The Pelicans were hoping to find luck in the NBA Draft Lottery once again, but instead they stayed put and got the 10th pick.
Obviously, it would have been nice for the Pelicans to jump into the top four, but this is a deep NBA Draft with a lot of prospects who could help the Pelicans.
But New Orleans already has a lot of young players and may decide that packaging a lottery pick to get a more proven guy might be the way to go, especially after Zion Williamson had a breakout season and Brandon Ingram showed he can consistently be the second guy.
Their best chance is likely to target a rebuilding team that has an unhappy player or a guy who doesn’t fit the timeline of their rebuild.
Three players immediately came to mind as possible trade targets for the New Orleans Pelicans with the 10th pick.
New Orleans Pelicans: Trading for Malcolm Brogdon
Brogdon is a guy I wrote about in detail here. I love him for the Pelicans, as he is a tough, talented player who can get you 20 points a game, shoot a high percentage from long range and play defense all over the perimeter.
If Indiana decides to blow it up, this would be one way to do it, as they would free up some cap space now and in the future while having the 10th and 13th picks in a loaded draft, plus another pick next year.
If the Pacers wanted a soft rebuild, they get a bench guard who can still contribute in Bledsoe (he’s not a NBA starter), they’d have two picks in a deep draft plus another one next season.
They could use all of that draft capital in a lot of ways and with the right picks, be back in the playoffs next season.
The Pelicans get a talented and versatile player who is still in his prime and helps fix a lot of their glaring holes.
I’m not sure if this is enough to get Brogdon, as Indiana would probably prefer one of NOLA’s younger players instead, but if the Pelicans had to throw in Kira Lewis Jr. to make this work, they’d probably still consider it.