Evan Mobley’s Leap & Zion’s Comeback: Can the Cavs and Pelicans Finally Break Through?

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4.3 • 915 Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Locked On NBA, Wes Goldberg, Matt Moore, and Haize dive deep into two of the league’s most intriguing storylines — the Cleveland Cavaliers’ quest for playoff success and what a healthy Zion Williamson could mean for the New Orleans Pelicans’ future. They debate whether Mobley needs to become the Cavs’ best player to win a title and analyze if Cleveland’s offensive balance can finally carry them past the second round. Then, they turn to the Pelicans — can a fit and motivated Zion finally deliver on his superstar promise? They discuss New Orleans’ health concerns, Jordan Poole’s fit, and Willie Green’s coaching outlook. Later, the crew shifts gears to preseason standouts including Matas Buzelis’ breakout performance for the Bulls, Terrence Shannon Jr.’s growing role in Minnesota, and Craig Porter Jr.’s potential rise in Cleveland.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Good afternoon and welcome back to Locked on NBA on today's show.
0:03.7	The Cavaliers hope to get over the hump and make it back to the NBA finals,
0:07.0	and they may be counting on one of their star players to take a leap to do so.
0:10.5	Meanwhile, are we overlooking what a healthy Zion Williamson could mean to the Pelicans?
0:20.2	You are Locked on NBA, your daily NBA podcast.
0:24.9	Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day.
0:31.9	All right, welcome back to Locked-on NBA, however you might be tuning in on YouTube or on your favorite podcast app.
0:36.9	Thanks for making us your first listen every day. Today's episode is brought to you by Fandual. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you'll get $300 and bonus bets to use across the app. Head to fanduel.com to get started. I'm Wes Goldberg, and today we're talking about what a healthy Zion Williamson means for the Pelicans'off chances, and we'll take a look at some standout players from last night's preseason games, and we're doing it with the help of Lockdown's local experts. I have two of the best with me, as always, from the Locked On Nuggets podcast, senior NBA writer for the Action Network. Matt more, Matt. Modest Booz Delance! That's all I got to.
1:11.2	Locked on Bulls podcast. That's all I got to say.
1:15.7	Locked on Bulls podcast. He's a Bears and Bulls creator for Bleacher Report.
1:17.6	Hey, is it time for the party horns?
1:20.6	Yeah, I think so.
1:29.2	Like, I mean, listen, as a lifelong Bulls fan, sometimes the best excitement that we have is right now. We'll see if it's still there in December. We will talk about Matas Bezales. Matas? Matas? Pazas? Pazas? Pazelis later on in the show,
1:38.9	but we're continuing our team preview series with the Cavaliers. The Cavs won 64 games last season,
1:44.1	but failed to make it out of the second round.
1:47.1	Again, we asked Danny Cunningham from Locktime Cavaliers what the biggest question facing
1:51.4	the team is this season.
1:54.2	Hey guys, Danny Cunningham from Lockdown Caves here.
1:56.6	And the biggest question about the Cleveland Cavaliers heading into this season is can
2:00.4	they do it in
2:00.8	the playoffs, right? We saw last year this team can be a regular season wins machine. They won 64
2:06.4	games. They looked like the best team in the Eastern Conference from start to finish. There was
	...

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