How the 2013 Draft Could Have Changed the New Orleans Pelicans
A pick, a trade, a new face of the franchise…
Before getting into what the New Orleans Pelicans did in 2013, it’s important to look back at the 2012 draft.
First off, they weren’t even the Pelicans yet, the team was still called the Hornets and had not yet put the New Orleans’ stamp on the mascot.
The team selected Anthony Davis with the overall number one pick and there wasn’t an argument from anyone.
Davis was the best player in the draft, a consensus number one pick and the most hyped player to enter the league since LeBron James.
Davis didn’t disappoint. He was a stud for the New Orleans Pelicans, but they were never able to build a team around him and Davis had limited success in New Orleans.
He eventually whined his way out of New Orleans and the Pelicans got a haul in a trade with the Lakers, a trade we believe they won.
The 2013 Draft
With Davis already on the roster, New Orleans had an opportunity to add another young star with the sixth pick in the 2013 draft.
Instead they chose center Nerlens Noel out of Kentucky, perhaps as a way to placate fellow-Wildcat Davis, who always seemed to have eyes for bigger markets.
Noel might have fit well with Davis, as the two would have formed the best rim-protecting duo in the league and it would have allowed The Brow to play power forward, his preferred position.
But we will never know, as the New Orleans Pelicans promptly traded Noel to Philadelphia along with a first round pick for point guard Jrue Holiday.
Holiday was just 23 at the time and coming off an All-Star season, but Philly wanted a big man, so they gave up their best player for Noel and a 2014 pick.
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Holiday has gone on to become the face of the New Orleans Pelicans’ franchise, one of the best defenders in the league at his position and an all-around great player for New Orleans.
There are few people who wouldn’t say the Pelicans fleeced the 76ers in that trade, as Noel has been a role player at best and Holiday is an All-Star.
At the time the trade made perfect sense, as the New Orleans Pelicans were getting a young All-Star and floor general to pair with Davis.
It looked like the beginning of something big, but things could have gone much differently if New Orleans had taken a chance on a future MVP.