Pelica Debrief
Fansided

Mock Draft With Trades: The New Orleans Pelicans Move Up

By Aaron Kellerstrass

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 28: Devin Vassell #24 of the Florida State Seminoles could be a nice fit on the New Orleans Pelicans (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 28: Devin Vassell #24 of the Florida State Seminoles could be a nice fit on the New Orleans Pelicans (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 15
Next

2020 NBA Mock Draft with Trades: #2-Golden State Warriors

New Orleans Pelicans, LaMelo Ball
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – NOVEMBER 30: LaMelo Ball could fit with the New Orleans Pelicans (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images) /

Pick Analysis. 2. 27. player. Scouting Report. Point Guard. New York Knicks. LaMelo Ball

The team most likely to trade out of the lottery is the Golden State Warriors, as they have a trio of All-Stars returning and want to win now.

The Knicks are desperate to add some star power to their team, which is full of players no one wants and doesn’t have a ton of talent.

This might make it difficult for them to trade up, as they really don’t have much in the way of assets without throwing a bunch of future picks at a team, which may not be enough to entice Golden State, especially when there might be better deals out there.

Julius Randle would give the Warriors some interior scoring and rebounding, and they can use the Andre Iguodala trade exception to take on his salary. The Warriors would also get the Knicks 8th pick in the 2020 draft, which they can use to add some youth.

In this draft the 8th pick might be better than the 2nd, and the Warriors would add another late pick that they might be able to package in another deal. The real sweetener would be the 2022 first round pick, as the Knicks will probably still be terrible and the draft class will be better.

There will be a lot of talk about this and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Warriors were able to fleece the desperate Knicks in their hunt for a star.