New Orleans Pelicans: The Pels’ history of 2nd-round picks is grim

The New Orleans Pelicans do not have a rich NBA Draft history since they have only been a team since 2003.

In that time, two things have been certain in the NBA: The first is that some team always finds a steal in the second round of the NBA Draft and the second is that the New Orleans Pelicans weren’t that team.

While the Pelicans have had some huge draft successes in the first round, most notably Chris Paul, Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson, they have been absolutely terrible at drafting in the second.

Herb Jones is hoping to buck that trend, as he is a quality defender who should get into the rotation if he can just improve his 3-point shot.

If he does, he’ll pretty much be a first, as the Pelicans’ history of drafting in the second round has been grim.

New Orleans Pelicans draft picks: The 2nd round has not been kind

If you go through the draft history of nearly any team, you’ll find a few second rounders that ended up outplaying their draft position.

Who is the Pelicans’ best second-round pick you might ask? The answer is Brandon Bass. Yep, it’s that bad.

Bass was a role player who had a pretty solid 12-year career, mostly for the Boston Celtics. He only played two seasons in New Orleans and was a complete non-factor.

Bass earns the number one spot simply because he is one of the only Pels’ second-round picks who even had a career in the NBA.

Darius Miller is still in the league (sort of) but other than him, there isn’t a single player selected by the Pelicans in the 2nd round of the NBA Draft who is still in the league. There are a few that were draft-day trades to other teams, heavy hitters like Dwayne Bacon!

Remember names like Tim Pickett (who was once thrown out of the second-tier Italian league for smoking weed), Marcus Vinicius and Adam Haluska? Me neither.

Could the New Orleans Pelicans finally have found a steal in Herb Jones? Let’s hope so, otherwise he’ll be added to an inglorious list of 2nd-round busts.