I didn’t expect anything to be different. I just want them to blow it up because this clearly isn’t working. I didn’t watch this game but I watched the Nets play the Pacers a few weeks ago and they shouldn’t be up on any professional team by 40. That’s including Euroleague or whatever they play in Brazil.

They signed Ben Mathurin

I’ve always struggled to fully understand this popular criticism towards them for this season. Don’t they have 2 picks for this draft? If they thought their roster would be good enough to keep them out of the bottom 3, wouldn’t it make more sense to stay out of the relegation zone, get the most value out of their draft picks, and make trades next year with Poole’s expiring and Murray’s likely player option? They are way more valuable as trade assets next year than they are this year, even more so if DJM had a decent year and built his market value back up after coming back from injury.

They did sign Mathurin who has the same scoring skillset they already have tons of from the guard/wing but doesn’t do anything to compliment the others as a shooter, playmaker, or defender

They were hoping Derrick Queen turning into the second coming of Tim Duncan

Front office could have done their job regardless

yeah maybe if he got more than 5 rebounds as a PF they would win more…

Greg Oden could rebound and play defense. Don’t disrespect.

Fr. They can hide behind Zion and injuries as much as they want but no team has had so many potential players and done nothing with them

Hornets please

Okc has enough injury problems already, they can’t afford to add Zion. Plus even with their injuries, they keep dub and chet over him imo

Weird doesn’t mean bad. I’m not implying he’s a bust. Just that he’s the only number 1 pick we know is really good but he doesn’t play and has never played in a meaningful game. It’s historically strange

Zion might be the hardest guy in the league to even come up with trade options because of how weird the Pelicans roster is.

It’s funny that the Pelicans have such high asking prices for their guys but then Joe Dumars does stupid moves like trading up for Derik Queen and giving up an unprotected pick for that right.

Yeah unfortunately for a team like the Pelicans, they’d rather put butts in seats than properly rebuild. It’s shortsighted though, because if you don’t give fans anything to root for year after year, they’ll walk away anyway.

Its too bad the Clippers are tapped out for the next 5-8 years because he seems like someone they’d trade away everything for. Maybe he can plant some trees. 😁

Yeah he’s getting paid to do what a lot of the top guys in the league already do, but can he fill into a 2nd/3rd role for a contender?

All contenders have plenty of scoring from their top stars, that’s usually why they’re contenders.

That’s a big gamble for any team, especially in this 2nd apron era to hope he can fill other roles out that he hasn’t really been asked to do yet in a 7 year career.

The issue is his salary

Is it? $40m aav isn’t really that crazy these days, for reference cheaper than guys like Franz, Lavine, Brandon Miller, around the tier of MPJ, Sengun, and Garland

Maybe it’s a tad pricey, but I imagine some teams would be willing to take a flyer for this season and next

College Zion was more athletic and at least a great defender in some aspects. His injury during preseason his rookie year and probably subsequently getting fat on New Orleans food and distracted by poon derailed him. His epic debut game was a mirage cause he randomly hit 4 open 3s. Still a fantastic player, would love him on the warriors cause him and Steph could warp the defense in dynamically opposite ways

Majority of his contract is non guaranteed.

Always felt he would thrive on the Pacers with Hali

I’m just dying to see him on a competitive team. Could be so fun. Damn 2nd apron.

It’s always tough to have a big who isn’t a great defender or rebounder, but he’s undeniably talented. Detroit needs another star who can create, PF is their weakest position, and I feel like he would thrive with Cade, but I don’t know if they can stomach another non-shooter.

hes making 42m. that’s not even that much anymore. there’s 29 guys making more money than him this year.

People think training staffs are like 2k editors that add health durability VC points to players

Most overrated in every sport, people think they have some massive impact on injuries is so stupid

People on this sub just claim any team that has injuries is a medical staff problem lol

Aaron Nelson hasn’t been employed by the Pelicans in 3 years. It’s a different staff from then

Would you like one daaron fox for Zion?

That’s a terrible fit.

Agreed

The Hornets would be a nice fit actually. You need somebody to attack the rim and open things up for the shooters.

The defense would probably be a disaster but whatever.

The Pelicans would laugh

Would do this deal anyday

We need to blow it all up, and I have zero trust that our current regime will handle it properly. Looking forward to years in the gutter at this point.

Lakers. They have no true starting PF. Plenty of rim protection from Kessler.

jalen williams cant stay healthy so lets go grab zion😭

honestly i could imagine him playing that aaron gordon role next to jokic

It’s not like Zion is historically healthy either. It’s a big gamble that has the chance to blow up OKC’s chemistry, and he may also get gurt and miss the rest of the season as well. He only has 1 more year on his deal, so it would help their cap situation and relieve pressure from SGA this season if he can stay healthy.

Would be interesting to see how Zion fits in with OKC.

Spurs

Any other rebuilding team that wouldn’t give up an arm and a leg. I could see him do well with Darius Garland on the Clippers, although with their injury luck…

If we’re being genuine about semi-functional and competent: Warriors, Celtics, Nuggets, Mavericks, Suns. These are teams where he would get minutes, be a real upgrade, and could get healthy and have decent medical.

Spurs have the big contract with fox they could move for him. NO would need to shed some more salary, but that’s not too bad.

Would NO want a package based around San Antonio FRPs? They also have the Hawks 2027 and more favorable of Dallas/Minneapolis 2030.

My guess is no, but the Spurs would be a good landing spot.

Us

You named teams that are all way too good and wouldn’t make any type of risky move like this. Those are literally the last teams in the league that would do so.

I don’t think you need to worry about an ideal fit here. You trade for him and pair him with other good prospects/lower tier stars and see where your gaps are. The point here is that you buy him at an appropriate price and revitalize him with a change of scenery.

He could go to the Clippers

Cant teach Zion to do the hour of mind numbingly boring preventative work LeBron’s done prolly everyday for 20+ years, end of the day it’s a mindset thing everythings on the internet

even at 42 hes not Zion lmao

Do you know who Cam Thomas is? This may be the single worst comp anyone could make.

He doesn’t play defense? What year are you making this comment from? Or do you just keep opinions until people give you new ones to hold?

The dude is delusional and a massive ego and he’s been a massive issue on the court. He’s sinking line ups it’s crazy

Imma be honest, when I first saw his tattoo, I knew he would be on bullshit

Spurs hid it well

They’re like the Ray Donavan of the NBA

Really during their time on the Spurs? Was it about money/playing time? He refusing to shave his head?

Maybe he disagrees with Whites take about the moon landing being fake

That wasn’t a summer league player that was just some rando who probably worked at Office Depot showing up for a run over the summer that Murray was at. That was so over the top I feel like there’s got to be some kind of story behind it

Are you talking about Paolo?

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/pelicans-dejounte-murray-deletes-cryptic-154039697.html

Not trying, not buying in, locker room disrupter, fighting with the coach, supposed to be a vet and leader, high salary, big ego, doesn’t play defense anymore, demands respect though, just not a good teammate to have

Outjerked by the main sub

This seems like a huge generalisation I gotta be honest

r/nbacirclejerk is leaking into the main sub again

FOH

Yeah I totally hate guys that had to come from nothing and neglect to become the top professionals in the world, they always bring all this goddamn trauma and human emotion. Ew. I want a real lunch pail kinda guy, he has to never have experienced hardship, that way we can mold him to be whatever I want like a robot and he never complains.

fuck outta here with your thinly veiled racism weirdo.

this is textbook rage bait lol. i can’t believe people are falling for it when your bio is literally “offended? try crying more” 🤣 get a life dude

Djm Being the crown Jewel of two absolutely insidiously terrible trades within like 2 years of each other will always be hilarious to me

The Spurs sold high on him at the absolute perfect time. There was always a lot of noise around that near triple-double All-Star year he had, He’s been one of the least efficient volume scores pretty much every season since he started being allowed to take enough shots to qualify. And his defense absolutely fell off a cliff when his usage went up and has never come back thought it was an extremely silly move when the Hawks traded for him, and thought it was an absolute WTF Are you doing move from the pelicans when they did it

the issue with Dyson in New Orleans was that you can’t play him and Herb Jones at the same time. They tried it and had some brutally bad offensive stretches. So it was pick one or the other and they went with Herb.

Dyson Daniels is basically what the Hawks expected DJM to be. Sure his offense is lackluster but anyone who watches a hawks game knows that Daniels has been our most impactful player on the floor.

I remember the Trae DJM years feeling pretty bleak by the end of it, so to turn it around and get Daniels was honestly great.

Only reason it isn’t considered worse is Dyson’s contract and lack of development on offense. It’s still awful though.

I heard DJM poisoned your water supply, burned your crops, and delivered a plague unto your houses

Yea, but after being in the league and injured so much, he’s far from what those adjusted expectations said of him

He’s been legit good and available

But he’s not a bust either, not by a long shot. As someone else said, very weird guy to evaluate. Two time All Star, instantly impactful on the offensive end. I do think his health issues have at times been his own fault, but there’s also bad luck

yeah its weird how people look at zions counting stats and forget there’s way more to being a winning player than scoring points…

Yeah, elite scorer and everything else is meh. I cant remember what the consensus was when he got drafted, but I was expecting him to become a two way beast.And even his scoring doesnt come without its issues; he is a 6’7 pf without a three-point shot. Very hard to build a good team around him, especially when he is making big money. Not similar in playstyle, but he is similar to Sabonis in the sense that both are very talented in a vaccuum, but their skillset is just not great for winning basketball at their positions.

Edit: to clarify, I ofc remember the intense hype around him during the draft, I just dont remember the consensus on the defensive end

Not to say he’ll ever touch his pre-draft expectations, but the Pelicans are putting 0 effort into getting him in a position where he can maximize his impact on the team. They run 0 plays for him and they never play through him. They’re using him like he’s just another guy on the court. Which I kind of understand not wanting to rely on him because they’re worried he won’t be healthy but at that point just trade the guy.

“stocky lebron” is quite the benchmark in hindsight

On 60% from the field though? With defenses scheming against you and knowing exactly what you’re going to do?

I’ll also add that the Pels are one of the worst 3pt shooting teams in the league right now. And they are focusing heavily on Fears and Queens usage.

The fact that Zion ie scoring as efficiently as he is is a testament to how good he actually could be in the right circumstances

He’s in the best shape of his career, shooting the most efficient of his career, and playing the best defensive he ever has. He seems to have actually matured some and is trying to be better.

Shouldn’t discredit his effort.

Availability was his biggest issue, he’s always been good when he plays. So “same player but slimmer” is good.

And way less aggressive.

If he was this player in any of the playoff seasons with BI and CJ, maybe something could have happened. Instead it’s after that whole team is broken apart and a bunch of mismatched pieces left

There’s nothing to “turn around”. He’s a very good player.

Herb might not even be worth a singlur first at this point, he’s a Power Forward version of Matisse Thybulle

What the fuck is Warriors culture in 2026 lmao

Eh… Warriors culture isn’t something I’d hang my hat on…

NBAPA will have something to say about that pal lol

Historically bad so far

One of those times he didn’t play a single game of the season, they went 36-46, won both play-in games, and made it in. They were 3-16 before trading for CJ/Nance, and ended up making it in. For that one, I can see your point

Second time he played 70 games and was their best player. He also got injured in the play-in game versus the Lakers, after scoring 40 points in the game. Let’s not pretend that they somehow are a much better team when he doesn’t play

I’m not saying they’ve ever been great with him, but they’re much closer to a .500 team with him than without him, and I would argue the construction of their teams haven’t been great. I do think they have a decent future, if they can get rid of some of their weirder contracts, but that’s a big if

I remember there a time in our sub where suggestions for trading for Zion were made. I do wonder how he would fit in our offense although our defense would probably be tanked

OK but this is generational rim pressure, his touch is insane for a refrigerator

I haven’t watched too many games of him but he seems a decent passer enough. Rim pressure and he has a good vision when it comes to swinging the ball after a drive. Granted he’s payed like a first or second option but next contract he could be viable for many contenders.

it didn’t work for other people, but maybe, just maybe it will work for y’all!

I’d trade scoot for him

I don’t know how it could happen but in a vacuum he would be good on the Celtics

It isn’t about the spacing he needs, it’s about the spacing he provides the team.

Yeah he can’t cut, and when he has momentum he is hard to stop, but he still isn’t pulling defenders out to the 3 point line. He doesn’t do much without the ball in his hands other than try to crash the paint.

How so? I think Spurs need a floor spacing Rebounder at the 4

We do not have the capital to trade for him aside from Fox. Most of the young players are either untouchable or not good enough for the pelican to want them yet. Honestly, all this group need is time to grow together. Wemby is 23, Castle and Harper is 22 and 21. They are not even close to their prime yet. Zion is already 26 years old with a messed up knees and back issue stemming from his weight problem.

Plus how is the spacing going to work? Zion needs to be on the inside, that is where Wemby is. Zion does not have a 3 ball, and he is not a great passer, which the Spurs put great emphasis on.

Just getting Jim outta NO might be good for his… you know…. lady issues….

Fox for Zion makes sense. Pels need a fast explosive guard like Fox.

He’d score buckets but Gordon’s been integral to their defense

Nuggets need defence at the 4