 After the Anthony Davis trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Pelicans have got rid of their franchise player, but just as they get rid of their franchise player, in comes the number one overall draft pick of this year's NBA draft. Zion Williamson, the man that could change the Pelicans and overall changed the NBA. We don't know how good he'll be, but from what we've seen he seems like an absolute stud. And this is why the Pelicans became one of the most exciting NBA teams, and what is next for the Pelicans now. By the way, if you haven't watched my What Is Next series, I've only uploaded two episodes with the Golden State Warriors after they lost the finals and the Lakers yesterday talking about the same trade, but this time we do it from a Pelicans perspective. If you want to see those, I'll leave a link in the description for the playlist, but in this episode we're talking about the Pelicans, and what is next for the New Orleans Pelicans overall? This is recorded before the draft, and just as this trade happened. So I don't know what happens in the future if things decide to change, we'll make another episode of this series, but as of right now, Anthony Davis has been treading the Lakers. But the Pelicans have a potential lineup of Lonzo Ball, Drew Holiday, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and they have a fourth overall pick. Now do they keep Randall running at the centre? I don't know, because Randall and Zion Williamson, how will that fit? Obviously while the Pelicans have a lot of young assets now, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Zion Williamson, this is going to be a young team that has the potential to be great in the future, but they've still got Drew Holiday, they've still got, as of now, Julius Randall. Literally as I was making this video, Julius Randall declined his player option to join the New Orleans Pelicans next season. Now this means that obviously he can re-sign with the Pelicans later on, but considering he declined his option will mean he enters unrestricted free agency, and his stat line is really good this season, 21.4 points per game, almost 9 rebounds, 34% from the free point range of 195 attempts, which is actually really good, like almost 35% from the three for a guy who didn't really shoot many threes beforehand, is seriously good, and he is still really, really young. Obviously for the Pelicans, they need a big man, no matter what, whether it's free agency, in the draft, they need a big man. And Julius Randall is an enticing option to pair in with Williamson if he can improve on that three point shot, which it was decent, 35% is decent, but it also means he is an undersized center in this league, or if he plays the power forward, it means Williamson will play the small four, which means Ingram plays the two, and then that means Lonzo comes off the bench, like it's a really awkward situation if Randall does come back to this team, which kind of gives me the feeling that he'll enter unrestricted free agency and possibly join a team like the New York Knicks, he probably won't join the Lakers, because he obviously played there before and I just don't seem actually playing with the Lakers, but could be an option. And considering his stat line, I think he could be in for a major payday, especially if a team like the Brooklyn Nets or the New York Knicks miss out on a free agent, a guy like Julius Randall could be a solid option. Let's say Brooklyn misses out on Kyrie, they miss out on all their guys that they're going for, pairing Julius Randall into what they already have would actually be a really great fit for them, plus Randall and Russell back together, not a bad option. But this is a video on the New Orleans Pelicans. These Pelicans roster will change a lot, so we're going to discuss in this episode what is next for the New Orleans Pelicans, as of right now. The thing about the Pelicans is we don't know if they're going to rebuild and get rid of a player like Drew Holiday and go really young, or if they're just going to try and compete with what they have now, because when you think about it, whilst Ingram, Lonzo, Zion are young, they still have the potential to compete in this year's NBA season. These are good talents, especially Zion, even if he is the youngest player. I think he's a one in a lifetime talent, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Pelicans end up trading their number four overall pick, and maybe even somebody else that they got in the trade for an all-star player like Bradley Beal or another player like that to pair up with Drew Holiday, keep Zion, keep Randall, and you still have a very talented team that can challenge in the Western Conference. Yeah, we can see how it works out, and if it doesn't, you can break up the team later on, but I believe they either go with a guy like DeAndre Hunter, or they go for a big man, and they take a risk on a guy like Bowl Bowl. Bowl Bowl is a weird one, because we don't know how good he'll be, but at the same time, I think he has a bigger upside than a guy like Jackson Hayes, who was a center, if they're going to go with a big man, because at this point in time, they need a big man, and we don't know what they're going to get in free agency. But let's talk about free agency. What are the possible options for the Pelicans in free agency, and let's say they do target someone, and they can land him? Like, a guy who was on their team previously, yeah, he's not the same player that he was before, but DeMarcus Cousins. Why can't he join back to the Pelicans? Will they accept him? That's the issue. I don't know if they will accept him, like, honestly, I don't know if the Pelicans team will want DeMarcus Cousins, he literally left them to join the Warriors to win a championship for $5 million, and they didn't even win it. So will the Pelicans accept DeMarcus Cousins? He would actually be a really good fit if he can get some level of play of what he once was. He would actually be a really good fit, because he is a big man that can stress the floor, which obviously a guy like Zion Williamson needs, and he is still DeMarcus Cousins, who, yeah, he has the potential to come back, maybe a 20 and 10 guy. That is still really good in the league. I just don't know if he will get to that stage, and I just don't think the Pelicans will accept him back. But if let's say they do, he would be a great fit, because at this stage there is not a lot of good NBA centers in free agency. You wouldn't get a guy like DeAndre Jordan, because he can't shoot. So when you have Zion and DeAndre, it's easy to collapse the paint. Yeah, you can get shooters on the outside, but Lonzo Ball isn't an amazing shooter. Ingram has the potential to be, but as of right now he isn't, Drew Holiday is, but it's still a little bit iffy. I just think if you're the Pelicans, you've got to get a guy that can shoot a little bit from the outside, but it's still a good big man. This guy is Nicola Vucovic. The thing about Nicola Vucovic is that I don't know if he wants to join a young team with Ingram, Lonzo, Zion Williamson, Josh Hart, etc. Or if he wants to join a team that's more contending, such as a Lakers, or a Brooklyn Nets team, or some team like that. But if he does see Drew Holiday on this team, and he sees them actually competing in the future, maybe it's not a bad option, because he'd be a really good fit for this Pelicans team. Even if it was just for like two or three years, just to see how it would work out. If it didn't work out, trade Drew Holiday, trade Vucovic, and you can get some assets for those two pieces alone, and build around Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball, and Brandon Ingram for the future. If I'm the Pelicans, I'd be targeting Vucovic. If you go through the big men in this years free agency at the center position who can shoot, there aren't a lot. That's why I was saying to Markets, cousins could actually be a reasonable option. They don't even have to pay him max, most likely, because, well, let's be honest, he is not the DeMarcus cousins that was once a max player. But a guy that is more realistic could be a guy like Bobby Portas. He's 6'10", he averaged 14 and 8", he's gonna ask for a little bit of money this season, but he obviously was traded around from Washington, Chicago. He hasn't been himself. The thing is, if he can find a fit in New Orleans, he can hit the outside shot, and maybe a good fit for the Pelicans. Honestly, choosing a player in free agency for the Pelicans has got to be one of the hardest teams I've had to choose, because there is no real stretch big man for the Pelicans, and I think that's something that they are targeting. They are targeting a stretch big man. Considering the big man is not really an option, apart from who I said before Bobby Portas to Markets' cousins, I think that they have a potential to try and get a guy like Danny Green, who was a good two-way player. Obviously, he just won an NBA championship, so he may return with the Raptors, but if he doesn't return, I think the Pelicans could get a guy like him off the bench, Marcus Morris. He is a big man that can stretch the floor, and I think he could be a decent fit for any team really, but particularly for the Pelicans. Another guy is Al Horford. I mean, Al Horford, I just don't see him leaving the Boston Celtics, but if he somehow did and did not resign, because maybe Kyrie didn't resign with them, and they're just like, you know what, we're just gonna go with Tatum and Brown and go Young, and let's say Horford doesn't go to the Celtics, maybe he could be a guy that the Pelicans target. I mean, obviously, he has a player option. If he accepts that, he joins the Celtics, but if he doesn't accept that, he's a six-foot-ten center, stretch big. He would be a good fit as a DeMarcus cousin's type, where he can stretch the floor, rebound a little bit when he needs to. I think Al Horford would be a good fit for the Pelicans. I just don't see him leaving the Celtics. Once again, Brooke Lopez, another stretch big, but just don't see him leaving the Bucks at all. I personally don't think that this will be a team that will trade Drew Holliday and go Young. I think that this team will actually try and compete next season. If Ingram can take that next step, Zion Williamson can do a little bit of what he did in college, but kind of stay on the same wavelength. Lonzo improves his outside shot a little bit. Drew Holliday just plays like Drew Holliday. Like, this is still a pretty decent offensive team. As a whole, it's really hard to know what the Pelicans will do. Do they target a guy like JJ Redick in free agency and just try and get him off the bench with a six man for offense? They target a guy like Trevor Ariza, who can have great defense, great three point shooting. I feel like as a team, they're going to need more three point shooting. They have a group of talented young players. They have the flexibility to do what they want to do. They have two top five first round peeps in this year's draft. They're in a great position, but overall, as much as I'm a fan of watching the Lakers with Anthony Davis on this team now, paired up with LeBron James, Kruzma, and a possible big name free agent, I'm also and probably more excited to see how the Pelicans go with Lonzo, Lobs, Tarzan, Williamson and Ingram improving because he's still really, really young, only 21 years of age. That's insanely young. Like, people need to step off Ingram and just take a look at how young he is and the potential he still has. And I think he can be a very good player in this league. Even if he isn't a ball dominant player, he needs to learn how to play off Lonzo and how to play off Sir Williamson. But as the third option, he could be a great player. So in my opinion, the Pelicans are in a great position. They've got the first pick, the fourth pick, all of the future Lakers first round picks for the next couple of years. They've even got Drew Holiday as a trade asset. They may lose Julius Randall, but they're going to gain somebody. We just don't know who it is yet. If you enjoy this video, please be sure to leave a like, subscribe if you're new, turn on notifications and follow me on Instagram to keep up to date with what I get up to in my personal life. If you enjoy this video and you want to see the next episode, let me know which team you want to see next and I'll try and get out for you guys. If you want to watch the playlist, I'll leave a link in the description and I will catch you in my next video. I am out.