New Orleans Pelicans: Top 10 draft picks in franchise history

#8) Austin Rivers

Do you remember when Austin Rivers was taking the collegiate basketball world by storm? I remember. He may have not materialized into the star some had him billed as, but the Pelicans selecting him 10th back in 2012 is justifiable.

For one, it wasn’t a great draft. There was a certain consensus number one pick that saved it, we’ll get to him later, but besides that—kinda underwhelming.

Rivers had a knack of hitting clutch shots under the bright lights, he had that “mamba mentality” in his lone season at Duke. Here’s one against bitter rivals, the University of North Carolina, where Rivers dribbles out the shot clock and pulls a three right over the outstretched arms of Tyler Zeller for the win.

Requiem for a dream in the background made that shot just that much colder.

Rivers never found that same level of electricity he experienced in college at the NBA level. He played three seasons in New Orleans, averaging 6.9 points and 2.3 rebounds before being traded to the Boston Celtics.