Pelicans’ Joe Dumars Talks Zion Williamson, Defends Early Moves As Lead Decision-Maker

Joe Dumars is back in a front-office seat, and he is not wasting time putting his stamp on the New Orleans Pelicans.

Since taking over as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations, Dumars has already pulled the trigger on several major roster moves. He traded veteran guard CJ McCollum to the Wizards in exchange for Jordan Poole. He also sent out an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to move up in the draft and select Maryland center Derik Queen at No. 13 overall.

The decisions sparked criticism, particularly the use of a future unprotected pick in a draft-day trade. Dumars, however, said he isn’t bothered by the outside noise.

“I don’t mind the criticism. People say they don’t mind. But I really don’t mind,” Dumars told ESPN’s Marc J. Spears in a feature for Andscape. “When you’re running a franchise, you make a determination of what you think you need to start growing your franchise. The opportunity presented itself that we could get two lottery picks, and to do that, you’re going to have to give up something. We gave up what we thought it would take to get these two lottery picks and we did.”

Dumars turned down front-office offers from both the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns before deciding to return to his home state of Louisiana. He said the Pelicans presented the “right place, right time, right people” combination he was looking for, per Spears.

He also explained his rationale behind acquiring Poole, a player who had an up-and-down stint in Washington after winning a championship with Golden State.

“If you look around the league now, it’s almost a requirement to have high-level guard play, dynamic guard play,” Dumars said. “Jordan has a skillset that matches the most dynamic guards in this league. We’ve also seen him be a part of a championship team and contribute at a high level.”

With Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones and Dejounte Murray forming the team’s foundation, Dumars said he focused on building around that core with complementary talent.

“I thought the core was really good there and I thought if you have a good core, let’s build out around that core with the type of players that we need,” he said. “I thought Jordan Poole was a dynamic guard. I thought that Saddiq Bey was the perfect guy to come off the bench and add depth to your team. I thought that Kevon Looney was the perfect guy for a team full of guys who were 25, 26 years old.”

Dumars has also placed an emphasis on developing a strong connection with Williamson, who has faced questions in the past regarding his durability and long-term role as the face of the franchise.

“He and I have had some incredible conversations. We are in constant contact with each other,” Dumars said. “I’ve talked to him about the responsibility of being great and the responsibility of being a leader, of being a captain, of being the best player, of being the face of a franchise. I’ve talked to him about how all of those things come with responsibility and how it’s time now at 25 years old to embrace those responsibilities.”

Dumars spent the past three years working in the NBA league office, a job he said he loved and would not have left unless the right opportunity came along. He believes the Pelicans are that opportunity.

“This was what I considered special to be able to come back, run the Pelicans in New Orleans with quite frankly a lot of people I knew in the organization and outside the organization,” he said. “That’s what made it special for me to say that I would leave the NBA and take this job.”