The New Orleans Pelicans surprised everyone in the 2020 NBA Draft.
The New Orleans Pelicans will be difficult to grade after the 2020 NBA Draft.
They started the night with four picks but walked away with only one player, as David Griffin continued to add future draft picks to their coffers.
It’s possible he is loading up for a big trade or simply didn’t like many players in this draft. With so many unknowns, it might be smarter to wait and choose guys in drafts that are more solid or contain more high-end talent.
The 2020 NBA Draft had plenty of quality players and guys who are going to have long careers in the league, but it lacked those one or two superstar prospects that teams were dying to get, which is probably why we didn’t see anyone make a significant move to trade up.
With the talent being fairly equal, most teams probably thought they had just as good a chance getting their guy later in the draft.
The Pelicans probably frustrated some fans by conveying only one of their four picks but David Griffin has a much better understanding of his vision for this team than the fans do.
Here are the complete draft grades from a night that wasn’t very satisfying for the New Orleans Pelicans fan base.
The New Orleans Pelicans select Kira Lewis Jr. with the 13th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft
13th Pick- Kira Lewis Jr.
The Pelicans used their 13th pick on Alabama point guard Kira Lewis Jr. a guy we profiled as a possible choice before the draft.
This was a surprise pick, as the Pelicans already have at least three point guards, four if you count Nickeil Alexander-Walker. The Pels need depth at both forward positions, as well as a center to complement Jaxson Hayes.
They didn’t get any of those with this pick, which makes it a big of a head-scratcher. The Pels clearly did not draft for need here, so much have though Lewis Jr. was the best talent left on the board.
Either that, or there is another trade coming (more on that later).
Lewis Jr. is a speedster who plays downhill and could be a nice complement to Lonzo Ball, especially if Stan Van Gundy plays Lonzo more off the ball.
Lewis Jr. has an array of floaters and pull-ups, and runs the pick-and-roll as well as anyone in the draft, something SVG loves to do.
He should be a scoring weapon off the bench right away and should eventually be a plus defender on the other end. There were some questions about his size, but Lewis Jr. has apparently put on some muscle.
He compares to someone like Ja Morant, a freakish athlete who can go end-to-end and cause problems with his speed and athleticism.
He doesn’t fit a need, and Pels fans might have wanted someone else, but gathering high-end talent is what you want from the lottery and the Pels may have just gotten the next De’Aaron Fox.