NBA Draft: Top 3 power forwards for the New Orleans Pelicans

New Orleans Pelicans NBA Draft: Precious Achiuwa could be an all-purpose defender

Precious Achiuwa

Precious Achiuwa hasn’t gotten nearly as much attention as his teammate James Wiseman but could end up being the better player.

Achiuwa fits the profile of what the Pelicans need, a guy whose primary focus will be on the defensive end.

Achiuwa has the size at 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan to defend all over the floor and could be an Adebayo type who guards 3-5 depending on the lineups.

He averaged nearly two blocks and over a steal per game for Memphis, numbers that show he is an active defender.

He is still raw on the offensive end and Stan Van Gundy would probably prefer a big defensive wing who can also shoot 3-pointers. Achiuwa shot just 32 percent from long range on 1.3 attempts per game, not great numbers but shooting is often something that improves over time and he wasn’t asked to do it much in college.

Achiuwa would provide the type of defensive energy and intensity that the Pelicans often lacked and would be a big body to put on some of the wings who killed the Pels last season.

Achiuwa might be a reach at 13 but if he turns out to be an elite defender to put alongside Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, it will be worth it.