Updated Pelicans draft pick situation after Richardson trade

As you are probably well aware, the New Orleans Pelicans acquired Josh Richardson at the deadline yesterday. To nab him, the Pelicans had to trade Devonte’ Graham and four second-round picks.

Here is the list of the specific picks:

That’s all well and good, but what does this leave us with now?

The best part of this deal (outside of the fact it netted us a really solid two-way player in Richardson) is that we did not have to forfeit any of our first-round picks.

As a recap, that means we still have our 2023 pick swap with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Lakers’ 2024 pick (with an option to pick their 2025 first instead), a pick swap with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024, the Bucks’ 2025 pick, a pick swap with them again in 2026, their first-round pick in 2027, and our picks in 2028, 2029, and 2030.  In total, that’s nine first-round picks in the next eight drafts.

As for second-rounders, the Pelicans have their own 2023 second if the pick finishes in the top-45 in the draft (if not, it goes to the Atlanta Hawks), the Golden State Warriors’ 2023 pick, the Washington Wizards’ 2023 pick, the Charlotte Hornets’ 2024 pick, the least favorable of their pick and the Chicago Bulls’ 2024 pick, the more favorable of their pick and the Portland Trail Blazers’ 2026 pick, and their 2030 pick. So even after trading four away, we still have six, maybe seven, second-rounders in the next eight drafts.

Keep in mind that for the Phoenix Suns to land Kevin Durant, it took four first-round picks, a pick swap, and two young and already highly-impactful forwards.

That’s a steep price, but with the treasure trove of picks we just listed off and all the young talent blossoming on this roster, it is not insane to think that when the next disgruntled star becomes available, we’ll be able to make an offer that their team can’t refuse.