New Orleans Pelicans: Top 10 draft picks in franchise history

#9) Brandon Bass

I know what you’re thinking, “Wait, we had Draymond Green!?”. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on who you ask, no, we did not, we had Brandon Bass. Also kind of looks like a late ’90s R&B album, maybe Bass was a huge fan of 112. Where was I again?

Physical appearances aren’t the only thing they share in common, both were selected in the second round of the draft as well. With the 33rd overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, the Pelicans went with Bass out of the University of Louisiana.

Bass compiled averages of 17.3 points and 9.1 rebounds in his final year of collegiate basketball, and his game would eventually translate to the NBA level—just not in the Big Easy.

Bass only played in 50 games spanning two seasons, starting in just 4 of them with the then-Hornets. He never averaged more than 9.2 minutes per game in those two years and his stats of 2.2 points and 2.2 rebounds reflected that.

Later in his career with stints in both Boston and Orlando, his points average would leap into double-digit figures, and he’d develop into a nice rotational piece. It’s just that he never found any success in New Orleans.