, I don't know
necessarily if that's going to carry over because you know,
he's not going to be, you know, the second option, the starting
lineup or the third option. He's going to be more of a
opportunistic guy, But it would be good to see him do just kind
of add to his arsenal offensively.
I loved what I saw from him as arookie in terms of the progress
(29:55):
that he made in the low post, some of his footwork, and so if
we can see some of that in summer league, that would be a
positive as well. All right.
So let's wrap up with I guess the other elements to this
roster. That's I guess an interesting
point, Jim, and that is the factthat you have a couple of two
way contract players in which you mentioned Hunter Dickinson
and Trey Alexander. Would you like to start off
(30:17):
with? Let's start with Trey Alexander.
He had an outstanding G league season.
He was with Denver on a two way contract.
He was the rookie of the year inthe G league.
He averaged 25 ish points per game.
But he was in a situation where with the Nuggets, the the main
run, he played in 24 games, but it was almost exclusively games
(30:39):
where it was a blowout and he played at the end of the game.
Incidentally, he played two minutes against the Pelicans in
a game in February in Denver that people probably remember
but would like to forget where the Nuggets were up by, you
know, 25 points and they won. Yeah, one of one of
unfortunately, there were quite a few of those, especially on
the road last season. But I think I'm curious to to
(31:00):
watch him because, I mean, if you look at what he did in the G
League, it's impressive. And so I think he he talked
about it a little bit after practice on Tuesday about how he
was looking for the opportunity to contribute more.
I think with Denver, I mean, there's no guarantees here in
terms of what he's going to to do for the Pelicans during the
(31:21):
real season. But with Denver, they had a
bunch of guys that they drafted recently that I think they're, I
know their front office wanted to get opportunities that were
he was, they were kind of ahead of him in the in the depth chart
in the pecking order, whether itwas Julian Strother, players
like that. So he really didn't get a great
chance to play last season. So I he cited that as one of the
reasons why he wanted to come toNew Orleans.
(31:43):
And by the way, two people, if you have time, you should check
out the interviews from after Tuesdays practice with Trey
Alexander. And then the other two way
contract signee is Hunter Dickinson, who played for Kansas
and Michigan in college. They both gave really good
interviews. They both spoke for quite a
while, which was, I wasn't really expecting them to, to be
kind of at the podium for as long as they were, but they both
(32:06):
had some interesting things to say.
And as far as Dickinson goes, I think the most notable part
about his story is that he was agreat college player.
I mean, he was wooden All American for both Michigan and
Kansas, which the only player I,I, I read this that he's the
only player in college history that was a wooden all American
for two different colleges. He was one of the best players
(32:28):
in in the the conference for Kansas the last couple years as
well. But he was not in for example,
he wasn't in the top on the big board of the athletic.
They posted the 75 best draft prospects.
He wasn't on that. So I think he has a little bit
of motivation from the fact thatdespite he was constantly
accomplishing good things and outplaying other players at the
(32:49):
college level, but it seemed like his, he was still kind of
discounted and downplayed as he entered the draft.
And he wasn't surprised that he wasn't picked because of I'm
sure he heard all of those, all of those reports.
The old chip on the shoulder. Yeah, no, definitely.
I think, you know, everybody's trying to look for a chip on
their shoulder. I think a lot of people feel
like that helps them play. And I knew with my age and how
many years I've been in college is going to be really hard for
(33:11):
me This, you know, that's the name of the game now.
But I knew once I got here, I have a shot and that's all I was
looking for was, you know, to have a shot, to be able to prove
myself. And, you know, again, that's why
I said earlier, that's why I wanted to go to New Orleans
because I feel like the organization had, you know, a
plan for me and then felt like, you know, the I felt like I
deserved and belonged here. So and.
(33:32):
When he talked about he his age and that he played in college
for five years, when he said it,I knew it was going to be hard
for me. I think he specifically meant it
was going to be hard for me to get drafted, not that it was
going to be difficult to play inthe NBAI think he was
referencing just his acceptance and understanding and just being
realistic about going into draftnight or the I guess to draft
(33:54):
night, two nights of drafts, that it was pretty likely that
he wasn't going to be get picked.
So then he had already moved on mentally to OK, where do I find
the best situation for me? And then obviously the Pelicans
wanted to sign him to a 2 two way contract and he decided that
this was the best place for him.Yeah, along those lines.
Yeah, I felt like it was a greatfit for me.
You know, I felt like, you know,wherever I wanted to go, I
(34:16):
wanted someone that believed in me and believed that I was an
NBA caliber player. And I felt like here, you know,
after my workout, they they spoke really highly of me and
felt really confident in my game.
And that's where I wanted to go,somewhere that believed in me
and wanted to give me a chance. So.
Again, look what those draft picks, guys that are looking to
prove themselves and and know kind of what they want to bring
(34:37):
specifically or their roles or whatever.
And then when you hear these players too, it's hey, I know
why here. There's a reason for it, I guess
you know. And then to your point with Trey
Alexander, him on his opportunity here.
I mean, just, you know, just going back and forth between
this and the G, but, you know, just being able to have more NBA
opportunities. I've been able to, we'd be
(34:58):
blessed to go to Denver and now come here where we have more of
a younger team and like we're trending towards trying to get
to, you know, one of the better teams in the West.
So I'm excited to be here. And, you know, for me as a
player is just one to get that opportunity.
And that's kind of what presented itself.
And you brought up with him the whole G League season thing.
Sometimes players look at that as, you know, not the league and
all that stuff. And I'm not saying it's not a
(35:20):
bad thing, but some players are obviously embrace it more than
others, I guess is a good way tosay it.
Here's what he had to say about that season.
He said he had a good G League season.
It was great, man. I was, it was a great year for
me. I was just excited to be able to
showcase what I could do since Iwasn't able to do it on the NBA
level. I mean, so it was just, you
know, having a chip on my shoulder every night down there
and you know, having fun with it.
(35:41):
At the end of the day, it's basketball.
I just play my game and and obviously I had a great year.
So that was that was good for me.
Yeah, I mean one of the biggest things that he showed in the G
League, beyond the scoring ability that was obvious of the
average that he put up was his three-point shooting as well.
I think he shot in the high 30s percentage wise in the G League.
He I had heard people mention this a little bit when they look
(36:03):
at his stats from the NBA seasonwith Denver that he shot, only
shot 18% from 3 point range. But I mean, let's be honest, I
mean, I think 90% of his minuteswere at the end of games in
games that were already decided.So I don't really know how much
of that really factors into to very much.
I mean, some guys he was, he was3 for 17 for just to give you
(36:25):
numbers. Some guys can go in at the end
of the game after they haven't played for two hours and go in
and play well. And other guys can't as much.
And Even so, like it's just not a fair, it's not a fair way to
judge his. And that what he did in the NBA,
because I mean, he not only did he play in only 24 games and he
played only 117 minutes, but I think in some of those cases, he
(36:47):
played two minutes on January 2nd and then two minutes on
January 28th. And you know what I mean?
It's like there's just no way that you can get into any kind
of rhythm or be able to fairly assess what that means.
I, I don't think it really meansa whole lot.
But what, what, what you saw himdo in the G League, though, was
just consistently be one of the best players in, in the league.
(37:08):
And that's one of the reasons why he was named the top rookie
in the G League. Very interesting about that.
He also didn't mention he playedwith the Denver Nuggetry and
they're a player on that team that's, I don't know, he's kind
of good, yes. Multiple.
Multiple MVP. Three times, I believe.
Pels might have drafted a playerthat I, I, I look, I'm not
(37:28):
saying he's going to be that kind of player, but can you, can
you explain for maybe some Pels fans that have no idea what I'm
kind of. You are.
Refining to. The NBA draft bio, I did not
realize this until I read this on the NBA official bio that
they distributed to everyone that when he when Derek Queen
was at Maryland, his teammates started calling him Baby Yokich.
(37:51):
So after, yes, after Denver's outstanding player.
So interesting, interesting thing that comes to mind.
Being the reporter that you are,what did you do?
Intrepid reporter After practiceJim Corners Trey Alexander says
he cannot go get a sip of water until you answer the following
question, which was. Which was what were basically,
(38:14):
what were your thoughts? I mean, you played with Yokich
for all of last season. You got to see him up close.
You got to see him in the playoffs, do what he does.
What do you think about the comparison, now that you've had
a couple practice days with their queen, of why his
teammates called him Baby Yokich?
Yeah, I mean, for sure, obviously he's he's a big,
probably not the most athletic like yoke, but he's very
(38:35):
skilled. He can beat you in many ways,
whether it be on the perimeter, he can knock down to three or he
can kill you down low. So I mean, I I like the
comparison for him. I feel like he's very comparable
to yoke like at a obviously his ceiling and even maybe maybe
even being better when in the years coming.
But I think that that's a great comparison.
(38:55):
I think that his game favors that very much because he can
play in and out and he's very hard to guard in any situation.
So I mean, I'd like to be compared to Brad Pitt, but I
that's not. He'd like to be called not just
Brad Pitt, but more even more handsome than.
Even more handsome than. Brad Tray Alexander, man, he
needs to Derrick Queen needs to hire him as his no doubt is his
(39:18):
marketing guy or his agent because he said in the clip that
you played, you know that he hasthe potential to be Jokic and
maybe even a level higher than that.
So, you know, no pressure, Derrick Queen.
We just want you to be better than than a guy who's won the
MVP award three times. No, no, no problem.
I'm sure that you can easily do that.
I do like this as we wrap up andyou you got to get to the plane,
man. You got to get to Vegas.
(39:38):
So, but here's the thing. I I think Rod Walker or the pic
of you and columnist, we've had him on on the podcast, he said
it best to you too as well. And I think we all kind of get
it. These guys are have have at the
very least breathe a little fresh air, right.
Would you would you say? I mean, I kind of sound like
Yoda right now trying to put these phrases together, but you
(40:00):
get I'm trying to get at it's just.
It's nice, right? I like hearing guys that are
hungry. I like hearing guys that are
hey, I'm going to go play some defense.
I want to guard the best player like in MICA, PV, Dairy Queen,
I'm the best player in the draft.
Can't wait to prove it, Jeremiahfears.
I'm ready to put on a show. These two way contract guys.
Hey, I came here because there'sopportunity here.
(40:21):
So you got two guys there they're looking to prove and
stuff. To your point, we've covered
teams and leagues and that's notbeing disrespectful where it's
like after a game or two, let's see what happens.
I, I kind of feel, I like what Ithink training camp is going to
be like. I think that whoever is on the
floor and it says Pelicans on their jersey might be playing
hard. And if you play hard, stuff can
(40:44):
happen. Good stuff.
And I think if you're a Bells fan, hey, why not TuneIn to
Thursday at 2:30, Saturday at 7:30 against the Lakers, you
know, and then next week at 9:00game and 830 game against the
Trail Blazers and Thunder in theback-to-back, which is very
weird. And some really have a
back-to-back. But still, it's it's at least I,
(41:05):
I, I want to tune in. I want to tune in, don't you?
Yeah, I mean, I think people should be excited for this.
And I mean, these games are alsogoing to be on Gulf Coast Sports
Network and Pelicans Plus as well.
I believe on Thursday, I know I will be there.
I believe Andrew Lopez and I aregoing to participate in a jet a
chat on Pelicans plus. So yeah, I'm excited.
(41:26):
I mean, I think we've done a decent job of getting people
fired up for summer league. And I know I'm, I'm ready for
this to get started and to see what some of these guys can do.
So let's tip the ball off. Yes, let's let's get started.
And look, we've we've gotten permission to to come back with
you on Friday. So obviously we'll talk about
the game on Thursday. We'll be with you next Monday,
Wednesday, Friday as well, Jim and company.
(41:48):
And again, we got a host of people that'll be out there, the
errands going towards the end. So we're going to have somebody
from the staff that covers your pills for you there throughout.
And then, you know, we'll be doing these podcasts here as
well. I might be able to even get the
graph to come watch the games with me or we're staying back.
We got to do some other things, but we're going to be doing all
that. So I, I'm interested to kind of
(42:08):
look at it from, hey, this is what it looked like on TV.
You're there Post game recaps, all of that, pelicans.com and of
course on the Pels podcast, right?
Yep, can't wait. I'm excited about 12:30 Pacific
Time on Thursday, 2:30 Central. Yeah, I mean, I'm going to be
getting there tonight and basically.
You're not going to go to sleepy, honest.
It's going to stay up the entire.
(42:30):
Time No, I, I, I probably shouldget some sleep, but yeah.
But yeah, I'm got a got a plane to catch in a little bit here
and so I'm ready to ready to play some summer league
basketball here. All right, Jim, I can offer
pelicans.com and again, we'll see you back on Friday to talk
about the Pels taking on the T Wolves.
It is a 2:30 central game tomorrow, which again you can
(42:52):
watch. It'll be on Pelicans Plus.
It'll be on GCGCSN. You'll be able to find it in one
way, shape or form for sure. And then, of course, Saturday
night, what else you got to do? 7:30 central time, Pelicans.
Lakers, Jim gets to see Ronnie James in person over there to
Thomas and Mack Center and it will tell you about the other
two games on Tuesday, Wednesday as we get closer to that.
(43:14):
But two games coming up Thursdayand Saturday, 2:30 tomorrow,
7:30 on Saturday. We'll be talking about it, of
course, here on the Pills podcast.
Thank you, Jim. Safe travel, Sir.
Thank you, Gus. Yep, and thank you for
listening. We'll see you next time on the
New Orleans Pelicans Podcast. Thanks for listening to the New
Orleans Pelicans Podcast. Join us three times per week on
(43:36):
pelicans.com, the Pelicans mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,
or where you get your podcast. And be sure to give Jim and Gus
a follow on X at Jim under scoreI Can offer and G Cap under
score 17. We'll see you next time right
here on the New Orleans PelicansPodcast.
Host
Jim Eichenhofer
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