With conference championship tournaments taking place this past weekend in the world of college basketball, Darius Acuff Jr. continues to be the talk of NBA draft circles. The Arkansas guard looks like a future superstar in the league and just led his squad to a conference championship while winning the SEC tournament MVP. While he is dominating the headlines, Arkansas has another player who deserves more attention and could be a steal in the draft for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Trevon Brazile is a 6-foot-10 fifth-year senior who impacts the game in a variety of ways and could be a really good connective piece for the Pelicans. Before I go further, shoutout Raphael Rattler of the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast, who originally shared this idea on Twitter.
I’m biased, but would love to see the Pelicans take a look at Trevon Brazile in the 2nd round or UDFA.
— Raphael Rattler (@Raphael_Rattler) March 15, 2026
Athletic 6ft 10 big who can provide some rim protection, can be a lob threat, and can space the floor on offense.
Since the Pelicans don't currently own a first-round pick in this upcoming draft, it's probably for the best that fans shift their focus from players like Acuff, Boozer, etc., to players like Brazile. Right now, most mock drafts have the 23-year-old projected anywhere from the early-to-mid second round to undrafted. This could work perfectly for the Pelicans, especially with how stacked this draft class is projected to be—first-round picks won't be as easy to trade for as they may have been years past.
Why Trevon Brazile makes sense for the Pelicans
This season, Brazile is averaging 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 3.1 stocks (steals + blocks). He stuffs the stat sheet and impacts the game in a variety of ways, whether it's weakside rim protection, rebounding, catching lobs, making the extra pass, or locking down on the perimeter. He does it all. On top of that, his swing skill is his three-point shot, as Brazile has hit at a 35.7 percent clip over his last two seasons, and for a Pels team that needs spacing, that could make him an even better investment.
When building around a player like Derik Queen, there are certain skills you want. Someone who A: can space the floor, B: defend on the perimeter and at the rim, and C: can dive to the rim and finish plays. The Pelicans get all three of those traits in one player with Brazile, as pairing him with DQ in the frontcourt could be a match made in heaven for both sides.
He is also an extremely hard worker—when he transferred from Missouri to Arkansas after his freshman season, he was a skinny, athletic rim runner who showed flashes of being a shooter. But after four more years of development and work, he has blossomed into a lengthy, versatile weapon on both ends of the floor.
With New Orleans on track to potentially have its second straight season finishing with fewer than 30 wins, it's unclear what direction the front office will take this summer. Whether it's building around this current core or shifting the focus to a youth movement centered around Derik Queen, Trevon Brazile could be a perfect late-round or undrafted addition in either scenario.