July 7, 2025 • 35 mins
On the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast for Monday, July 7, 2025, Jim Eichenhofer and Gus Kattengell preview Pelicans Summer League and discuss this year's goals in Las Vegas.
Hear from Pelicans first round draft picks Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen about their first practice and Summer League head coach Corey Brewer about his expectations for the team.
Andrew Lopez goes one-on-one with the new Pelicans draft picks as Joel Meyers and Antonio Daniels discuss all the moves the Pels have made so far heading into Summer League play.
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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. As always, we appreciate you for
tuning us in and it is a couple months away from the start of
the regular season. Jim, I can offer pelicans.com.
I don't like you, but I'm already excited, as excited as
(00:49):
I've been for summer basketball in a long, long time.
As the Pels have started practice for summer league,
which begins this week, they're off and running four games, 5
total, 4 already on the schedule, the 5th depending on
their win loss record. But Jim, they had practice.
We talked about practice back onSunday.
Sir, how are you? Good to see you.
(01:09):
I'm doing well, Gus. Yeah, I mean, I think I'm
excited as well. I mean, if you think about it,
the Pelicans are one of two teams that have two lottery
picks in this draft. And we talked in a recent
episode about, you know, the discussion about the trade for
Derek Queen. I think it's time now to look at
what these guys are going to do on the court.
And I think that's the importantthing, the fact that they have
the 7th pick in the draft and the 13th pick in the draft.
(01:31):
So I mean, yeah, there there haven't been many years where
the Pelicans have had this caliber of draft pick, this
level of player debuting in summer league.
I think if you could go all the way back to 2012 when they had
the first pick in the draft and the 10th pick in the draft,
Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers.But and think Davis didn't play
in that summer league because hegot picked up by the Olympic
(01:52):
team. So I mean, this might be, you
know, objectively this might be the most exciting summer league
for the Pelicans and maybe ever if you look at where these two
guys were picked in the in the draft.
No doubt we got a fun show linedup for.
You're going to hear from these players here as well.
Look, Andrew Lopez even had someone on one today and you'll
get the full interview over on the Pell's website.
(02:14):
Antonio Daniels and Joe Myers, they'll be back as their
contract got extended here to have their thoughts as to what's
coming up here as well. They sound excited, Jim, but
when do they normally not sound excited here as well?
Plus, the team officially announcing a move that involved
a trade. So adding some veteran presents
in there and Jim's going to givehis thoughts on that.
But obviously, look, let's be honest, right?
(02:35):
One of the main reasons, man that they're shipping you out
there to tear up the Strip in Vegas to focus on the 2 picks
that the Pelican selected in thefirst round, Jeremiah Fears and
Derrick Queen. This is Corey Brewer, who I I
can't wait to see him on the sidelines as the summer league
coach. He's been with the staff for a
while. I think he just got done.
He might still be sweating from playing the three on three, you
(02:59):
know, league that he was doing that here as well.
But yesterday after practice, hewas asked flat out what?
What are we going to see with these two rookies in in specific
with Fears and Queen when it comes to minutes?
Let's see what he said. Oh, it's.
Going to be really important, you know, those guys are going
to get a ton of minutes, of course, just because you know,
our draft pick, our guys and we want to see what we got.
So we got if you put those guys out there in the right positions
(03:19):
and, you know, let them succeed.Right.
So lots of minutes, Jim is what he's saying that they're going
to put him out in in positions to succeed and to fail.
I love that he said that first and foremost, but specifically
we said. Jeremiah's fast, that's first.
And president, fast, man, He gets up and down the court
really fast. He's going to be a good player.
Good young guy. Derek can really play.
(03:40):
He can really score the ball. He can pass.
So I like both. I love both those guys.
Had a little Intel as the graph was in there as well on Sunday.
And I just text him. What did he think?
And he, he just, he just gave methe little smiley emoji.
So Graf's already happy, alreadyfirst impressions.
But when you hear Corey Bruce say, hey, we're going to give
him minutes. And his first impressions are,
(04:01):
hey, this guy can score and thisguy is fast.
I guess this what this is about,right?
These four or five games for these players to go out and show
us what they have. Yeah, I mean, I can't wait to
see these two guys play on Thursday against the
Timberwolves, games at 2:30, theopener of summer league, really
for the entire league. The Pelicans are playing that
first game in the afternoon. Yeah.
(04:22):
I mean, I'm. I'm really interested to see
with Jeremiah Fears, the way hisspeeds translates to the NBA
game. I think we already saw on the
weekend high draft pick for the Philadelphia 76ers, Vijay
Edgecomb, he was the 3rd pick. You see the way he looked in
college and the way he looked inthe NBA is totally different
because the spacing is so much better in the NBA.
You just have a lot more room tooperate.
(04:43):
Some of Edgecomb's athleticism really shown in the the first
game that he played the other day against Utah.
So I'm I'm curious to see it's always interesting, no matter
who it is, just how their their game translates to the NBA, even
the three-point line with how that adds more room for guys to
operate. I think, you know, we're not
(05:03):
going to go overboard. I don't I don't think with any
stat or any specific outcome or result of what these guys do,
but I am curious to see JeremiahFears is 3 point shooting his
jumper. No, he shot a lower percentage
in college. That's definitely going to be
something that he works on in his area focus.
And then for Derek Queen, just his versatility, all the
different things that he does tosee how that translates to the
(05:27):
NBA as well. So I mean, there's going to be a
lot of reasons to keep a eye open on and and focus on these
two guys in the first couple games of Summer League I.
Think one of the other things have been that's been impressive
Jim for me as well and I think you and I have even talked about
it off camera just didn't pass it.
I I love how these two carried themselves right.
I mean they're young. I mean, I haven't obviously
(05:48):
played a minute in the NBA, but look, Derrick Queen hasn't been
oblivious to what some have saidor commented about the pic and
all of that. And again, that has nothing to
do with his bearing or doing. But I love the fact that he he's
flat out telling. You see the see this over here
on my shoulder. It's called chip and I have a
chip on my shoulder. I can't wait to prove how how
(06:09):
valuable I am and and what he can do.
I mean, listen what he had to say.
I just want to be. I just want to show that I'm one
of the best that got drafted this year.
It don't matter with 13th, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or man.
I just wanted to show down the best.
And then you got Jeremiah Affairs, who was asked after
practice yesterday. Jim, hey, a lot of your friends,
they're just wrapping up high school, going to college,
(06:29):
starting their first year, and you're starting your
professional career. And I love what he says.
Man, I'm going to come out, set a statement, show everybody what
I'm capable of, continue to showmy teammates what I can bring to
the floor every time I someone. I just, I love that confidence
already, you know what I mean? It's like in listening to
Jeremiah Fears speak, he seems like he's been in the league a
(06:49):
couple years, right? I mean, I, I was, I was
impressed after practice yesterday, addressing all the
questions, speaking thoughtfully, understanding
everything that he's bringing up, talking about different
players, what he wants to do, Understand he's going to mess
up, but he's going to also make some plays.
And then with Queen, it just seems like he can't wait to go
out there and show what he can do.
And we're going to get to something here in a quick
(07:10):
second. I didn't think about it.
He's Misi, who's looked really good in lab videos.
He's on that roster and he spokespecifically about already being
a teammate for him. And you can think in the
situation, a setting like this, it's about me.
I want to show, but let's see what he says about Misi.
Yeah, I was telling Coach House and Coach Moves that ain't going
to love playing with me because I'm just going to keep throwing
(07:31):
them lives and stuff and just help and just help the team and
just both of us worked well together and just get get better
overall. Yeah, I think think you used the
word confidence earlier. I mean, I think that applies to
both of those guys. To me, Jeremiah Fears is
extremely ready to play. It seems like he's got all the
confidence in the world that he can go out there and do well.
(07:54):
And from what we've seen of Queen, it just seems like
nothing fazes him. He's going to be one of those
kind of people. It seems like from the very
initial read that I have on him that nothing is going to bother
him. He's just going to roll with
whatever. And so he seems like he has kind
of a more of a laid back personality.
But I'll be interested to see how he plays and see if that
(08:16):
confidence only increases as youget into summer league and you
start playing against some of these other players.
I, I really enjoy listening to fears.
Like you said, he had a lot of good comments Sunday and Queen
also has multiple Times Now saidhe's looking forward to going up
against some of the players thathe faced maybe in college or
maybe earlier than that on the Alevel and try to repeat the team
(08:39):
success that he had there. And by the way, I mean, I know
we always, I'll speak for myself, I'm going to probably
downplay the results, but of of the team, but I mean, wouldn't
it be nice to get some wins? I think after last season I'd
I'd be happy to to get a couple WS on the board.
Flat out Corey Brewer, we're. Going to play harder, you know,
that's going to be our identity.We're going to be the hardest
(09:00):
playing team and we're going to get some wins.
There it is that short and sweetand to the point, right?
Play hard and go and get some wins.
And I know that sounds simplistic maybe or coach speak,
but Jim, when you have the season that the the Pells had a
year ago, not just the injury and all of that, but in games
where, and I understand there are different rosters and
there's different leadership andthere's different teams.
(09:22):
But last season was last season,you had games where you lost by
40 points, 30 points, games where the head coach is like,
man, we just we didn't bring it today and stuff.
Again, I'm just speaking from a fan standpoint.
I love hearing that the influx or some of the new players that
you're bringing in, first thingsout of their mouths.
We want to play hard. I'm looking to prove myself, the
(09:45):
coach. Hey, we're going to play hard.
We're going to try to get some wins.
I I like saying that I understand they don't count in
the NBA record. I I guess do you get a trophy?
I don't know. Do you get a a big old chip if
you win? I don't know what the trophy is
if you win the Vegas league, butI like hearing because at the
end of the day, you compete and you try to win in those
(10:07):
competitions, right When I'm playing with my kid, he's trying
to beat me. I mean, I just I that's the
whole point of competition and I'm I'm OK with setting the
stage already. Aren't you Jim with hey, let's
go win, let's go play hard. Then when you throw in the bets,
you already got guys that are itching to maybe even push them.
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I'm just looking forward
(10:28):
to watching not just these two guys, but, you know, some of the
other players that we're probably going to talk about,
you know, on on Wednesday's episode just to see them at this
level, to see what they can do. And, and I think I, I find from
at least from the video, we'll see what this looks like on
Thursday against Minnesota. But I mean, I find fears to be a
very entertaining player to watch with his ball handling.
(10:51):
That was one thing that I think Derek Queen said that he, one of
the things that stood out to himwas that he has the ball on a
string just to his, his handle is just really good.
And I think with Queen, it's about his versatility.
It's about the fact that he can score, he can pass, he's got
really good IQ, he's got good feel for the game.
(11:11):
I think he can block some shots a little bit as well.
So all of these different thingsare are what we're going to be
looking for in in their debut against the Timberwolves and
just as we go forward. But it makes me really happy to
know, as Corey Brewer said to that these guys are going to
play a lot because I think that's something that's going to
make these games more more interesting and more relevant.
(11:33):
We, I know we've seen, unfortunately the trend of
sitting guys has also hit summerLeague where the last game or
two for some teams, you don't see them certain guys play at
all. We'll see how that goes.
But but I'll be I'll be really pleased and it'll be more than
worth people's. I was going to say 2 1/2 hours,
but summer league games are Maybe it'll be worth people's
two hours to watch to see what these guys do in their first
(11:55):
professional games on the court.You heard Corey Brewer kind of
mentioned. I just want to get your
specifics here. You're going to get a chance to
actually watch these guys practice a little bit before you
head out there for the game on Thursday.
We'll kind of, you know, recap this once we actually see a game
under our belts. But when when it comes to fears,
you you've talked to people. I know you've put something up
on pels.com, his background, his, you know, path, I guess, to
(12:19):
being drafted and you've seen some of those highlights and all
that stuff. But how do you think with that
roster or just, you know, in in this setting?
What is it is sort of want to see?
I remember when we did the gameslast year.
I want to see aggression, right.You know, me ducks, I want to
see you attacking. How do you handle pressure?
(12:40):
You know, some of those teams are not just going to be like
the pills We saw Memphis, I think last year.
I mean, they were, you know, following I think Scottie Pippen
junior was all over players in one of those games and stuff
like that. So he's going to feel pressure.
How how does he handle that? Because turnovers is a key
attacking the ball, getting it in the spacing stuff.
So I, I want to see point guard play, I guess to, you know.
(13:02):
Yeah. Summarize it when it comes to
fears. What do you want to see Thursday
from him? Yeah, I mean, I think you you
mentioned some of it, but I think also I'm curious to see
one of the things that the scouts talked about a lot, not
not just here but just across the NBA, was his ability to get
into the paint. So I'm curious to see in the
game against Minnesota, you know, how easily his is he able
(13:23):
to penetrate? He also had a really good free
throw rate in college where he got to the line a ton.
So how well is he going to be able to do that?
Is he going to be somebody at least in summer league where he
can get, you know, 6-8 free throws a game or something
around that range? Also with him specifically, he
was put in a role in college where he was more, they needed
(13:43):
him to score. He was really the number one
option to score. I mean, that might be somewhat
the case on summer league as well, but I'm also curious to
see how he kind of toggles back and forth between, OK, I'm out
here scoring and OK, now I'm outhere distributing and with some
of the other players that are going to be there.
Eve Misi is obviously a guy thatis dependent sometimes on a
(14:04):
point guard, getting him set up for Ellie, Oops.
And he gets open. You got to get it, then you got
to get him the ball. So that that's another aspect of
it. I think that's going to be
really interesting is just how he handles the passing versus
passing or passing versus scoring thing that I think
really all point guards have to to deal with.
But especially as a rookie, it'sone of those things that you
(14:25):
have to kind of learn on the fly.
And it a lot of it depends on your team mates, but I don't
know, I think that'll be that'llbe something to keep an eye on.
I mean, is, is he going to be somebody that's going to get
2530 points in Summer league or is he going to be somebody who
kind of goes back and forth between, you know, I'm out here
to to get buckets and I'm out here to set people up for open
shots? That's a good point.
(14:46):
I think what's interesting too is and again, so much I feel
like has been talked about Queenabout his selection as opposed
to what kind of player, what he can do.
You and I talked about in one ofthe recent pods.
It's I can't find anybody that isn't for Maryland or fans that
just wished him well and such a a great guy in the community
teammate. I mean, you see him always
(15:06):
smiling all those things. And we've seen that translate a
little bit in the small amount of, you know, things that he's
done for the pals. But as far as the player, Jim,
you'd also went back and looked at him.
What kind of player can we expect?
Because after practice yesterday, it was interesting
listening to Fears when he was asked, hey, what are your
thoughts now? Actually being on a court with
(15:27):
Derek Queen. Man, super, super skilled,
extremely skilled, high Q can really do almost everything you
need him to do and he's somebodythat's we don't need in these
next couple games. So we expect them to show a big
time and I'm going to continue to keep talking to him and push
him and motivate him. Yeah, I think on the offensive
end, the thing I think I'm goingto look for with Derek Queen the
(15:47):
most is, you know, obviously hispassing is his ability to see
the floor seems to be pretty unique.
I think if you look at his overall skill set on offense,
this is a guy that we don't see coming out in the draft very
much. I mean, there might be
international guys that kind of have this package, but we don't
see a lot of American bigs that have some of the traits that he
has. So passing in the half court
(16:09):
offense I think is big. His ability off the dribble as
well, that was something that hedid in college at Maryland and
that his coach talked about. As well as that he has like a
legitimate ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the
rim, which is something that youdon't necessarily expect from
somebody as big as he is. And then at the defensive end,
just, I mean, if there was something that people were
(16:31):
concerned about pre draft, it was, you know, his quickness,
his foot speed, you know, where he's going to fit in
defensively. So I'll be curious to see who he
gets matched up, like what matched up against, which type
of players he's guarding, whether that's fours or fives.
And we'll be able to see, you know, the way he handles himself
in space. Because as we know, compared to
(16:52):
college, the bigs in the NBA have to cover a lot more ground.
There's a lot more players that go up against that can shoot
threes and they have just more of a wider skill set.
So that'll be something to kind of track as well, just to see
what he does defensively and andjust the way that they use him
defensively as well. So you've heard us talk a little
bit about, obviously, Jeremiah Fears and Derek Queen.
(17:14):
Andrew Lopez, sideline reporter for Pelicans Television, had a
chance to sit with both of them one-on-one.
Here's what that sounded like. Andrew Lopez here is sitting
with the number seven overall pick.
Jeremiah Fears the newest of thePelicans right now.
So, Jeremiah, let's just kind oftalk about this entire process.
What was what has this week beenlike for you from being in
(17:36):
Brooklyn that come in here? What's everything been like?
It's been super dope. It's one of those experiences
you're never forgetting your life.
I'm just being able to go through the whole process.
Obviously every kid dream of kind of getting to this point.
So it's one of those things thatyou write down and that you
dream of. And finally being able to
accomplish something like this been amazing.
I took a lot of pictures, a lot of videos, definitely to save it
(17:59):
for the future, show my family when the time is right and just
something to keep for myself as well.
What was that moment itself like?
You hear your name called? Adam Silver is up there.
With the 7th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the New Orleans
Pelicans select Jeremiah Pierce from the University of Oklahoma.
(18:20):
Just just walk me through that. Moment, man, it was crazy.
It was a little bit of relief. I'm just sitting there.
You never never know who going to call what team's going to
kind of take a chance take a chance on you.
So hearing the Pelicans call waswas super dope.
I remember my age. They told me like, yeah, we
going one at #7 so just draw my head and I'm like only, only guy
(18:46):
I can tell like what your story is going to be.
So just continuing to keep working.
And I know this is only the beginning, so I'm super excited.
How much I mean you right now you should be getting ready for
your first year of college. You reclassify what went into
that and saying, hey, I'm I'm ready, I can do this, especially
do it in the SEC. Just my confidence.
(19:07):
I believe in myself more than anything in the world.
So just continue to stay confident throughout the the
good, the bad. It's going to be a lot of bumps
and bruises along the way. So continuing to stay confident
was one of those big things for me and going in there and
trusting myself. Like you said, I was supposed to
be a senior in high school, so stepping on the stage like that
is it's a big stage. So you definitely got to be
(19:29):
ready and be prepared for what'sabout to come.
So but the team and stay focusedon the main goal.
And for all our Pelicans fans out there, let's may not be
familiar with your game. Why don't you describe your game
right now? I would describe my game as
somebody that's creative, unique, shifty and somebody
that's going to get his team involved.
(19:50):
It's definitely going to be a show every game.
The Pelican fans are definitely going to be in the crowd.
A lot of oohs and ayes and getting the team hype, getting
everybody hype, lot of dunks from Zion, a lot of great passes
from our team mates, Dairy Queen, Jose Dejante.
It's going to be just a great season.
I feel like we all going to bring a lot to the table and we
(20:13):
just kind of here to shift the coach around and shape
everything. All right, appreciate it.
Yes, Sir. Thank you.
How's it going, guys? Andrew Lopez, your New Orleans
Pelican sideline reporter, sitting with Derek Queen, the
number 13 overall pick from thisyear's draft.
Now, Derek, let's just talk about what what is this week
kind of just been like for you in terms of, you know, going to
(20:33):
the draft, getting back to New Orleans, What's, what's
everything kind? Of been like it's been.
It's been a busy but a good busyweek.
Still sucking it all in. And now it's just starting to
feel real. At first it didn't feel real,
but enjoying it all at the same time.
What was like the first like it's starting to feel real
moments when you put the jersey on out there a little while.
Ago. No.
Probably. Probably when I woke up the
(20:55):
night. Probably when I was flying here,
actually, I was like, wow, like I'm really in the NBA now.
What I mean, just just the work to get here and the season that
you had and I mean kind of walk me through.
I mean, you come in with a bunchof guys from Maryland and you're
able to kind of to go where you wanted to be, you know, not as
far as you maybe wanted to go inthe NCA tournament.
But from the from there to this,I got did you, I mean, how, how
(21:17):
hard was that to kind of just kind of process to be like we're
making it here? It was hard and also it was kind
of boring because like because you're just getting ready just
for workouts and combine, just working on your game.
Not not really playing against nobody because you don't want
original injury. So, so like you're not playing,
(21:38):
but you just like doing what you've been doing all your life,
shooting, dribbling, defense, like like working on your game.
But but after combine, once you started getting in the workouts
and you and you and you hooping against each other, now that's
when the funds start. So it was a mixture of both
because everybody want to get here, be in a position you want
to get in. So you just got to push yourself
(22:00):
every day and remember it's always somebody working when you
sleeping or getting food or something.
Right, let's let's go back to todraft night, the trade.
You know, there there was, you know, some talks of where you
were going to go when, and I know you've said it before, like
Duffy comes over and tells you what's what's happening.
Just walk me through the moment when you found out that you were
going to be a Pelican. Yeah, I think this was like late
(22:22):
11th, like like right before they called 11th or early 12th
when it when they told me that. And then I I started getting
messages on my phone and so I guess everybody started posting
it already and stuff. So it was so so it was good.
It was amazing that I found out because because like I enjoyed
(22:43):
my visit here, love the people here and I was like this
somewhere and this is a great opportunity for me.
So for like and I was like this is spot I want to come to.
For for the Pelicans fans out there who are not familiar with
the game and everybody's probably they've done some
research, they've looked at somehighlights, they've looked at
some film a little bit, but why don't you describe your game for
the Pelicans fans? I'm a I'm a great ball nor like
(23:04):
I know that. I feel like I know the game
really well once I adapt to the to the NBA speed and how people
move and understand people like I feel like I'm be I'm be great
in this league. I'm definitely here to help the
help the Pelicans win because I feel like I adapt already.
I'm family already. So so I want to do something
(23:26):
good for New Orleans. And like I said, I'm I'm just
excited all. Right.
Appreciate it all. Right.
Our thanks to Andrew for that, Jim.
So we, we have obviously draft picks and some players of that
name and we, you know, haven't forgotten Michael Peavey here as
well to see what he's going to be able to do.
(23:46):
And he's a guy that what has defense on his mind, a guy flat
out said in his 32nd post draft interview.
I I want to prove him the best defender here as well as as
simply as we can put. Is that what we're looking
forward to with him in these summer league games?
Maybe an impact on the defensiveend?
Yeah, it sounds like that's whathe thinks his niche is going to
be, or maybe the way that he's going to most easily gain a
(24:08):
roster spot and or gain a role, gain minutes.
So yeah, I think we're going to be talking about him a little
bit more extensively on Wednesday because he's one of
the players that's scheduled to speak to the media on either
Monday or Tuesday. But yeah, I think that's
something that we'll watch for from him is is what he can do on
the defensive end. But I'm I'm looking forward to
hearing more from him in terms of what his expectations are for
(24:31):
summer league and what are some of the things that he wants to
achieve while out there in Las Vegas all.
Right, those are your three draft picks and then the team
also adding some veteran presents via the trade
officially announced back on Sunday.
So Jordan pulls Deke Bay, Jim, what can you tell us about their
additions and maybe perhaps whatthe Pelicans are envisioning in
their roles being for pills fansthat are listening?
(24:53):
Yeah. I think one of the things that
stands out right away from that trade where Kelly Olynyk and CJ
McCollum go to Washington, the Pelicans get Jordan Poole and
Sadiq Bay is, I mean, just from an age standpoint, the roster
got a lot younger with those moves.
CJ and Kelly Olynyk were both from the 2013 draft, so they've
been in the league for a dozen years apiece pulling Sadiq Bay
(25:16):
are both 26. So they definitely made it.
So I mean, really, they don't have.
There's no one on this roster now that's over 30 on the entire
squad, so that that's a change. But specifically with Jordan
Poole, to me he's a similar player to CJ McCollum in some
ways in terms of what he's out there to do.
He's out there to score, he's out there to get buckets.
But I think he's a little bit more dynamic offensively than
(25:38):
CJ. He can play on the ball a little
bit more and be somebody. He's maybe a little bit more
athletic, a little bit quicker. Obviously he's eight years
younger than him, as I just as Ijust mentioned.
So I think that's part of it. I think he's going to be able to
to play point guard and maybe handle pressure, full court
pressure, defensive pressure a little bit better.
(25:59):
And then Sadiq Bay, I'm curious to watch him because he missed
all of last season with the ACL injury.
But before that thought he had alot of really promising moments.
And I think he's somebody that can be really productive as a
reserve, as a guy that comes in off the bench and can score.
He had a 50 point game when he was with Detroit.
It was a few years ago. I'm not sure how many people
remember that now that he had that kind of game where he just
(26:21):
went off and scored a ton, but he's a three-point shooter.
He's pretty solid defensively aswell.
So I think he he definitely has a chance to be able to carve out
a role where he can come in and be productive, something I think
that he's done throughout his whole career.
And by the way, too, he was on the floor a ton.
(26:41):
Obviously he missed this past season, as I mentioned, but
before that, he played in a ton of games and was really durable.
He had a couple seasons where heplayed 82 games.
So I mean that that's another aspect as well that I look
forward to seeing him add to theroster.
Yeah. And Jim, I think one of the
other things that's interesting and fun too, is you can not only
feel that excitement, but again,all of these processes and
(27:04):
whether it's bringing new players and getting them
acclimated, it kind of all does start this week, doesn't it?
I mean, from the first practice on Sunday to the first game on
Thursday, getting everybody acclimated to what this season's
Pelicans culture and team and envision is going to be.
So it it's all steps and then eventually we get everybody
together and then of course we go off and running late
(27:26):
September, early October training camp in the trip to
Australia and all of that and back for another couple of
seasons. New Deal for Joe Myers and
Antonio Daniels, which I'm sure everyone's excited for to have
them here as well. They were recently over on Fox 8
with Juan Kincaid and they were talking about Jim, the
excitement level that they sort of have, as Joe Myers kind of
(27:48):
touched on, hey, this is, you know, not only the beginning of
what this team can sort of be, but trying to, you know, get
together a a certain roster and and hopefully better luck this
season and last season is what Joel had to say.
The word aggressive, which Joe has used a lot and it was 21 and
61 last year. So you you need to be
(28:10):
aggressive. You need Jordan Pole can score
Zion Williamson. We know how good he can be.
If he can play 70 plus games forthe Pels this year, they're
going to be a factor in the Western Conference.
But I do like the fact that Joe brought in guys to compete right
away. Be competitive.
As AD said, don't dig yourself ahole.
(28:31):
You don't need projects and theydon't have projects now.
And everything I've heard about fears, everything I've heard
about Derrick Queen and also Peavey, a lot of people haven't
talked about him. And I talked to people that
watched him at Georgetown his last year.
What a cover guy he is, which will help off the bench.
Like Herb Jones developed as a great cover guy right away.
(28:51):
So there's a lot to be excited about, believe it or not, for
the pals going in. The key is, of course, Zion
needs to be on the floor. And then you have AD, of course,
who's always excited, but he says, you know, kind of to your
point, Jim, all this matters, right?
All of these are are steps, babysteps, whether it's the rookies
now, then the vets coming in, probably I'd say early
(29:12):
September, probably going to be doing that, if not even already
this summer eve. Macy's been looking incredible,
right with the Lab videos, all these guys working, but they're
basically he's saying, look, allof this leads up to when you're
ready in October, you're not hoping that October you're
getting it all together and thenstart because this team needs to
start fast, especially where they play.
(29:32):
Here you go. It's about developing chemistry
and I think that's the big thing.
Now you look at it, Herb Jones was out all last year for a lot
of last year. Trey Murphy was injured a lot of
last year. Dejante Murray will be sidelined
to start the season. So, and you have Kevon Looney
coming in new, you have Jordan Poole that's new you, you have
different guys that are coming in and that are new.
(29:57):
The rookies that are coming in like it's about chemistry.
Training camp and preseason to me are about developing
chemistry. You can do a lot of things
individually and find out a lot about yourself, but
collectively, because of how deep the Western Conference is,
you want to hit the ground running.
Like this isn't one of those years where you want to start
out four or five games under 500.
(30:19):
You want to hit the ground running.
And for me, that starts with thepreseason training camp and also
going into preseason games. Yeah, I mean, I'm excited to
turn the page off of last seasonand to kind of put that in the
rearview mirror to kind of get rid of some of the negativity
and and move forward. I think hopefully a lot of that
starts with summer League with we're getting to see not just
(30:41):
the two guys that were picked inthe lottery, but some of the
other younger players as well that are going to be on the
court out there. So, yeah, I mean, this is the
beginning and hopefully the 2526season will be a big jump from
what we experienced over the previous bunch of months.
But yeah, I'm looking forward toit.
And I think, you know, hopefullythis will be the fresh start
that we're that we're looking for and we'll be able to see the
(31:04):
7th pick in the draft and the 13th pick of the draft perform
really well. It's it's, it's not the end of
the world if they struggle a little bit or they have some of
the, you know, initial rookie jitters or, or, you know, slow
start kind of thing or bad gameshere and there.
But I'm really excited to see what these guys can do against
this level of competition and now that they don't have a huge
(31:27):
target on their backs the way that they did in college where
every single team pretty much they went up against, went into
the game saying, OK, we have to stop this guy from beating us.
Hey, look, you can't be a playoff team in a Western
Conference if you don't, you know, start and trying to win
games and trying to do that. What I mean by that as you need
a new season. I'm with you.
I last year happened. I mean, we'll we'll go back to
as in terms of reference, but I think that's the thing that
(31:49):
you've been trying to bring up here.
And clearly you can hear from the rookies and Corey Brewers
starting now. This is not last year's team.
It's going to be a different team, different makeup,
different roster, different I, Iguess maybe mentality or at
least from the get go and what AD said there I think is so key
and crucial man OKC I can't imagine is going anywhere.
(32:09):
The top 2 picks of the draft wasDallas and San Antonio.
You just look in your division, you look at the West.
We've talked about it at nauseamabout how difficult it's going
to be. I think what AD said is key.
You better be ready to play right at the at the end of
October when the regular season starts.
Those pre season games you need to be working out kinks or
finalizing what you kind of wantto do because you get you get
(32:33):
into where you wait in a week ortwo until October into November.
Man, we've seen this team in thelast couple years.
One game be the difference between the play in or not and
Jim. I can't imagine one or two games
is going to make the difference.Is not going to make the
difference between again, being a play in team or hosting a
first round playoff. I think every game matters.
(32:54):
Yeah, get me back to zero and zero, Gus.
I've been saying that for a while.
It felt like last year they werebehind the 8 ball from the jump.
It was like they immediately were a few games under 500 and
you look at the standings and you're at Thanksgiving and
you're already worried about whether they can make the plan.
So I mean, get me back to 500, get me back to a fresh new
start. And I do think too, that the
(33:16):
attitude that we've seen from the, the, the lottery picks is
definitely refreshing as well tosay like, they don't care what
happened in the past and they shouldn't care.
So I, I think just getting a fresh, you know, day one look on
everything. Obviously what they do on the
court is more important than what they say in press
conferences and that kind of thing.
But I, I do like their attitude and I do think that it's going
(33:38):
to be easier to say, OK, this isa new day.
We're going to, we're going to make a big jump this year.
We're going to improve in a bunch of different areas behind
the the two guys that they addedand then obviously Mica PV as
well as a as a second round pick.
I looking forward to it and Jim's going to be busy.
He also says get me back to Vegas.
He and a whole host of folks that cover the Pelicans will be
(33:58):
over there the entirety. We going to have somebody there
the entire two weeks. Jim, Andrew, Joel, AD all going
to be up there. Our podcast will be there along
with Andrew. So looking forward to that in 30
seconds or so. Jim, what specifically are you
going to be giving us over on the website, Sir?
Yeah, we're going to have, you know, I'm going to try to do
while I'm there. I'm not going to be there the
entire time, but while I'm theregoing to try to track down some
(34:22):
of the other broadcasters. We're going to do kind of
hopefully a postgame show, quoteUN quote, that we're going to
have on the podcast. So Thursday after the game,
we'll have something from the site in Las Vegas that we'll use
on Fridays episode and then Saturday's game as well.
Same deal for Monday's episode next week.
I'm not sure if we mentioned this too, but we're planning to
have Monday, Wednesday, Friday episode this week and next week.
(34:44):
So you can look forward to that.Beyond that, we'll have to,
we'll say TBD. But definitely for these first
two weeks, we'll have three episodes a week.
And then obviously I'll be writing postgame recaps about
the games, not just the ones that I'm there for, but also the
ones that we will catch kind of next week.
Late night TV, the 3rd and 4th game and then the fifth game is
is still TBD. That will be determined based on
(35:06):
the outcome and results of the first four games that they play.
I looking forward to that MisterJim I can offer.
As always, man, appreciate the time and thank you for listening
to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast.
We'll see you on Wednesday righthere once again.
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast.
Join us three times per week on pelicans.com, the Pelicans
(35:27):
mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,or where you get your podcast.
And be sure to give Jim and Gus of follow on X and Jim under
score. I 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. As always, we appreciate you for
tuning us in and it is a couple months away from the start of
the regular season. Jim, I can offer pelicans.com.
I don't like you, but I'm already excited, as excited as
(00:49):
I've been for summer basketball in a long, long time.
As the Pels have started practice for summer league,
which begins this week, they're off and running four games, 5
total, 4 already on the schedule, the 5th depending on
their win loss record. But Jim, they had practice.
We talked about practice back onSunday.
Sir, how are you? Good to see you.
(01:09):
I'm doing well, Gus. Yeah, I mean, I think I'm
excited as well. I mean, if you think about it,
the Pelicans are one of two teams that have two lottery
picks in this draft. And we talked in a recent
episode about, you know, the discussion about the trade for
Derek Queen. I think it's time now to look at
what these guys are going to do on the court.
And I think that's the importantthing, the fact that they have
the 7th pick in the draft and the 13th pick in the draft.
(01:31):
So I mean, yeah, there there haven't been many years where
the Pelicans have had this caliber of draft pick, this
level of player debuting in summer league.
I think if you could go all the way back to 2012 when they had
the first pick in the draft and the 10th pick in the draft,
Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers.But and think Davis didn't play
in that summer league because hegot picked up by the Olympic
(01:52):
team. So I mean, this might be, you
know, objectively this might be the most exciting summer league
for the Pelicans and maybe ever if you look at where these two
guys were picked in the in the draft.
No doubt we got a fun show linedup for.
You're going to hear from these players here as well.
Look, Andrew Lopez even had someone on one today and you'll
get the full interview over on the Pell's website.
(02:14):
Antonio Daniels and Joe Myers, they'll be back as their
contract got extended here to have their thoughts as to what's
coming up here as well. They sound excited, Jim, but
when do they normally not sound excited here as well?
Plus, the team officially announcing a move that involved
a trade. So adding some veteran presents
in there and Jim's going to givehis thoughts on that.
But obviously, look, let's be honest, right?
(02:35):
One of the main reasons, man that they're shipping you out
there to tear up the Strip in Vegas to focus on the 2 picks
that the Pelican selected in thefirst round, Jeremiah Fears and
Derrick Queen. This is Corey Brewer, who I I
can't wait to see him on the sidelines as the summer league
coach. He's been with the staff for a
while. I think he just got done.
He might still be sweating from playing the three on three, you
(02:59):
know, league that he was doing that here as well.
But yesterday after practice, hewas asked flat out what?
What are we going to see with these two rookies in in specific
with Fears and Queen when it comes to minutes?
Let's see what he said. Oh, it's.
Going to be really important, you know, those guys are going
to get a ton of minutes, of course, just because you know,
our draft pick, our guys and we want to see what we got.
So we got if you put those guys out there in the right positions
(03:19):
and, you know, let them succeed.Right.
So lots of minutes, Jim is what he's saying that they're going
to put him out in in positions to succeed and to fail.
I love that he said that first and foremost, but specifically
we said. Jeremiah's fast, that's first.
And president, fast, man, He gets up and down the court
really fast. He's going to be a good player.
Good young guy. Derek can really play.
(03:40):
He can really score the ball. He can pass.
So I like both. I love both those guys.
Had a little Intel as the graph was in there as well on Sunday.
And I just text him. What did he think?
And he, he just, he just gave methe little smiley emoji.
So Graf's already happy, alreadyfirst impressions.
But when you hear Corey Bruce say, hey, we're going to give
him minutes. And his first impressions are,
(04:01):
hey, this guy can score and thisguy is fast.
I guess this what this is about,right?
These four or five games for these players to go out and show
us what they have. Yeah, I mean, I can't wait to
see these two guys play on Thursday against the
Timberwolves, games at 2:30, theopener of summer league, really
for the entire league. The Pelicans are playing that
first game in the afternoon. Yeah.
(04:22):
I mean, I'm. I'm really interested to see
with Jeremiah Fears, the way hisspeeds translates to the NBA
game. I think we already saw on the
weekend high draft pick for the Philadelphia 76ers, Vijay
Edgecomb, he was the 3rd pick. You see the way he looked in
college and the way he looked inthe NBA is totally different
because the spacing is so much better in the NBA.
You just have a lot more room tooperate.
(04:43):
Some of Edgecomb's athleticism really shown in the the first
game that he played the other day against Utah.
So I'm I'm curious to see it's always interesting, no matter
who it is, just how their their game translates to the NBA, even
the three-point line with how that adds more room for guys to
operate. I think, you know, we're not
(05:03):
going to go overboard. I don't I don't think with any
stat or any specific outcome or result of what these guys do,
but I am curious to see JeremiahFears is 3 point shooting his
jumper. No, he shot a lower percentage
in college. That's definitely going to be
something that he works on in his area focus.
And then for Derek Queen, just his versatility, all the
different things that he does tosee how that translates to the
(05:27):
NBA as well. So I mean, there's going to be a
lot of reasons to keep a eye open on and and focus on these
two guys in the first couple games of Summer League I.
Think one of the other things have been that's been impressive
Jim for me as well and I think you and I have even talked about
it off camera just didn't pass it.
I I love how these two carried themselves right.
I mean they're young. I mean, I haven't obviously
(05:48):
played a minute in the NBA, but look, Derrick Queen hasn't been
oblivious to what some have saidor commented about the pic and
all of that. And again, that has nothing to
do with his bearing or doing. But I love the fact that he he's
flat out telling. You see the see this over here
on my shoulder. It's called chip and I have a
chip on my shoulder. I can't wait to prove how how
(06:09):
valuable I am and and what he can do.
I mean, listen what he had to say.
I just want to be. I just want to show that I'm one
of the best that got drafted this year.
It don't matter with 13th, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or man.
I just wanted to show down the best.
And then you got Jeremiah Affairs, who was asked after
practice yesterday. Jim, hey, a lot of your friends,
they're just wrapping up high school, going to college,
(06:29):
starting their first year, and you're starting your
professional career. And I love what he says.
Man, I'm going to come out, set a statement, show everybody what
I'm capable of, continue to showmy teammates what I can bring to
the floor every time I someone. I just, I love that confidence
already, you know what I mean? It's like in listening to
Jeremiah Fears speak, he seems like he's been in the league a
(06:49):
couple years, right? I mean, I, I was, I was
impressed after practice yesterday, addressing all the
questions, speaking thoughtfully, understanding
everything that he's bringing up, talking about different
players, what he wants to do, Understand he's going to mess
up, but he's going to also make some plays.
And then with Queen, it just seems like he can't wait to go
out there and show what he can do.
And we're going to get to something here in a quick
(07:10):
second. I didn't think about it.
He's Misi, who's looked really good in lab videos.
He's on that roster and he spokespecifically about already being
a teammate for him. And you can think in the
situation, a setting like this, it's about me.
I want to show, but let's see what he says about Misi.
Yeah, I was telling Coach House and Coach Moves that ain't going
to love playing with me because I'm just going to keep throwing
(07:31):
them lives and stuff and just help and just help the team and
just both of us worked well together and just get get better
overall. Yeah, I think think you used the
word confidence earlier. I mean, I think that applies to
both of those guys. To me, Jeremiah Fears is
extremely ready to play. It seems like he's got all the
confidence in the world that he can go out there and do well.
(07:54):
And from what we've seen of Queen, it just seems like
nothing fazes him. He's going to be one of those
kind of people. It seems like from the very
initial read that I have on him that nothing is going to bother
him. He's just going to roll with
whatever. And so he seems like he has kind
of a more of a laid back personality.
But I'll be interested to see how he plays and see if that
(08:16):
confidence only increases as youget into summer league and you
start playing against some of these other players.
I, I really enjoy listening to fears.
Like you said, he had a lot of good comments Sunday and Queen
also has multiple Times Now saidhe's looking forward to going up
against some of the players thathe faced maybe in college or
maybe earlier than that on the Alevel and try to repeat the team
(08:39):
success that he had there. And by the way, I mean, I know
we always, I'll speak for myself, I'm going to probably
downplay the results, but of of the team, but I mean, wouldn't
it be nice to get some wins? I think after last season I'd
I'd be happy to to get a couple WS on the board.
Flat out Corey Brewer, we're. Going to play harder, you know,
that's going to be our identity.We're going to be the hardest
(09:00):
playing team and we're going to get some wins.
There it is that short and sweetand to the point, right?
Play hard and go and get some wins.
And I know that sounds simplistic maybe or coach speak,
but Jim, when you have the season that the the Pells had a
year ago, not just the injury and all of that, but in games
where, and I understand there are different rosters and
there's different leadership andthere's different teams.
(09:22):
But last season was last season,you had games where you lost by
40 points, 30 points, games where the head coach is like,
man, we just we didn't bring it today and stuff.
Again, I'm just speaking from a fan standpoint.
I love hearing that the influx or some of the new players that
you're bringing in, first thingsout of their mouths.
We want to play hard. I'm looking to prove myself, the
(09:45):
coach. Hey, we're going to play hard.
We're going to try to get some wins.
I I like saying that I understand they don't count in
the NBA record. I I guess do you get a trophy?
I don't know. Do you get a a big old chip if
you win? I don't know what the trophy is
if you win the Vegas league, butI like hearing because at the
end of the day, you compete and you try to win in those
(10:07):
competitions, right When I'm playing with my kid, he's trying
to beat me. I mean, I just I that's the
whole point of competition and I'm I'm OK with setting the
stage already. Aren't you Jim with hey, let's
go win, let's go play hard. Then when you throw in the bets,
you already got guys that are itching to maybe even push them.
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I'm just looking forward
(10:28):
to watching not just these two guys, but, you know, some of the
other players that we're probably going to talk about,
you know, on on Wednesday's episode just to see them at this
level, to see what they can do. And, and I think I, I find from
at least from the video, we'll see what this looks like on
Thursday against Minnesota. But I mean, I find fears to be a
very entertaining player to watch with his ball handling.
(10:51):
That was one thing that I think Derek Queen said that he, one of
the things that stood out to himwas that he has the ball on a
string just to his, his handle is just really good.
And I think with Queen, it's about his versatility.
It's about the fact that he can score, he can pass, he's got
really good IQ, he's got good feel for the game.
(11:11):
I think he can block some shots a little bit as well.
So all of these different thingsare are what we're going to be
looking for in in their debut against the Timberwolves and
just as we go forward. But it makes me really happy to
know, as Corey Brewer said to that these guys are going to
play a lot because I think that's something that's going to
make these games more more interesting and more relevant.
(11:33):
We, I know we've seen, unfortunately the trend of
sitting guys has also hit summerLeague where the last game or
two for some teams, you don't see them certain guys play at
all. We'll see how that goes.
But but I'll be I'll be really pleased and it'll be more than
worth people's. I was going to say 2 1/2 hours,
but summer league games are Maybe it'll be worth people's
two hours to watch to see what these guys do in their first
(11:55):
professional games on the court.You heard Corey Brewer kind of
mentioned. I just want to get your
specifics here. You're going to get a chance to
actually watch these guys practice a little bit before you
head out there for the game on Thursday.
We'll kind of, you know, recap this once we actually see a game
under our belts. But when when it comes to fears,
you you've talked to people. I know you've put something up
on pels.com, his background, his, you know, path, I guess, to
(12:19):
being drafted and you've seen some of those highlights and all
that stuff. But how do you think with that
roster or just, you know, in in this setting?
What is it is sort of want to see?
I remember when we did the gameslast year.
I want to see aggression, right.You know, me ducks, I want to
see you attacking. How do you handle pressure?
(12:40):
You know, some of those teams are not just going to be like
the pills We saw Memphis, I think last year.
I mean, they were, you know, following I think Scottie Pippen
junior was all over players in one of those games and stuff
like that. So he's going to feel pressure.
How how does he handle that? Because turnovers is a key
attacking the ball, getting it in the spacing stuff.
So I, I want to see point guard play, I guess to, you know.
(13:02):
Yeah. Summarize it when it comes to
fears. What do you want to see Thursday
from him? Yeah, I mean, I think you you
mentioned some of it, but I think also I'm curious to see
one of the things that the scouts talked about a lot, not
not just here but just across the NBA, was his ability to get
into the paint. So I'm curious to see in the
game against Minnesota, you know, how easily his is he able
(13:23):
to penetrate? He also had a really good free
throw rate in college where he got to the line a ton.
So how well is he going to be able to do that?
Is he going to be somebody at least in summer league where he
can get, you know, 6-8 free throws a game or something
around that range? Also with him specifically, he
was put in a role in college where he was more, they needed
(13:43):
him to score. He was really the number one
option to score. I mean, that might be somewhat
the case on summer league as well, but I'm also curious to
see how he kind of toggles back and forth between, OK, I'm out
here scoring and OK, now I'm outhere distributing and with some
of the other players that are going to be there.
Eve Misi is obviously a guy thatis dependent sometimes on a
(14:04):
point guard, getting him set up for Ellie, Oops.
And he gets open. You got to get it, then you got
to get him the ball. So that that's another aspect of
it. I think that's going to be
really interesting is just how he handles the passing versus
passing or passing versus scoring thing that I think
really all point guards have to to deal with.
But especially as a rookie, it'sone of those things that you
(14:25):
have to kind of learn on the fly.
And it a lot of it depends on your team mates, but I don't
know, I think that'll be that'llbe something to keep an eye on.
I mean, is, is he going to be somebody that's going to get
2530 points in Summer league or is he going to be somebody who
kind of goes back and forth between, you know, I'm out here
to to get buckets and I'm out here to set people up for open
shots? That's a good point.
(14:46):
I think what's interesting too is and again, so much I feel
like has been talked about Queenabout his selection as opposed
to what kind of player, what he can do.
You and I talked about in one ofthe recent pods.
It's I can't find anybody that isn't for Maryland or fans that
just wished him well and such a a great guy in the community
teammate. I mean, you see him always
(15:06):
smiling all those things. And we've seen that translate a
little bit in the small amount of, you know, things that he's
done for the pals. But as far as the player, Jim,
you'd also went back and looked at him.
What kind of player can we expect?
Because after practice yesterday, it was interesting
listening to Fears when he was asked, hey, what are your
thoughts now? Actually being on a court with
(15:27):
Derek Queen. Man, super, super skilled,
extremely skilled, high Q can really do almost everything you
need him to do and he's somebodythat's we don't need in these
next couple games. So we expect them to show a big
time and I'm going to continue to keep talking to him and push
him and motivate him. Yeah, I think on the offensive
end, the thing I think I'm goingto look for with Derek Queen the
(15:47):
most is, you know, obviously hispassing is his ability to see
the floor seems to be pretty unique.
I think if you look at his overall skill set on offense,
this is a guy that we don't see coming out in the draft very
much. I mean, there might be
international guys that kind of have this package, but we don't
see a lot of American bigs that have some of the traits that he
has. So passing in the half court
(16:09):
offense I think is big. His ability off the dribble as
well, that was something that hedid in college at Maryland and
that his coach talked about. As well as that he has like a
legitimate ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the
rim, which is something that youdon't necessarily expect from
somebody as big as he is. And then at the defensive end,
just, I mean, if there was something that people were
(16:31):
concerned about pre draft, it was, you know, his quickness,
his foot speed, you know, where he's going to fit in
defensively. So I'll be curious to see who he
gets matched up, like what matched up against, which type
of players he's guarding, whether that's fours or fives.
And we'll be able to see, you know, the way he handles himself
in space. Because as we know, compared to
(16:52):
college, the bigs in the NBA have to cover a lot more ground.
There's a lot more players that go up against that can shoot
threes and they have just more of a wider skill set.
So that'll be something to kind of track as well, just to see
what he does defensively and andjust the way that they use him
defensively as well. So you've heard us talk a little
bit about, obviously, Jeremiah Fears and Derek Queen.
(17:14):
Andrew Lopez, sideline reporter for Pelicans Television, had a
chance to sit with both of them one-on-one.
Here's what that sounded like. Andrew Lopez here is sitting
with the number seven overall pick.
Jeremiah Fears the newest of thePelicans right now.
So, Jeremiah, let's just kind oftalk about this entire process.
What was what has this week beenlike for you from being in
(17:36):
Brooklyn that come in here? What's everything been like?
It's been super dope. It's one of those experiences
you're never forgetting your life.
I'm just being able to go through the whole process.
Obviously every kid dream of kind of getting to this point.
So it's one of those things thatyou write down and that you
dream of. And finally being able to
accomplish something like this been amazing.
I took a lot of pictures, a lot of videos, definitely to save it
(17:59):
for the future, show my family when the time is right and just
something to keep for myself as well.
What was that moment itself like?
You hear your name called? Adam Silver is up there.
With the 7th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the New Orleans
Pelicans select Jeremiah Pierce from the University of Oklahoma.
(18:20):
Just just walk me through that. Moment, man, it was crazy.
It was a little bit of relief. I'm just sitting there.
You never never know who going to call what team's going to
kind of take a chance take a chance on you.
So hearing the Pelicans call waswas super dope.
I remember my age. They told me like, yeah, we
going one at #7 so just draw my head and I'm like only, only guy
(18:46):
I can tell like what your story is going to be.
So just continuing to keep working.
And I know this is only the beginning, so I'm super excited.
How much I mean you right now you should be getting ready for
your first year of college. You reclassify what went into
that and saying, hey, I'm I'm ready, I can do this, especially
do it in the SEC. Just my confidence.
(19:07):
I believe in myself more than anything in the world.
So just continue to stay confident throughout the the
good, the bad. It's going to be a lot of bumps
and bruises along the way. So continuing to stay confident
was one of those big things for me and going in there and
trusting myself. Like you said, I was supposed to
be a senior in high school, so stepping on the stage like that
is it's a big stage. So you definitely got to be
(19:29):
ready and be prepared for what'sabout to come.
So but the team and stay focusedon the main goal.
And for all our Pelicans fans out there, let's may not be
familiar with your game. Why don't you describe your game
right now? I would describe my game as
somebody that's creative, unique, shifty and somebody
that's going to get his team involved.
(19:50):
It's definitely going to be a show every game.
The Pelican fans are definitely going to be in the crowd.
A lot of oohs and ayes and getting the team hype, getting
everybody hype, lot of dunks from Zion, a lot of great passes
from our team mates, Dairy Queen, Jose Dejante.
It's going to be just a great season.
I feel like we all going to bring a lot to the table and we
(20:13):
just kind of here to shift the coach around and shape
everything. All right, appreciate it.
Yes, Sir. Thank you.
How's it going, guys? Andrew Lopez, your New Orleans
Pelican sideline reporter, sitting with Derek Queen, the
number 13 overall pick from thisyear's draft.
Now, Derek, let's just talk about what what is this week
kind of just been like for you in terms of, you know, going to
(20:33):
the draft, getting back to New Orleans, What's, what's
everything kind? Of been like it's been.
It's been a busy but a good busyweek.
Still sucking it all in. And now it's just starting to
feel real. At first it didn't feel real,
but enjoying it all at the same time.
What was like the first like it's starting to feel real
moments when you put the jersey on out there a little while.
Ago. No.
Probably. Probably when I woke up the
(20:55):
night. Probably when I was flying here,
actually, I was like, wow, like I'm really in the NBA now.
What I mean, just just the work to get here and the season that
you had and I mean kind of walk me through.
I mean, you come in with a bunchof guys from Maryland and you're
able to kind of to go where you wanted to be, you know, not as
far as you maybe wanted to go inthe NCA tournament.
But from the from there to this,I got did you, I mean, how, how
(21:17):
hard was that to kind of just kind of process to be like we're
making it here? It was hard and also it was kind
of boring because like because you're just getting ready just
for workouts and combine, just working on your game.
Not not really playing against nobody because you don't want
original injury. So, so like you're not playing,
(21:38):
but you just like doing what you've been doing all your life,
shooting, dribbling, defense, like like working on your game.
But but after combine, once you started getting in the workouts
and you and you and you hooping against each other, now that's
when the funds start. So it was a mixture of both
because everybody want to get here, be in a position you want
to get in. So you just got to push yourself
(22:00):
every day and remember it's always somebody working when you
sleeping or getting food or something.
Right, let's let's go back to todraft night, the trade.
You know, there there was, you know, some talks of where you
were going to go when, and I know you've said it before, like
Duffy comes over and tells you what's what's happening.
Just walk me through the moment when you found out that you were
going to be a Pelican. Yeah, I think this was like late
(22:22):
11th, like like right before they called 11th or early 12th
when it when they told me that. And then I I started getting
messages on my phone and so I guess everybody started posting
it already and stuff. So it was so so it was good.
It was amazing that I found out because because like I enjoyed
(22:43):
my visit here, love the people here and I was like this
somewhere and this is a great opportunity for me.
So for like and I was like this is spot I want to come to.
For for the Pelicans fans out there who are not familiar with
the game and everybody's probably they've done some
research, they've looked at somehighlights, they've looked at
some film a little bit, but why don't you describe your game for
the Pelicans fans? I'm a I'm a great ball nor like
(23:04):
I know that. I feel like I know the game
really well once I adapt to the to the NBA speed and how people
move and understand people like I feel like I'm be I'm be great
in this league. I'm definitely here to help the
help the Pelicans win because I feel like I adapt already.
I'm family already. So so I want to do something
(23:26):
good for New Orleans. And like I said, I'm I'm just
excited all. Right.
Appreciate it all. Right.
Our thanks to Andrew for that, Jim.
So we, we have obviously draft picks and some players of that
name and we, you know, haven't forgotten Michael Peavey here as
well to see what he's going to be able to do.
(23:46):
And he's a guy that what has defense on his mind, a guy flat
out said in his 32nd post draft interview.
I I want to prove him the best defender here as well as as
simply as we can put. Is that what we're looking
forward to with him in these summer league games?
Maybe an impact on the defensiveend?
Yeah, it sounds like that's whathe thinks his niche is going to
be, or maybe the way that he's going to most easily gain a
(24:08):
roster spot and or gain a role, gain minutes.
So yeah, I think we're going to be talking about him a little
bit more extensively on Wednesday because he's one of
the players that's scheduled to speak to the media on either
Monday or Tuesday. But yeah, I think that's
something that we'll watch for from him is is what he can do on
the defensive end. But I'm I'm looking forward to
hearing more from him in terms of what his expectations are for
(24:31):
summer league and what are some of the things that he wants to
achieve while out there in Las Vegas all.
Right, those are your three draft picks and then the team
also adding some veteran presents via the trade
officially announced back on Sunday.
So Jordan pulls Deke Bay, Jim, what can you tell us about their
additions and maybe perhaps whatthe Pelicans are envisioning in
their roles being for pills fansthat are listening?
(24:53):
Yeah. I think one of the things that
stands out right away from that trade where Kelly Olynyk and CJ
McCollum go to Washington, the Pelicans get Jordan Poole and
Sadiq Bay is, I mean, just from an age standpoint, the roster
got a lot younger with those moves.
CJ and Kelly Olynyk were both from the 2013 draft, so they've
been in the league for a dozen years apiece pulling Sadiq Bay
(25:16):
are both 26. So they definitely made it.
So I mean, really, they don't have.
There's no one on this roster now that's over 30 on the entire
squad, so that that's a change. But specifically with Jordan
Poole, to me he's a similar player to CJ McCollum in some
ways in terms of what he's out there to do.
He's out there to score, he's out there to get buckets.
But I think he's a little bit more dynamic offensively than
(25:38):
CJ. He can play on the ball a little
bit more and be somebody. He's maybe a little bit more
athletic, a little bit quicker. Obviously he's eight years
younger than him, as I just as Ijust mentioned.
So I think that's part of it. I think he's going to be able to
to play point guard and maybe handle pressure, full court
pressure, defensive pressure a little bit better.
(25:59):
And then Sadiq Bay, I'm curious to watch him because he missed
all of last season with the ACL injury.
But before that thought he had alot of really promising moments.
And I think he's somebody that can be really productive as a
reserve, as a guy that comes in off the bench and can score.
He had a 50 point game when he was with Detroit.
It was a few years ago. I'm not sure how many people
remember that now that he had that kind of game where he just
(26:21):
went off and scored a ton, but he's a three-point shooter.
He's pretty solid defensively aswell.
So I think he he definitely has a chance to be able to carve out
a role where he can come in and be productive, something I think
that he's done throughout his whole career.
And by the way, too, he was on the floor a ton.
(26:41):
Obviously he missed this past season, as I mentioned, but
before that, he played in a ton of games and was really durable.
He had a couple seasons where heplayed 82 games.
So I mean that that's another aspect as well that I look
forward to seeing him add to theroster.
Yeah. And Jim, I think one of the
other things that's interesting and fun too, is you can not only
feel that excitement, but again,all of these processes and
(27:04):
whether it's bringing new players and getting them
acclimated, it kind of all does start this week, doesn't it?
I mean, from the first practice on Sunday to the first game on
Thursday, getting everybody acclimated to what this season's
Pelicans culture and team and envision is going to be.
So it it's all steps and then eventually we get everybody
together and then of course we go off and running late
(27:26):
September, early October training camp in the trip to
Australia and all of that and back for another couple of
seasons. New Deal for Joe Myers and
Antonio Daniels, which I'm sure everyone's excited for to have
them here as well. They were recently over on Fox 8
with Juan Kincaid and they were talking about Jim, the
excitement level that they sort of have, as Joe Myers kind of
(27:48):
touched on, hey, this is, you know, not only the beginning of
what this team can sort of be, but trying to, you know, get
together a a certain roster and and hopefully better luck this
season and last season is what Joel had to say.
The word aggressive, which Joe has used a lot and it was 21 and
61 last year. So you you need to be
(28:10):
aggressive. You need Jordan Pole can score
Zion Williamson. We know how good he can be.
If he can play 70 plus games forthe Pels this year, they're
going to be a factor in the Western Conference.
But I do like the fact that Joe brought in guys to compete right
away. Be competitive.
As AD said, don't dig yourself ahole.
(28:31):
You don't need projects and theydon't have projects now.
And everything I've heard about fears, everything I've heard
about Derrick Queen and also Peavey, a lot of people haven't
talked about him. And I talked to people that
watched him at Georgetown his last year.
What a cover guy he is, which will help off the bench.
Like Herb Jones developed as a great cover guy right away.
(28:51):
So there's a lot to be excited about, believe it or not, for
the pals going in. The key is, of course, Zion
needs to be on the floor. And then you have AD, of course,
who's always excited, but he says, you know, kind of to your
point, Jim, all this matters, right?
All of these are are steps, babysteps, whether it's the rookies
now, then the vets coming in, probably I'd say early
(29:12):
September, probably going to be doing that, if not even already
this summer eve. Macy's been looking incredible,
right with the Lab videos, all these guys working, but they're
basically he's saying, look, allof this leads up to when you're
ready in October, you're not hoping that October you're
getting it all together and thenstart because this team needs to
start fast, especially where they play.
(29:32):
Here you go. It's about developing chemistry
and I think that's the big thing.
Now you look at it, Herb Jones was out all last year for a lot
of last year. Trey Murphy was injured a lot of
last year. Dejante Murray will be sidelined
to start the season. So, and you have Kevon Looney
coming in new, you have Jordan Poole that's new you, you have
different guys that are coming in and that are new.
(29:57):
The rookies that are coming in like it's about chemistry.
Training camp and preseason to me are about developing
chemistry. You can do a lot of things
individually and find out a lot about yourself, but
collectively, because of how deep the Western Conference is,
you want to hit the ground running.
Like this isn't one of those years where you want to start
out four or five games under 500.
(30:19):
You want to hit the ground running.
And for me, that starts with thepreseason training camp and also
going into preseason games. Yeah, I mean, I'm excited to
turn the page off of last seasonand to kind of put that in the
rearview mirror to kind of get rid of some of the negativity
and and move forward. I think hopefully a lot of that
starts with summer League with we're getting to see not just
(30:41):
the two guys that were picked inthe lottery, but some of the
other younger players as well that are going to be on the
court out there. So, yeah, I mean, this is the
beginning and hopefully the 2526season will be a big jump from
what we experienced over the previous bunch of months.
But yeah, I'm looking forward toit.
And I think, you know, hopefullythis will be the fresh start
that we're that we're looking for and we'll be able to see the
(31:04):
7th pick in the draft and the 13th pick of the draft perform
really well. It's it's, it's not the end of
the world if they struggle a little bit or they have some of
the, you know, initial rookie jitters or, or, you know, slow
start kind of thing or bad gameshere and there.
But I'm really excited to see what these guys can do against
this level of competition and now that they don't have a huge
(31:27):
target on their backs the way that they did in college where
every single team pretty much they went up against, went into
the game saying, OK, we have to stop this guy from beating us.
Hey, look, you can't be a playoff team in a Western
Conference if you don't, you know, start and trying to win
games and trying to do that. What I mean by that as you need
a new season. I'm with you.
I last year happened. I mean, we'll we'll go back to
as in terms of reference, but I think that's the thing that
(31:49):
you've been trying to bring up here.
And clearly you can hear from the rookies and Corey Brewers
starting now. This is not last year's team.
It's going to be a different team, different makeup,
different roster, different I, Iguess maybe mentality or at
least from the get go and what AD said there I think is so key
and crucial man OKC I can't imagine is going anywhere.
(32:09):
The top 2 picks of the draft wasDallas and San Antonio.
You just look in your division, you look at the West.
We've talked about it at nauseamabout how difficult it's going
to be. I think what AD said is key.
You better be ready to play right at the at the end of
October when the regular season starts.
Those pre season games you need to be working out kinks or
finalizing what you kind of wantto do because you get you get
(32:33):
into where you wait in a week ortwo until October into November.
Man, we've seen this team in thelast couple years.
One game be the difference between the play in or not and
Jim. I can't imagine one or two games
is going to make the difference.Is not going to make the
difference between again, being a play in team or hosting a
first round playoff. I think every game matters.
(32:54):
Yeah, get me back to zero and zero, Gus.
I've been saying that for a while.
It felt like last year they werebehind the 8 ball from the jump.
It was like they immediately were a few games under 500 and
you look at the standings and you're at Thanksgiving and
you're already worried about whether they can make the plan.
So I mean, get me back to 500, get me back to a fresh new
start. And I do think too, that the
(33:16):
attitude that we've seen from the, the, the lottery picks is
definitely refreshing as well tosay like, they don't care what
happened in the past and they shouldn't care.
So I, I think just getting a fresh, you know, day one look on
everything. Obviously what they do on the
court is more important than what they say in press
conferences and that kind of thing.
But I, I do like their attitude and I do think that it's going
(33:38):
to be easier to say, OK, this isa new day.
We're going to, we're going to make a big jump this year.
We're going to improve in a bunch of different areas behind
the the two guys that they addedand then obviously Mica PV as
well as a as a second round pick.
I looking forward to it and Jim's going to be busy.
He also says get me back to Vegas.
He and a whole host of folks that cover the Pelicans will be
(33:58):
over there the entirety. We going to have somebody there
the entire two weeks. Jim, Andrew, Joel, AD all going
to be up there. Our podcast will be there along
with Andrew. So looking forward to that in 30
seconds or so. Jim, what specifically are you
going to be giving us over on the website, Sir?
Yeah, we're going to have, you know, I'm going to try to do
while I'm there. I'm not going to be there the
entire time, but while I'm theregoing to try to track down some
(34:22):
of the other broadcasters. We're going to do kind of
hopefully a postgame show, quoteUN quote, that we're going to
have on the podcast. So Thursday after the game,
we'll have something from the site in Las Vegas that we'll use
on Fridays episode and then Saturday's game as well.
Same deal for Monday's episode next week.
I'm not sure if we mentioned this too, but we're planning to
have Monday, Wednesday, Friday episode this week and next week.
(34:44):
So you can look forward to that.Beyond that, we'll have to,
we'll say TBD. But definitely for these first
two weeks, we'll have three episodes a week.
And then obviously I'll be writing postgame recaps about
the games, not just the ones that I'm there for, but also the
ones that we will catch kind of next week.
Late night TV, the 3rd and 4th game and then the fifth game is
is still TBD. That will be determined based on
(35:06):
the outcome and results of the first four games that they play.
I looking forward to that MisterJim I can offer.
As always, man, appreciate the time and thank you for listening
to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast.
We'll see you on Wednesday righthere once again.
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast.
Join us three times per week on pelicans.com, the Pelicans
(35:27):
mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,or where you get your podcast.
And be sure to give Jim and Gus of follow on X and Jim under
score. I 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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