New Orleans Pelicans: Big Wings to Target in Draft

New Orleans Pelicans: Wings the Pels could trade down to get.

Trade Down Candidates

While New Orleans is loaded with draft picks over the next few years, they could still add more assets by trading down in this draft to the middle of the twenties.

Jaden McDaniels – Washington

Physically McDaniels reminds me of Ingram. They are both 6’9″ wings without a ton of muscle. If New Orleans did go this route in the draft it would be similar to going with Green, this is because McDaniels still needs to round out his offensive game to become much of a threat in the NBA.

That doesn’t mean that McDaniels can’t be effective in limited minutes to start his career. He is a decent three-point shooter (33.9% on 4.1 attempts) the fact that he as trusted enough as a freshman to shoot from deep that much is a good sign that McDaniels has a good shooting touch.

Another way that McDaniels reminds me of Ingram is his ball handling skills, while neither are great passers both have a good handle that allows them create their own shot. As we’ve seen over and over again during the playoffs, games and individual possessions can depend on one player being able to get their own shot from the midrange.

The downside in a McDaniels-Ingram comparison is the level of defense they bring to the table. Both are too skinny to stand toe-to-toe with bigs in the paint and even some of the bigger wings as they drive to the basket. My hope is that as McDaniels gets older her can grow into his frame and become above average on defense for his position.

Tyler Bey – Colorado

The oldest player on this list also has the lowest projected draft slot. That doesn’t mean that Bey can’t contribute on the right team when he joins an NBA roster.

In his three seasons at Colorado he’s gone from shooting 0% from three as a freshman to 41.9% as a junior. It may seem like someone who shoots that well from distance should be higher up in the draft but he’s never averaged more than one long-range attempt per game.

Bey could be used as a small ball center a la P.J. Tucker given his ability both on and off the ball on defense. Last season at Colorado, Bey averaged 1.5 steals, 1.2 blocks, and 8.1 rebounds that combination helped Bey lead the Buffaloes in Defensive Win Shares by a pretty comfortable margin (2.5 DWS closest 2.1 DWS).

If his offensive gains are real and he can pair that with strong defense he has the potential to be a steal at the bottom of the draft.

The New Orleans Pelicans need to get bigger and better on the wing, and there are options in this draft that would allow them to do it.