New Orleans Pelicans: 2021 NBA Mock Draft 1.0
New Orleans Pelicans: With the 41st pick…
Pick Analysis. Guard. Houston. Quentin Grimes. 450. Scouting Report. 41. player
The New Orleans Pelicans have struggled shooting the three all season.
The Pelicans only shoot about 31 threes per game and make just 35 percent of those, both figures for the sixth-worst in the entire NBA. There are certainly teams who don’t take or make a high quantity of threes—the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers are two examples—but both of those teams have luxuries that the Pels do not.
The Sixers are buoyed by two generational talents in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, while the Lakers have two arguably top five players in the NBA with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Pelicans have a host of young talent, but only Zion Williamson might be mentioned in the same breath as the aforementioned four all-stars.
In a make-or-miss league, this means that the Pelicans cannot afford to fall behind the times. They need shooting and they need it now. This is where Quentin Grimes comes in.
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Grimes is an example of why patience is sometimes necessary at the college basketball level. He committed to Kansas as a five-star prospect in high school, but he disappointed in his sole season with the Jayhawks. After that, Grimes transferred to Houston and, after two seasons there, promptly reentered his name into draft conversations.
Grimes had a great junior year with the Cougars, particularly from beyond the perimeter. Grimes shot over eight threes a night and cashed in on 40 percent of them, leading his conference in three-point makes. His playmaking and defense have also consistently improved since going to college.
Everything else about Grimes isn’t going to blow you away. He can’t really create his own shot from inside the arc, making just 29 percent of his two-point jumpers. Grimes also won’t get to the basket a whole lot and, while an okay athlete, isn’t spectacular on that front.
The good news is that the Pelicans wouldn’t need any of that from Grimes. They just need him to space the floor, knock down his shots, potentially handle the ball a bit, and compete on defense.
Grimes would potentially see time in the G League right off the bat or only get signed to a two-way contract. It’s unlikely that the Pels will be able to immediately fit five picks into next season’s roster, but if they can extract those skills from a late second round pick at any point, that’s already incredible value.