The Pelicans Just Took A Huge Gamble...

The pelicans are taking a huge gamble after dumping all Jordan Hawkins for a series of pigs But there could be a silver lining to this situation and it could be aj johnson who comes over in the trade We're going to talk about it inside this edition of pelicans digest. Let's try this again My people is melzo the mic back in the building here on pelicans digest, man Thank you so much for tapping in with us on this wednesday, man as we uh, get you caught up on the fallout Over the trade of jordan hawkins yesterday and we talked about it, uh about it a whole lot about it yesterday Uh, but today, uh, we got to take a look at what's coming over in this trade. I had to calm down You know what i'm saying and and sat with this for a minute and thought about it and we're You know, that might be a silver lining to the situation involving aj johnson. All right, so Uh, we're going to discuss that inside this episode. But first, uh real quick I came across an article on espn today from zag cram where he lists the pelicans as potential play in participants And you know, that's very interesting to see a lot of that starting to change out and a lot of people starting to get A little bit energized behind this pelicans roster and that's what we bring in our friends at calci Uh with their latest information on their website about the pelicans making the play in this Uh this upcoming season remember on calci you're trading directly against other users Not the house like traditional sports books You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events across sports politics or even the weather For example, you can get on the pelicans making the play in uh tournament action We saw momentum, uh jump around the matherin signing they have since leveled out at 24 percent And a 25 dollar trade on calci will make you 65 Dollars if you jump in on that action that the pelicans get into the play in So if you're interested in trying out calci use the link in the description With the code digest nba and when you trade 25 You'll get 25 added to your account instantly So get on over to calci right now use the promo code digest nba and get signed up And you'll get 25 bonus added to your account and we gotta thank our friends at calci once again for sponsoring today's video All right. Now let's talk about jordan hawkins the well the fallout from the jordan hawkins trade that just took place yesterday. Um, you know According to the comments that i've read here on social on youtube and everywhere else Uh, we split down the middle as always half of y'all are fine with what the pelicans had to give up to get off of this contract with jordan hawkins Uh, some of y'all are upset like me about the amount of draft picks that were given up in this move And of course, uh, i've said this yesterday that a lot of this is the official cost of acquiring ben mattering um So today we're going to dive deep into it But first we got to update you on the new news today involving todge gibson who came over in that trade Uh, the man was a pelican for a couple hours And we reported to you before that the pelicans were more than likely going to release gibson And pay him a hundred thousand dollars and the pelicans made that move official today according to the pelicans.com website The pelicans announced today that the team has weighed todge gibson So, uh, let's go ahead and call him a pelicans legend for a couple of days todge gibson A couple of hours should I say todge gibson is no longer with the team and has moved and will officially move on And i'm quite sure even though he's in his 18th or 19th season Uh, i've heard bulls fans saying that they would like to have todge gibson back. Um He's more than likely probably going to get picked up somewhere because uh of his veteran status And uh what he can add to a young locker room um I wouldn't have had an issue if he would have stayed on with the pelicans as far as being a locker room guy But you know, uh, this was all of course His salary was added into that of the other players to sort of match what would be needed to bring in ben mattering. So um So, uh piece to todge gibson man, thanks for coming over. Thanks for stopping by, you know See you down the line brother uh, but One of the things that I talked about yesterday that I was disappointed about in this deal was the second round picks And that we had to give up to memphis for starters memphis is a division rival Anything that helps out any of these teams in our division. I'm not with it at all but One of the things that I wanted to point out about this is the second round picks Uh, a lot of y'all believe aren't valuable. They aren't useful. They have no meaning anymore I contend that with something that shaman dual pointed out on his ex account Uh yesterday, which is that the reason that the uh that he asked a question on social media Which was would you have preferred that the pelicans stretched and waved? Jordan hawkins or give up these draft picks to go get him to get out of his contract And the reason why he asked that is because we see as we've seen at the trade deadline this season Second round picks have been used to acquire quality players over the last six months and some of the nasiness that is a beef stew I think it was isaiah steward with uh detroit who was a big that we had eyes on isaiah joke Ayo, dosimo, uh, kai, uh, kobe white lew dort erin wiggins all got moved from their respective teams Just for second round picks and the reason why I was upset about so many second round piece going away is because Who's who knows that a player that that maybe fits the mode of what you're trying to do if you're the pelicans? Could get got for a second round pick So this is why I I was so upset about losing that draft capital Uh pelicans are still a second round still have a second round pick shortage from the devontae gram Uh dunk now if you recall back in 2023, this is a david griffin call david griffin traded devontae gram for four second round picks Well, this didn't say four He traded devontae gram and four second round picks to the spurs for josh richardson and josh richardson Didn't even stay in new orleans that long he was gone by the summer I think they made the trade at the trade deadline and then he was gone and signed to miami by the next season So so you so if you want to be real here david griffin Was the one who traded off a whole bunch of our second round picks And got nothing back in return and Now if you want to look if you want to look at how many second round picks you got level you're the pelicans You got damn near none The remaining second round picks for the pelicans after this season 2027 You're gonna have the second most favorable of okc houston indiana and miami then at 28 you got none 29 you got none and 31 you got none 32 you got a swap and in 33 you finally get your own pick in the second round Now there is a pick swap situation with orlando in uh, 2030 uh, but I think that that could get determined on on who has the better record So now you understand so I hope you understand This is why I was so upset about these second round picks being traded off to get rid of the jordan hawkins contract Uh, because now you ain't got none and we've seen over the last six months that you can actually find quality players and get quality players Just using second round picks So I hope that helps my I hope that I hope that that brings some understanding As to why I was frustrated with with what the pelicans gave up in this situation But today we're going to turn our focus towards something a little bit more positive And that's what we got back in the situation in aj johnson um Again, I I i'm not going to disparage the young man. The young man has had a tough start to his nba career Um and Another thing is this is a troy weaver guy And this is something i've always had a knock on about troy weaver, man Troy weaver thinks that there are no other better basketball players in the world other than the ones in the dmv And that's dc maryland and virginia This guy has this infatuation Which is having guys, you know outside of jeremiah fears. He wants guys from the dmv He thinks that there's the dmv is the best place is basketball heaven And that's and that's always been a problem for me because you shouldn't be so short-sighted especially when you have All these international players that are winning mvp awards every season now and they're dominating the league He's hell-bent on trying to keep players from his his area And in the nba and bringing them down here to new orleans But aj johnson could solve a problem. That's that we probably really didn't give too much consideration about And that's being the third string point guard for the pelicans Not saying that that's an important position or anything, you know But it's something to consider because when you got fears and murray being your your two main point guards and if you know Maybe injury or maybe they need some time off or or back to back or situation like that Where you need a third point guard to fill in you was looking at possibly putting in jordan pool in that situation But aj johnson could feel the need that you have for that third point guard, uh roll Johnson is a high level athlete who can play make and create for his teammates so far in his career He struggled to find a home in the nba and the pelicans will be his fourth team As he uh heads into his third nba season, but maybe new orleans could be a place He can finally call his home and this is according to chris lambert on pelicans to brief who? Pointed out that in his 77 career games Johnson has shot 35 from the field and 24 from three in the modern nba those shooting figures Are going are going to make it impossible to find playing time as at minimum You have to be able to finish at the rim efficiently and johnson has struggled with that And that's fine, you know again that is fine We're not asking them to come in and and you know Take over this team or anything like that or have a significant role on this team But his role still could be important as far as being a third string point guard when murray and fears, uh, maybe need some rest So as lambert points out all johnson needs to do this season with the pelicans has become a stable ball handler Who can occasionally play 10 minutes when fears or murray needs a night off or rest? And considering that the pelicans have one of you know, a lot of back-to-back games this season I think their second or third most back-to-back, uh games this upcoming season His role could get important and his his minutes could be needed at some point this season again, don't again What we especially when we go into the training camp one could argue That he could be the leading guy going into training camp as according as far as uh in the point guard battle I mean you already got kobe buffkin there who showed out during uh, summer league uh and um You have now aj johnson there to compete You know, you could you could have some something good work out in that position for aj johnson And considering that he has 77 games of nba experience and several years of experience Just about the same amount as buffkin. That could be a very interesting battle going down the line Um, but yeah, that's all you need them for then, you know That could be a silver lining to the situation considering that hawkins wasn't working out You were kind of short in that position as far as point guard actual true point guards go So, you know this could work out, you know, and this is me just trying to be as positive as I can be While his jumper is a massive work in progress. His athleticism as a speed demon and leaper in a fast break Can create highlights and exciting moments He's also flashed the ability to become a capable playmaker who can run ball screens and create advantages particularly for biggs down low Well, that's that's gonna be pretty important You know when you're considering that zion and queen And bay and missy and all these guys are going to be looking for the ball at some point So, you know We're we're trying to think positive about it But we're gonna try to think positive about this, you know now that the deal is done and you're bringing in ben madderen But we'd love to know your thoughts on aj johnson Uh, he is the one player that that's coming over into the situation that that may have that still potentially has some upside to him It could be a valuable seventh or eighth man Uh as opposed to ben madden who's going to be coming in more than likely as a sixth man Off the bench, but we'd love to know your thoughts on this and of course him and john pool are being reunited again He has some familiar energy with pool as well um we'd love to do your thoughts on that one though, man, because Because other than that, you know other than that i'm not why i'm still not happy with the hall I do see the potential there. I do see the potential there and you know, I and i'm trying to think positive about this situation Love to know your thoughts man clap back with your thoughts in the comments, man My apologies on the earlier video being all messed up man. Uh Sound I don't know what the hell going on man My computer reset didn't sit one of the damn updates and mess my stuff up. Anyway, that's being either here or there Thank you so much for tapping in with us Don't forget that to subscribe button if you haven't done it yet And also you can follow us right now on x at pelicans digest This is where you get the best analysis opinions and more about the new all this pelicans. It smells talking about those bells I'll holler at you