New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Stretch-Bigs To Target in the 2020 NBA Draft

The New Orleans Pelicans should look at these three stretch-bigs in the 2020 NBA Draft

The one player who stands out when watching the New Orleans Pelicans play is Zion Williamson. Last year’s first overall pick, Williamson has already proven that he is on the shortlist for most imposing players in the NBA.

He’s hard not to notice, at 6’6″ with a 284lbs frame, Zion Williamson is a brick wall. That’s what makes him so unique because with that frame comes a rare blend of speed, aggression, and athletics that makes him the dominating force to the Pelicans offense.

Zion Williamson is the team’s engine. When he’s healthy and engaged, he’s unstoppable when it comes to driving and scoring in the paint. That’s why he just recorded one of the most efficient rookie seasons in the NBA season.

Now though with the NBA Draft Lottery just a few hours away, it makes me wonder if there’s still a permutation to the Pelicans lineup that can unlock Zion Williamson even more.

Consider this, Zion Williamson played pretty much every minute of his NBA career so far with another big man next to him in the pain as well. Most of the time that fellow big was the slower paint-bound Derrick Favors while sometimes it was the energetic rim-runner Jaxson Hayes.

Imagine a lineup where Zion Williamson was the only player occupying the paint though, a line-up with a stretch big who plays next to Williamson and draws defenders out of the paint.

Is it possible the Zion Williamson could then become one of the most dominating figures in NBA history? I think so.

That’s why I said that one of the biggest needs the New Orleans Pelicans needed to address in the NBA draft was finding a floor stretching big. Once the team acquires a big-man who could live behind the arc, the options it gives the team’s offense means there’s just no telling how much better Zion Williamson could get.

With a lottery and two second-round picks in this year’s draft, the New Orleans Pelicans will be able to pick from a draft class that is ripe with big men who having shooting potential. Here are the top three of those players that the Pelicans should be targeting in the draft.