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- [00:00]
Capital One Bank Guy
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- [00:27]
Andrew
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Will Guillory
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Andrew
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- [01:37]
Andrew
We are continuing our season previews and today we're talking about the New Orleans Pelicans, the team that everybody's just itching to talk about. I actually am very excited about this. We're going to be helped by my good friend Will Guillory to untangle this mess of a rubber band ball that is the New Orleans Pelicans. Will 1. It's a delight to talk to you 2. What's it been like this summer covering the Pelicans?
- [02:09]
Will Guillory
Man, first off, been way too long since me and you did a pod, man, long summer, long summer. But always happy to be on with you. And I would say this was kind of my running joke when I was out at summer league. You know, summer league is the home of. Of NBA networking. When you go around and sh. Cans and kiss babies and introduce yourself to a whole bunch of people. And my. And I would say the majority of my time in Vegas was spent introducing myself to people, informing them that I'm a Pelicans writer and them going oh, God, I'm so sorry. Like, man, this must be tough right now. He going through a lot. I'm like, listen, nobody in my family died. Like, it's good. Like, it's just fine. So that, that's pretty much the experience being the Pelicans writer right now. People react to you like you just have a, a tragedy going on life.
- [03:00]
Andrew
So let's talk about the off season. What is the most impactful change? And you can't choose the, the year long trade of Trajan Langdon for Troy Weaver. You can't, you can't do that one. But what was the most impactful thing that happened to the Pelicans this summer?
- [03:14]
Will Guillory
I mean, there's no doubt it's, it's moving on from David Griffin, who ushered in a new era post. Anthony Davis made so many, you know, big changes with this team, some good, some bad. And then bringing in Joe Dumars, who's bringing in a new era. He's already made some massive changes this offseason. I don't know, you may have heard of a few that have been controversial in some circles, but Joe Dumars has, has made his presence felt. I think not just with the moves on the roster, but I think kind of culturally. He's already doing some things behind the scenes. I think, you know, at the forefront is just his outward, you know, wanting to kind of develop a relationship with Zion Williamson and, you know, hearing stories about him bringing Zion and them watching playoff games during the NBA playoffs, them spending time together with Troy Weaver. I think he, he, he's really wanted to come in and make an impact on this team and make his presence felt in the front office, and we'll see how much of it works. Obviously, some of the stuff people are looking at is pretty crazy as some of these moves he's made. But I think he's come in and really put his imprint on this team. And I think more than anything, he wants this team to be younger, he wants them to be more flexible. And I think he's kind of put himself in a position where they're hoping to win this year, but they have some pieces on the roster where they can build towards the future if things don't work out this season.
- [04:37]
Andrew
Yeah, one of those crazy moves was acquiring Derek Queen.
- [04:43]
Will Guillory
You know, it's funny, once you said one of those crazy moves, I had no idea where you were going next. There were several options.
- [04:49]
Andrew
Rank. Rank. The crazy moves of the off season, of, of this Joe Dumumars, Troy Weaver era rank. The crazy moves that you've seen from them.
- [04:59]
Will Guillory
No, I think number one has to be trading a future unprotected first round pick to, to go get Derrick Queen. And listen, there are a lot of people who love their Queen. There are a lot of people who hate Derrick Queen. I, you know, I still want to see. I'm one of those people who's, who are waiting to, to pass judgment on Derrick Queen. But for this team to be in the position they're in trading and unprotected pick in a 2026 draft that a lot of people are in love with, especially the top, you know, three or four, five guys in that draft to give away that unprotected pick knowing. I mean we just saw the Dallas Mavericks go from the playing tournament to the number one pick. So like the lottery is just so unpredictable these days to give up an unprotected pick. It's wild. And I think probably right under that you got to go to CJ McCollum for Jordan Pool trade which you know, I don't necessarily hate. You know, I can get where they're thinking is I think a lot of people are very anti Jordan Poole based on his Washington Wizards experience. You know, rightfully so. They did a whole lot of losing and he was the face a lot of, a lot of bad basketball with the Wizards. But I think he's still a talented player and we'll see what he looks like in this situation. And let's go for the bronze medal. We could throw the Kevin Looney two year, sixteen million dollar deal in there, which again I don't hate. But you know, multiple years for Kevin Looney who were struggling to, to break the rotation and go to State, probably not something that a lot of people saw coming this summer.
- [06:28]
Andrew
Yeah, yeah, they really made their imprint on the roster right away. And yeah, the unprotected pick is without a doubt the craziest one because if, if it does end up being the fifth pick in the draft or the sixth pick in the draft or if they somehow got the number one pick and Darren Peterson is now wearing a Hawks jersey. I mean Pelican fans are going to be up in arms and they should be. They really should be. It, it's, and it kind of sucks for Derek Queen that he has to start his career like this because he can't just be a normal player. He can't just be a normal rookie. He has that attached to him, which is no fault of his own. Like he didn't choose this, but he will always be attached to that pick. Now if it like New Orleans is somehow good, and it's like the 20th pick. It doesn't really matter. But in all likelihood that we're talking about a lottery pick and a guy that could be better than him. And so it's just kind of sucks for Derek Queen in general that he has to have that attached to him.
- [07:32]
Will Guillory
Yeah. And one of the hilarious side plots, and this is in his first press conference as a member of the Pelicans, Derrick Queen came out and said, yeah, the Pelicans are right for making that trade, because I'm better than all those dudes in a 2026 draft class. I played them in high school and I beat them. I was in high school. So one of the things I love about Derrick Queen doesn't hold his tongue for anybody, so we'll see how much that'll come back to bite him. But, yeah, I think, you know, I. When you watch Derrick Queen, it's obvious a ton of talent. You can see why the Pelicans fell in love with him from a game standpoint and from personality standpoint. Like I said, the guy is extremely confident. He. He walks in the building and people want to follow him. But he's still a very young player. He's still got a lot to learn. He still got a lot of growing to do to find out how he fits in this league. And because of the position they put him in, just like you said, he doesn't have that time. They need to win now. He needs to look good immediately or people are going to continue to rip this trade.
- [08:30]
Andrew
So looking at the. This roster, who. Who's the player you think has a chance to take the biggest step forward?
- [08:36]
Will Guillory
I'm really, really excited to see what Trey Murphy can do this season. I think among the. The. The league pass, you know, neo fights. Everybody kind of already loves Trey Murphy. We all know he's kind of the. The prototypical, shoots a whole lot of threes, gets a whole lot of shots at the basket type of offensive player, fun personality on Twitter, but I think now he can really step into a guy who really can consistently score 20 points a game every season, be in that all star conversation, be a guy who can really make plays consistently with the ball in his hands. I think we saw some of that last year. You know, he a career high in points last year, but, you know, a lot of that was, you know, on a team that was out of it very early in the season, it was a whole lot of Trey Murphy isos, while Jeremiah Robinson, Earl and Lester Quinones watched along. So I think now can he do this with Zion Williamson out there with Jordan Pool out there with Sadiq Bay, with some of these other talented players that they have on this roster, because if he can, this team can be competitive. They can potentially be playing team if you have Zion Williamson playing at a high level, if you have Trey Murphy playing at an all star level. But I, I think they're going to need especially those top two guys to really step up in a major way. And you know, as we always say with the Pelicans, they got to be healthy, they got to be on the court. Trey Murphy missed a lot of time last year. Herb Jones missed a lot of time last year. We, we know the ongoing saga with Zion Williamson and those hamstrings. This scene undoubtedly has talent, but they just need these guys to play. And I think a big part of that is Trey Murphy kind of stepping into that Brandon Ingram role now that bi has moved on to Toronto and really showing that he can be that second shot creator next to Zion.
- [10:30]
Andrew
Yeah. And I think he's kind of the perfect fit to do that because he does take a lot of threes. I mean, he took eight threes a game last year and if he's being asked to handle the ball a little bit less and shoot a little bit more, like you could see that being nine threes a game. You know, he was 21 points, five boards, three and a half assists last year, which is great. But if he continues to up his three point production, which he has every year, I think that would be huge for the Pelicans. Yeah, he was, he's a great player and for the Pelicans too. If, if you felt like you needed to reset. Not that you'd really want to trade Trey Murphy, but you could get a lot for him if you're, if you're looking to just kind of reset and like be you super young. Because he's, I mean, he's entering his fifth year in the league. He's gonna, he's 25 years old already.
- [11:23]
Will Guillory
This is an amazing extension too already. Great value on that contract.
- [11:27]
Andrew
Oh my gosh. Yeah. What I'm, I'm, I'm gonna pull it up right here. Yeah. 20. Yeah. 25 million this year, 27, the next 29 and 31 by the, by the time you get to 20, 28, 29, 31 is going to look comical for a player.
- [11:42]
Will Guillory
Mid level exception, basically.
- [11:44]
Andrew
Yeah, yeah, there's, that's no joke. Let's talk about Zion. What are the expectations for him this year, you talked about Joe Dumars, you know, forming a relationship with him. It felt like early on, whenever Joe Dumars was hired, that they may possibly move on from Zion, like, relatively soon. It seems like that has quieted at this point. But what are the expectations for him moving into this year? It just. It feels a little bit like a mystery box.
- [12:13]
Will Guillory
I feel like I've gone in on the same spiel probably like four years in a row on a podcast with you, Andrew, but the pressure is higher than ever before on Zion Williamson this year. And I think, you know, we've said this before, and I think a part of that has been attached to, hey, look at all this talent with the Pelicans. If they can get Zion Williamson, they could be so fun in the West. They could be a contender. We. We remember that December where They were the 1 seed in the west and they had everything going with BI and Najee Marshall and Jose Alvarado and all of these guys. And I think they were always waiting for Zion to be that guy who can lift them up to be a true contender in the West. And now with a bunch of those guys going, I think that hope is basically out the window now. I don't think anybody's looking at them as a true contender in the west, but really the pressure is on Zion Williamson to save this team from disaster, because it feels like if Zion has another year where he's playing 20, 30 games, they're going to crater. And we're going to be talking a whole lot about that first round pick. We're going to be talking about teams coming in, trying to poach Trey Murphy, trying to poach Herb Jones. So I think now more than ever, they need Zion Williamson to lift this team up, to save them from basically having to go into a hard rebuild. I think they're trying to do a bit of a soft rebuild, like I said, with BI moving on. Najee Marshall, Dyson Daniels, some of these key figures. That playoff team that got swept against OKC a few years ago, and now they need Zion to step up, not just on the court, but off the court. I think as a leader in the locker room, as a guy who's speaking up more often, as a guy who I mentioned before the front office is trying to invest in, they're trying to put their arm around him and say, hey, this guy is the face of our franchise. He's going to be the leader. We're moving on from BI we're really investing in Zion. And obviously that sounds good, but, you know, they still have the flexibility to move on from Zion and potentially put him back in the trade talks next summer. But I think they really want him to be that guy. They want him to be the figure. And listen, we saw last year. I mean, not a whole lot of us saw the, like, 12 of us who were watching the Pelicans in March and April last year when Zion was healthy. He was incredible last year. It was the best basketball he's ever played. When he was healthy last year, he was in incredible shape. The defense was at another level. He was seeing the court at a high level. I think if he could pick up where he left off last year, he's going to be right there in the all NBA discussion. I think he's that talented. He was that good. And I think, you know, hearing from what I've heard this summer, he's still got that same mentality as far as the work he's putting in, the. The attention he's putting and making sure he's in shape. But again, with Z, none of it matters unless he plays. He's got to stay healthy. He's got to keep those hamstrings in order. He's got to find a way to be on the court consistently because if he can, all of these pieces come together. You see Trey Murphy in the right role. You see Herb Jones in the right role. You see Jordan Poole playing with more talent than he has since he was in Golden State. I think when you look at all of these pieces, it kind of makes sense what they're striving toward, but they're putting so much on Zion Williamson and a guy who frankly just hasn't been very reliable as a number one option. And now they're relying on him more than ever, which I think is a dangerous place for this team.
- [15:30]
Andrew
Yeah. What's your. What's your level of concern for him physically heading into the season, or what have you heard about how he's doing physically?
- [15:39]
Will Guillory
I mean, like I said, I think he. He's been in amazing shape. I think he's figured some things out as far as how to take care of his body, how to eat right. Mentally, I think he's in a good. You know, obviously there's always a little bit of noise going on with him off the court, but I think he's kind of used to that now, and I think. I think he's been very appreciative of how much Joe Dumars has embraced him. You know, we've written before at the Athletic about how shaky that relationship has been at times between him and David Griffin. And I think while it has, it did improve over time, I still don't think it was ever where it needed to be as far as a communication standpoint, as far as a fully trusting each other standpoint. And I think with Joe Dumars and Zion, they probably have more of a relatable background. I think those guys walk into a room and probably understand each other better than a David Griffin and a Zion Williamson would. So I think that's the hope there as those guys can kind of establish something and build on that. But again, he's got to stay healthy. You could be in as good a shape as you want to. You could do all the push ups and sit ups, but if you're in street clothes when the game start, then none of it matters. And I think it's going to put pressure on all the rest of these guys to step up more than they need to. But if Zeke can be there, then I think you can see all of the pieces in this team click. And I think they can be a fun team to watch with Z there because he's so talented. And I think again, watching him play last year, he was incredible. I want people to pull up Zion Williamson in his final game of last regular season against the Minnesota Timberwolves. That man literally won that game by, by himself against Anthony Edwards. The, the full Minnesota roster was out there. I think maybe Julius Randall was hurt, but he completely dominated that game. And then the Pelicans basically left the arena and said, hey, we need Zion Williamson to stop winning games for us because we're trying to get Cooper flag. So they immediately shut him down after that game. But go pull up him in Minnesota last year and you can see what I'm talking about, just how dominant he can be when he's healthy.
- [17:47]
Andrew
We mentioned Derrick Queen earlier, but they, they picked Jeremiah Fierce earlier in the draft. What are, what are your thoughts on fears and what kind of role he could have on this team?
- [17:58]
Will Guillory
When I tell you they love Jeremiah Fierce, they love that kid. And when I say a kid, I think that's the one thing with him. He's still very young.
- [18:06]
Andrew
Still 18, right?
- [18:07]
Will Guillory
Still 18 years old. I think he turns 19 maybe in September or something like that.
- [18:12]
Andrew
October. I'm looking at it now. October 14th.
- [18:14]
Will Guillory
October 14th. So yeah, he's still a very young kid. Still got a lot of growing to do. But the attitude he brings to the gym, I think they really are excited about. You know, everybody kind of makes the zero fears joke, but he, he's kind of embodies that he plays such a fearless brand of basketball, is able to get to the rim consistently. You know, this team has been desperately looking for a point guard for so long. Basically, since Chris Paul left the building, they've been looking for a point guard. And I think they really wanted to invest in one this year, especially where they were in the draft. There were so many good guards in that range, and I think they feel very fortunate that Jeremiah Fierce fell to them the way he did. Now we're going to have to see, you know, how much he can actually play. You know, they've got Jordan Poole, they've got Jose Alvarado, they've got Dejounte Murray coming off of the Achilles injury. So we'll see how much he can really factor into the rotation. But they're. They're huge believers in what this guy can be going into the. How he can kind of be the floor general for them moving forward and how they can kind of develop him very early in his career at a young age, kind of show him the way, have him be around some of these vet guys. And I think they're really excited about what he can be. And he has some ups and downs in summer league. You know, I think he had a real aversion for passing the ball at certain times. There was that one game against the Lakers. I believe they had zero assistants in the second half where Jeremiah Fierce played a whole lot of that second half. I think, you know, if you're going to be a big. A good point guard in this league, you might have to pass it a few times. But I think. I think this kid has a really bright future and he still. I've talked to, you know, a couple people close to him during the off season, and I think they've said, you know, even during summer league, they saw him doing things that he wasn't doing at Oklahoma. And that's the exciting thing, that he still got so much room to grow in his game because he's so young and getting the opportunity to play under some of these vet guys. I think it's going to be a really good experience for him, and I think it's going to be good for him that he's not going to get thrown into fire early on. I think it's going to be a beneficial for him to learn on the bench, to kind of play some of those stay fit games, maybe even spend a little time in the G league. And I think once they finally unleash him, I think he's going to be a really good piece on this team.
- [20:37]
Andrew
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- [23:39]
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- [24:51]
Andrew
You mentioned Dejante. What's, what's the expectation for him? Do it. Do you expect to see him in uniform at all this year?
- [24:59]
Will Guillory
I think so. I mean, I mean, he tore his Achilles last year, end of January, I think. You know, I think I would bet that he's more likely to come back Post New Year vs. Before the New year. But I think, you know, if you follow him on social media, he's been posting a lot about the work he's putting in on a daily basis. He's really attacked this rehab head on. I think he's in a much better mental space than he was last year. I think if you weren't following the Pelicans, it was hard to grasp just how much Dejante Murray was going through last year. His brother had a stroke right before the start of the season, got traded, came in and broke his hand his very first game as a member of the Pelicans. He's talked in interviews this summer about, you know, losing a few people close to him and, you know, obviously coming back dealing with the Achilles. So I think he went through a lot last year mentally, physically. Wasn't necessarily happy in New Orleans at times, but I think now he's in a much better place. Joe Dumars has been active again with Dejounte Murray bringing him in, kind of utilizing him as a mentor for some of these young guys. So I think he's really excited about attacking this rehab. But again, I mean, they went out and got Jordan Poole for a reason.
- [26:14]
Andrew
Season.
- [26:15]
Will Guillory
They. They believe that it's going to be a while before Murray comes back. And again, with these guys coming off Achilles, who knows what they're going to look like once they're back. He might be playing in January, but is he going to be Dejounte Murray in January? Will it take until the following season before we actually see. And if you, you know, last year, Dejounte Murray wasn't very good, you know, when he was playing with the Pelicans, I think part of that was some of the mental stuff he was going through. But I think he's gotta figure out his fitness, you know, next to Trey Murphy, next to Zion Williamson, especially if they're going to be, you know, putting the ball more in some of these other guys hands versus allowing Dejante to be a pure point guard that he kind of envisions himself to be. So I think there are a lot of questions about his fit, you know, his future, but I think it's been good to see him in a much better mental place than where he was last season, because I think last year, I think he'll probably admit it was probably the worst year his career, just from everything he dealt with on and off the court.
- [27:12]
Andrew
Yeah, that's. It's good to bring up just the mental side of it because at times, as like an observer of the game, you can forget, like these are just people, you know, like everybody goes through, you know, parts of life that just completely just take your feet out from under you. And it sounds like that's just kind of what he went through mentally and physically. You know, that's. It's a shame that he had to go through that. But if he can come out the other side mentally stronger and like feeling good. Like, people forget, John demur is a really good basketball player and an impactful basketball player on in this league. So I think.
- [27:50]
Will Guillory
And a strong personality, right? They need that in that locker room. They need a strong personality. They need some leadership, especially with CJ McCollum leaving the building. So that's what I think they really want from him, is that personality, that voice in a locker room, especially as Zion is learning how to step into that role more.
- [28:07]
Andrew
Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. Okay, a couple more questions. What's the. What's the biggest swing factor for this team? I think it's easy to say, like, games played for Zion is probably the biggest swing factor for them, but whenever you think about that, what are. What are other things that come to mind other than just like, Zion Williamson playing basketball?
- [28:27]
Will Guillory
Does this. Does this team have two playable centers? I think it's going to be a real question. Eve Mece was a young guy they were really excited about last year. Played a ton of minutes as a rookie. I think had some really bright spots. But this team was also bottom five and rebounding last year with Eve me playing a ton of minutes at the center position. And they kind of made a decision late in the season that, hey, we're better off playing double big lineups with Eve me and Kelly Olenek. And I think part of that was Eve me struggled at times with rebound, especially on a defensive end. How much is he going to be able to step into that role, be a guy they can trust at the center position, be a guy who can rebound, defend, be a complimentary piece, and then once Eve me goes to the bench, who are they going to be able to trust? Is it going to be Kevin Looney? Is Kevin Looney going to be playing more than he has in years for this team? It feels like Kevin Looney is like 42, but he's still not even 30 yet. He might be 30 on the dot, so he's still a relatively young player, just from an age standpoint. But obviously he's got a ton of miles under his belt. Can they utilize him? How much can they play Derek Queen as a backup center? I. I think that'll be a big question. He. He really struggled at times in summer league with defense and rebounding. They've got, you know, Carlo Makovich, who's a guy that not a lot of people know, but he's a very talented big, kind of undersized at the center position. So we'll see how much they use them. Four or five. But I think that's a big question for this team. Do they have enough bigs to be functional? And I think. I think in today's NBA, we're going to see more and more teams lean into these double big lineups. We talk about, you know, Houston having Capella Shangoon, Stephen Adams, Memphis having Jaren Jackson, Zach Edie. You know, we saw, you know, Minnesota obviously leaning into their big lineups with Julius Randall, Nas Reed and Rudy Gobert. I think so many teams, obviously the. The defending champs with Isaiah Hardenstein and Chad Holmgren. I think more teams are going to play big, stay big. They're going to say we've got bigs who are versatile. We've got bigs who can defend in multiple ways, and you got to be able to match up with that. And I think they're. They don't they want to trend more towards Zion Williamson as a perimeter player versus a a post guy who's going to be defending some of these bigs. And if that's the case, you're going to be leaning even more on some of these younger bigs they got on their bench or eve mece in the start lineup. And how much can these guys step into those roles and be productive? And if not, where can you find that production? Or they're gonna have to look outside the building to get bigs who can give them consistent minutes. I think that's going to be a huge question for this team because they were so bad rebounding last year and they were so rough defensively, especially after Herb Jones went down. I think that's gonna be a huge question for them.
- [31:16]
Andrew
Yeah, Kevon Luna, he does seem old. Like, if you were to pull NBA, NBA fans, like, how old do you think he is? Probably 35, 36, 29.
- [31:26]
Will Guillory
Yeah.
- [31:26]
Andrew
Turns 30 in February. Also, fun fact. Nick Young is his cousin. I didn't realize that.
- [31:35]
Will Guillory
Shout out to the Swaggy family.
- [31:37]
Andrew
Shout out to the Swaggy family. Okay, last question. What's the most realistic outcome for the Pelicans this season?
- [31:47]
Will Guillory
I think most realistic is probably not making the playoffs. I think. I don't think they'll be like one of the two or three worst teams in the league like some people are predicting. I think even if Zion gets hurt, I think they got some talent on the roster where they'll be relatively competitive and they'll obviously have, you know, motivation to not tank toward the end of the season the way they did last year. So I think, think that I can see them being around that 35 to 40 win range, maybe competing for the plan if Zion's healthy. But I think, you know, in previous year they had hopes of being a 50 win team. I find a hard time believing that's a realistic possibility seeing, you know, just how tough the west is this year. But I do think that they've got talent on this team, that they can be dangerous if all the pieces come together. But it's just hard to bet with this team that everything's going to work out because nothing ever works out with this team team. So I think if everything goes great, they look pretty good. But if, if history repeats itself, nothing will go right with this team. They'll be hurt again and I think we're going to have be facing some major questions with this team. As far as Scion's future, as far as Trey Murphy's future. Willie Green, we haven't mentioned him yet. How are they going to factor in his future as a head coach? I think they're going to be some some major questions for this team if they can't figure it out this year and some major criticisms for Joe Dumars if they end up giving up a top five pick potentially, which, you know, they're hopeful that that won't be the case. But it certainly is a possibility which you don't want to be. A position you don't want to be in as you begin a rebuild is giving up a top five pick or even a top ten pick. So we'll see where it goes.
- [33:34]
Andrew
Go read Will Guillory at the Athletic all year long on the Pelicans. They will surely be interesting. I will say that we know that they'll be interesting. Appreciate you guys tuning in. We'll talk to you guys again next time.
- [34:12]
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Change isn't coming. It's already here. Commerce is going digital and tax complexity is multiplying. Tax rules evolve, rates shift, data floods in.
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Andrew
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Will Guillory
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