The New Orleans Pelicans did not move up in Thursday’s NBA Draft Lottery, staying put with the No. 13 pick. While still having a lottery pick, the Pelicans will be at the back end of the lottery.
Following Thursday’s draft lottery, mock drafts were in abundance from multiple sites and had a common theme for the Pelicans in wing players.
Stadium’s Jeff Goodman had the Pelicans landing Aaron Nesmith, a small forward out of Vanderbilt. Yahoo Sports had the Pelicans drafting a different forward in Precious Achiuwa out of Memphis.
DraftExpress had New Orleans drafting Patrick Williams, a wing player out of Florida State that has been linked in other mock drafts to the Pelicans.
“Williams has tremendous physical tools in terms of size, length and strength, and he is the second-youngest player in this draft class. His shooting indicators are promising, even if he is still a fairly raw player overall on both ends of the floor. Williams’ defensive versatility could be appealing to a New Orleans team that needs to improve on that end, and adding another combo forward could allow Zion Williamson to play more minutes at center.”
The Athletic also had the Pelicans drafting a familiar name in Saddiq Bey out of Villanova.
“The Pelicans don’t really have a ton of needs, so they should just be taking the best player available who can help them on the defensive end and grow with their young core. Bey, for me, is that guy, even though they have Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram across the frontline. You can say that they have guys everywhere, to be honest. Getting another good player is the best thing they can do. Bey’s shooting and defense is a perfect fit.”
The Pelicans’ need for 3&D players is their most obvious one. The team lacked shooters on the wing aside from JJ Redick this season and certainly lacked defenders of any form. Landing a 3&D player in the draft could be a huge boost for the team moving forward.
