NEW ORLEANS — Things feel different in New Orleans.
At least that’s the feeling coming out of this week’s team media day, which came after an offseason where the Pelicans were able to sign their young superstar Zion Williamson to a five-year contract extension, showcasing a buy-in level from Williamson that the fans have been craving.
The Pelicans missed Williamson last year due to injury, but they made a big deal in trading for C.J. McCollum and they made the playoffs last year. Now, a core that features Williamson, Brandon Ingram and McCollum, along with a number of young role player talents, the Pelicans are looking to make noise.
Locked On Pelicans podcast host Jake Madison was joined by former NBA player and current Pelicans color analyst Antonio Daniels to discuss Zion Williamson, and how the Pelicans are changing their narrative.
“To have a focused and engaged Zion (Williamson) that is 100% on board? If I’m a Pelicans fan, I am hyped," Antonio Daniels said on Locked On Pelicans. "The things that have gone wrong here, the national media saying this about Zion, this about New Orleans and saying no one wants to play in New Orleans. Think about what happened this year. The trade for CJ McCollum. And the first thing he said when he got off the plane is New Orleans is where I wanted to be. Now you sign your generational talent for the next five years? Man, if I’m a Pelicans fan, I’m geeked.”
“I’ve been kind of calling this ‘Zion 2.0’ in a sense," Locked On Pelicans host Jake Madison said. "And you just said, an all-in Zion Williamson here. We’re seeing that in a way that we haven’t before. And I think that’s one of the biggest things, right? And maybe there were reasons for that. Maybe it was the injury and him not wanting to be around and maybe he wasn’t in the right mental space. Signing the contract, being around the facility the entire offseason, which he hasn’t done before. He’s in better shape than we’ve seen…It’s a Zion that seems more committed than we’ve seen before.”
Check out the full conversation between Antonio Daniels and Jake Madison on the Locked On Pelicans podcast, your daily podcast covering all things Pelicans basketball, on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.