#255: Are Zion Williamson and New Orleans Pelicans Contenders

On this week's episode of the Atlantic Files Podcast, are Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans for real, Cade Cunningham is likely out for the season, the NBA awards received some new names, Jakob Poeltl is potentially on the trade block, who is returning to form more the Brooklyn Nets or the Philadelphia 76ers, Kyle Kuzma wants out and wants a lot of money, and who should trade for Bojan Bogdanovic. Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans have been the talk of the league as they take over the first seed in the Western Conference. Both parties have been great this season and have defied many expectations. The Pelicans have had tons of injuries yet have stayed afloat to be a half-game ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies. Williamson has slowly been returning to his dominant self as he continues to score with the best of them. The real question is whether or not they are true NBA Finals contenders. In unfortunate news, Cade Cunnigham has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to receiving shin surgery. The Detroit Pistons weren't competing for much other than a shot at Victor Wembanyama, but it's still a big blow to the excitement surrounding the team. Hopefully, it's only a one-season occurrence. The NBA decided to change the names of all of their season awards to commemorate some of the best players to come through the league. On top of that, they changed the look of all of them. We went through and decided if each one was a good or bad idea. A couple of names have appeared on the trade block, Jakob Poeltl and Bojan Bogdanovic. Naturally, that means it's time to predict who will trade for each one and which team should be trading for each one. It's time for another Brooklyn Nets vs Philadelphia 76ers debate. Both teams are returning to the form that many expected so which team is MORE back? Sure, that might not make sense, but you knew what we meant. Finally, Kyle Kuzma is apparently making contract demands and team requests. He wants a lot of money from either a big market team or a competing team. Two scenarios that do not favor his wishes whatsoever. This should be interesting. Timecodes: 00:00 Intro 04:52 Cade Cunningham out for the year 10:20 Are Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans true contenders? 29:38 Brooklyn Nets or Philadelphia 76ers, who's more back 38:04 New NBA Award names, good or bad idea 44:24 Jakob Poeltl and Bojan Bogdanovic, who should trade for them 51:48 Kyle Kuzma's outrageous demands 55:00 Outro