J. Kyle Mann

I want to say more broadly, the number of emails we got from fans of bad teams having full-on existential crises was at an all-time high for this mailbag.

Chad's is representative of that, but the Pelicans are quite a quagmire, Kyle.

I understand Chad's frustration and the running into the wall logically over and over of how you dig your way out of this.

Because as you start plotting the steps, I think it's just going to be quite a while before this team is actually good again.

I would say from a zoomed out perspective, I think Zion's presence and shadow over this organization is one of the biggest impediments to them actually moving forward.

And so trading him, even if it's for value that you wouldn't necessarily prefer, I think is in the Pelican's best interest at this point.

I think he's just one of these guys where...

He's not disruptive.

He's been healthier this season than maybe any of his NBA seasons to date, to be honest with you.

He just seems to warp the logic of the team by existing.

His continued presence is in part, I think, what...

pushes them in the direction of wanting to be more competitive now when they really shouldn't be.

It lets them talk themselves into thinking, oh, we're a team to take seriously, even though the rest of our roster suggests that we're not, and our record suggests that we're not.

He's in this superstar uncanny valley, basically, where in theory, yeah, the Pelicans led by Zion Williamson should be good, but they're very clearly not.

So what do you do with that information?

I think you have to trade him.

From there...

I think there's a lot of reasonable arguments about guys up and down the roster in terms of what you want to do.

Weirdly enough, Kyle, I think a lot of this comes down to what is happening with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Because if he continues to be a member of the Milwaukee Bucks,