New Orleans Pelicans NBA Draft: 2nd Round Rim Protectors to Target

The New Orleans Pelicans can find rim protection in the NBA Draft.

The New Orleans Pelicans will have four picks in the 2020 NBA Draft, and if they use all of them, they need to find some rim protection.

The Pelicans were middle of the pack when it came to shot-blocking, mostly because of their guards, who block an above-average number. When you look at bigs, it is much different, as the Pelicans didn’t have a single big man average at least a block per game.

This must change, as the Pelicans were nearly last in points in the paint allowed, letting up more than 50 per game.

Derrick Favors can defend the post decently, but no one is intimidated by his shot-blocking, and there is a good chance he won’t be back with the team anyway.

Jaxson Hayes has shown some promise, but is still raw and not ready to handle starter’s minutes.

The Pelicans might find some rim protection in a trade or in free agency, but they’ll have little money to spend in the latter.

This leaves the 2020 NBA Draft.

Most have written this draft off as “weak” but the real issue is that teams haven’t had enough time to scout players after the cancellation of conference tournaments and March Madness.

This could be a disadvantage, but also could cause some good players to drop, which could benefit the Pelicans, who have three second-round draft picks.

The Pelicans could package them in a trade, but if not, might be able to find some low-cost rim protection in the second round.

Here are two guys who could provide it.