Dan is joined by Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) from the In The N.O. podcast for an honest and thorough talk about the New Orleans Pelicans’ present and future ahead of the 2021-22 NBA season. They discuss New Orleans’ somewhat controversial offseason, Zion Williamson’s health, development and future, how the team will build out the rotation, Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s ceiling, Trey Murphy III’s fit, the defense, lineup possibilities and much more. TIMESTAMPS⬇️
2:03 – Intro 4:31 – Offseason takeaways/impressions 9:51 – Zion Williamson’s health and future 19:52 – Zion’s on-court development/defense 23:49 – Starting-five predictions/preferences 26:10 – Jonas Valanciunas’ fit and value 28:34 – Expectations for Nickeil Alexander-Walker 32:27 – Jaxson Hayes/The backup center rotation 37:35 – Trey Murphy III’s role/rookie-year expectations 40:44 – Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple, Kira Lewis Jr. 43:04 – Kira Lewis’ future 45:06 – Devonte’ Graham 46:03 – Naji Marshall’s role and value 48:42 – Biggest weakness 50:19 – Brandon Ingram 51:34 – Josh Hart 54:56 – Best crunch-time lineup 56:13 – Quirky lineups we want to see 57:10 – Win-total prediction/Place in the West
1:00:19 – Willie Green’s impact