New Orleans Pelicans: If season is over, here’s 3 draft targets in range
By Willie Lutz
Aaron Nesmith, Wing, Vanderbilt University
Interesting as a prospect but certainly not a sure-fire bet, Aaron Nesmith shot the heck out of the ball during his two seasons as a member of the Vanderbilt Commodores, though the team struggled to find on-court success.
Playing in just 14 games this season after injuring his right foot in mid-January, Nesmith averaged 23 points, 4.9 rebounds and shot a blistering 52.2% from three-point range on 8.2 attempts per contest.
While he shot just 33.7% from three in his freshman season, he shot 82.5% from the free-throw line in both college seasons, and it’s not a secret that success from the stripe in college is often a better indicator of success than a player’s looks from deep.
Interesting to note for the New Orleans Pelicans, Nesmith played under head coach Jerry Stackhouse at Vanderbilt.
Stackhouse is Brandon Ingram‘s mentor and if Nesmith has the same sort of DNA, the Pelicans would love another player like that in their organization.
Nesmith also beat-out Zion Williamson for South Carolina’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2018 when both prospects were seniors in high school.
Though the Commodores had a pretty atrocious season, finishing dead-last in the SEC and going 11-21 (3-15), Nesmith shined as the team’s leading scorer, one who shot the ball at an incredible rate for a 20-year-old sophomore.