New Orleans Pelicans: 2021 NBA Mock Draft 1.0
The end of the regular season is rapidly approaching and it’s time for the New Orleans Pelicans to make a decision—or have that decision forced upon them, especially after yesterday’s loss.
As of April 25th, the Pelicans are 4.5 and four games off the 9th- and 10th-placed San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors. The second half of New Orleans’ season seemed set for a late play-in tournament push, but an injury crisis popped its head in at the worst possible time.
The Pelicans have had to tinker and tweak with their rotations and personnel use myriad times since the all-star break. That is no recipe for success, especially on a team as young as the Pels and with a new head coach that never fully fleshed out the team to his liking even when everyone was healthy.
More likely than not, the Pelicans will be making another trip to the NBA Draft lottery come July 29. This is disappointing given the playoff expectations that New Orleans harbored to start the season, but ultimately not terrible. This outcome gives the Pelicans another chance to get a franchise pillar for the future, although it should be the franchise’s last year doing this.
The Pelicans have to maximize Zion Williamson right now. It does not matter that he hasn’t even played the equivalent of a full NBA season. Williamson is already an all-star and one of the toughest players to stop in the league. He still needs to improve on defense, but I think there’s a case to be made right now for Williamson to be considered one of the association’s top ten offensive players.
The first version of the Pelican Debrief mock draft will focus specifically on New Orleans’ picks and what the team realistically needs. As thus, team needs are taken into account (meaning not just the best player potentially available).
The draft order used in this mock comes courtesy of Tankathon, the premier lottery simulator website for the NBA. I simulated the lottery once to find what the Pels’ picks could be, going from worst to best: