Pelicans NBA Draft 2021: 5 players New Orleans should avoid

3 of 5

Ziaire Williams #3 of the Stanford Cardinal (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

Pelicans draft picks: NBA Draft prospects to avoid, Ziaire Williams

Ziaire Williams is a 6-foot-9 wing out of Stanford who many see as a high-upside prospect with star potential.

One of the glaring holes the Pelicans need to fix this offseason is depth at the wing, as they don’t really have anyone to back up Brandon Ingram and could use players who can defend the position better.

Williams could be that guy, as he has great size for the position, is an elite athlete and projects as a guy who could eventually be a good shooter.

But he hasn’t shown that so far, as he shot just 29 percent from long range in his one season at Stanford, where he also had some injury issues.

The Pelicans shouldn’t avoid raw prospects per se, but they already have a few of them in Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Kira Lewis Jr. and Jaxson Hayes. They’d be better off getting a player who had a recognizable NBA skill over one that might be good in two or three years.