New Orleans Pelicans Draft: 5 International Prospects for the 2nd Round

The New Orleans Pelicans could use one of their three 2nd round picks on an international prospect.

With three picks in the 2nd round of the 2020 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans have a lot of options.

The Pels will have the 39th, 42nd and 60th picks to work with.

They could try to package them to move up a few spots in the second round, which they may do if they see a prospect they like slipping into the low 30’s, someone like Leandro Bolmaro.

They could do what a lot of successful teams do, which is use their second round picks on international players that they can stash overseas for a year or two until they are ready.

Teams like the San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets have done this successfully in the past, leading to them getting some steals in the second round.

The 2020 NBA Draft is probably the biggest crapshoot draft of all time, as teams did not have conference tournaments or March Madness to evaluate prospects in what was viewed as a weak draft anyway.

We’ll probably see a record number of trades, as teams try to pick up future draft assets in exchange for moving down, figuring they might be able to get the player they want anyway.

There won’t be much difference between having the 7th or 17th pick in this draft, as most of the players in that range are ranked similarly.

This could also be a year where teams take risks on lesser known international players, hoping that their experience in professional leagues overseas will carry over to success in the NBA.

The New Orleans Pelicans already have Didi Louzada possibly arriving from the NBL, after being drafted 35th last year and given a year to mature overseas.

Here are five international prospects the Pelicans might consider in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft.