Pelicans NBA Draft 2021: 5 players New Orleans should avoid

The New Orleans Pelicans have five picks in the 2021 NBA Draft, which is mercifully here.

This hasn’t been the quietest offseason, as there have been rampant rumors about Zion Williamson being unhappy, a big trade and now news that Jaxson Hayes was arrested.

I’m not going to speculate on that except to say that this offseason already feels like it has been a thousand years and we’re not even to free agency yet.

The Pelicans now have the 17th pick in the draft instead of the 10th after trading Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams to Memphis in exchange for Jonas Valanciunas and some cap space.

This is considered to be a deep draft, so the Pelicans could still find a nice player at 17, but there are also some guys I think they should avoid.

This is not a knock on these players, and I hope they all turn out to be great, but more about how they fit the New Orleans Pelicans.

Pelicans draft picks: NBA Draft prospects to avoid, Kai Jones

Kai Jones is an athletic forward/center who comes from Texas, sound familiar?

He can jump out of the gym, and like Jaxson Hayes, has great athleticism and quickness for his size. But he’s a little too much like Hayes, even though Jones does project to have a better outside shot and all-around offensive game.

While the idea of a long rim-runner who can eventually shoot 3-pointers has some appeal, Jones is a guy who relies heavily on athleticism and doesn’t have a great all-around skill. The Pelicans have too many of those already, so I’d pass on Jones.