New Orleans Pelicans: Leaning into the South in the NBA Draft

The New Orleans Pelicans will add to their pipeline of young talent with the 8th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin recently gave some insight into the type of players the Pelicans look for on an episode of the Ryen Russillo Podcast.

One thing that stuck out to me is when Griffin remarked that the Pelicans have “leaned into the players from the South” as well as international players.

He talked about the unique culture of New Orleans and how they are looking for guys who will buy into not just the team but the city as well.

The bulk of the Pelicans’ roster is made up of guys from southern states in Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Herbert Jones, Jaxson Hayes, Trey Murphy III and international players like Jonas Valanciunas and Willy Hernangomez.

If you look at the 2022 NBA Draft, there are a number of players who could fit into the type of culture the New Orleans Pelicans are trying to establish.

New Orleans Pelicans Draft: Finding the right fit

There are several players projected to go in the Pelicans’ range that either come from the south (sort of) or are international prospects.

Let’s start with the international guys:

Shaedon Sharpe

Mystery man from the University of Kentucky who originally hails from Canada.

Dyson Daniels

Playmaking guard/wing from Australia.

Bennedict Mathurin

Guard/wing out of Arizona who originally comes from Canada.

Jeremy Sochan

Polish-American prospect who grew up in the UK.

There aren’t as many players from the south in the 2022 NBA Draft, but there might be a sleeper who played college basketball in the Pelicans’ back yard.

Jabari Smith

Not a realistic possibility for the New Orleans Pelicans unless they trade up in the draft. Smith is originally from Georgia and went to Auburn.

Tari Eason

Eason is an athletic 3-and-D prospect who originally comes from Seattle, but he played his college basketball down the road at LSU.

The New Orleans Pelicans certainly aren’t going to make their draft choice based just on where a guy is from, but choosing players who are more open to the unique culture of New Orleans has been a successful strategy so far.

David Griffin’s interview gave some insight into that process and might make it easier to guess who the Pelicans are going to pick.