Shamit Dua, host of the In the NO podcast, discusses the promising, young New Orleans Pelicans, whose vastly improved defense and deadline acquisition of guard CJ McCollum has them tentatively in a play-in spot. Shamit discusses McCollum's arrival, including what it's unlocked for star wing Brandon Ingram, before exploring New Orleans' new dual-big man starting lineup, Herb Jones' seismic impact on its defense and the team's prospects for the remainder of the season and beyond. Among other forward-looking topics, Shamit pays special attention to the franchise’s consequential upcoming summer decision regarding Zion Williamson’s future as its centerpiece.

2:10-2:57: "From the get-go, CJ has brought professionalism, leadership and just attention to the franchise in a way that it hasn't had before. ... It's the kind of leadership that the team has really needed. He's been producing at an extremely high rate. I think he's up to like 27 points per game as a Pelican. He's jelling well with the other players on the team, creating open looks and just all in all making the Pelicans offense that much more dynamic and that much more difficult to defend."

7:46-8:45: "I think you as an organization have to do everything you can to sort of sort this whole situation out, and if at the end of the day it doesn’t work, then you can say, ‘We did everything, we accommodated [Williamson] at every corner, and it just didn’t work out.’ So you don’t want to look like the negligent franchise that the media will inevitably try to paint you as if another superstar ends up walking. With regard to his extension, I think that’s gonna be a very fascinating question this summer because you look at how Joel Embiid did not play very much in the first couple years and he got a pretty conditional extension with a lot of injury provisions and whatnot. A lot of people are arguing that Zion should get something similar, and I think the Pelicans would be right to do that. But it's still a tricky issue. Do you risk alienating him further by putting that on the table? Or do you just kinda swallow the pill and offer the full max?    

22:12-22:47: “I personally don’t see [the Williamson-Jonas Valanciunas fit] as a challenge. You look at Zion last year: He averaged 27 points a game, shooting 60 percent from the floor, and you had Steven Adams as the center. People said the Steven Adams partnership wouldn’t work. The Pelicans were a pretty decent offensive team, and Zion got whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Jonas is a much more talented offensive player than Steven Adams, just as good of an offensive rebounder, he can space the floor, he can draw doubles himself. If the Jonas and Jaxson Hayes lineups aren’t obliterating teams offensively, Zion’s just gonna take them to another level. So I don’t see there being a question of fit.”

33:35-33:54: “They would like to win; that’s why they traded for CJ McCollum. I think they view themselves as an organization that should be trending upwards, so making the play-in would be the right step. But I’m not sure there’s this ‘World is ending. Are we gonna blow the team up?’ or there’s dysfunction behind the scenes if those outcomes aren’t reached.”

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