Pelicans: Could Jonathan Kuminga fall to the Pels in the NBA Draft?
New Orleans Pelicans draft picks: NBA Draft prospect Jonathan Kuminga could fall
The first four picks in the NBA Draft are likely to be Cunningham, Mobley, Green and Suggs in some order.
I’ve not seen a mock draft that has it going any other way, as these four have really set themselves apart and make sense for the teams with the first four picks.
Orlando has the 5th pick and is a team with a lot of moving parts. They already have a couple of wings, so would they be interested in another raw prospect? It’s hard to say, but probably depends on whether they decide to keep Jonathan Isaac.
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OKC with the 6th pick is the biggest threat, as they are still a few years away from being a few years away and probably wouldn’t mind adding another high-ceiling talent like Kuminga to go with the young cast they already have.
If Kuminga gets past OKC, then there is a chance he’ll keep falling. I can’t see the Warriors adding another raw wing to their roster, as they are trying to win now and got little to nothing out of last year’s draft after James Wiseman got hurt and wasn’t a great fit with their veteran roster.
At 8th we have the Magic again, who could package both of their picks to try and move up or grab another young talent. If the Magic passed on Kuminga once, they probably wouldn’t do it again, so this pick is probably the second biggest threat to the Pelicans missing out on Kuminga.
The Kings are at nine and are another team that could go in a lot of directions depending on what they do with their own guys.
With players like Scottie Barnes, Josh Giddey, James Bouknight and Davion Mitchell all rocketing up draft boards after impressive workouts, there are a number of options that might be more appealing to teams trying to add specific skills instead of high-ceiling but raw talent.
I think it’s a longshot, but there is a chance all of those teams pass on Kuminga and he is there when the New Orleans Pelicans pick at 10, but would he be a good fit?