It's been well established that the New Orleans Pelicans have a lot riding on the 2025 NBA Draft. After all, the team and its fans didn't just suffer through a hellish 21-61 season for nothing. NOLA had high basketball hopes entering the 2024-25 campaign, just for injuries to shut down their playoff aspirations just weeks into the year, but it'll all be worth it if they can land a transformative prospect this summer.
To ensure that the franchise is best prepared to take the most optimal rookie available to lead them into their next era, the Pelicans enlisted renowned draft expert Joe Dumars to be their new executive vice president of basketball operations. Just in case it wasn't clear, that was a joke. Of course, Dumars might catch more flak for his draft picks than he deserves, but it's hard to overlook selecting Darko Milicic second-overall over Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
Regardless, if the Pelicans' tanking efforts are rewarded to the highest level in a couple of weeks, and they draw the first-overall pick, it'll all be moot. At that point, there's almost no world where New Orleans doesn't immediately call in to select Duke's Cooper Flagg — the consensus number one option and a generational prospect by every measure. Getting the opportunity to add Flagg would be a game-changer for New Orleans in many ways, but it could be especially beneficial for these three current Pelicans.
Cooper Flagg would instantly elevate these three Pelicans' games
1. Trey Murphy III
Trey Murphy III stepped up and became a bona fide star all on his own this past season. In 53 games played, he put up 21.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.8 stocks per game while maintaining a respectable level of efficiency with 45 percent marks from the field and 36 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Not only did he take his production to another level, but he also visibly expanded his game, improving as a scorer off of the dribble, inside the arc, and as a playmaker. Now, he'll just need to fine-tune his ball-handling, passing, and capitalize on his physical gifts to become a dominant defender.
All of those traits that Murphy III is still lacking are the strengths in Cooper Flagg's game that have made him a generational prospect. Having another two-way star who's ultra competitive and takes pride in the less glamorous parts of the sport is exactly the type of "iron sharpens iron" pairing that would take TMIII to the next level.
2. Yves Missi
Yves Missi showed in his rookie season that he's an uber athlete who's ready to excel on both sides of the ball using his physicality. Unfortunately, the Pelicans' situation didn't exactly do him any favors. Between New Orleans's personnel, all of their injuries, and their motivations to tank for the majority of the season, Missi was mostly left out to dry, but he still held his own pretty well.
If he had the opportunity to play alongside a stable two-way force like Cooper Flagg, his presence as both a shot blocker and vertical spacer would be amplified exponentially. Khaman Maluach shot up big boards defending behind Flagg and catching lobs from him with the Duke Blue Devils. There's no doubt that Missi would benefit in the same ways that Maluach did.
3. Jordan Hawkins
So far in his career, Jordan Hawkins has steadily shown promising flashes, but hasn't displayed any sort of consistency in any other way. He's severely struggled with his efficiency thus far, practically in every scoring area possible. The lone exception so far has been on open 3-pointers.
In his rookie season, he shot just 37 percent overall and 33 percent from deep, but he hit 38.5 percent of his open treys (closest defender within 4-6 feet) and 41.2 percent of his wide-open looks (closest defender 6+ feet away) from deep. This past year, he regressed on open shots to 32 percent, but still knocked down 37.9 percent of his wide-open triples. Playing alongside a rim threat and point forward like Cooper Flagg should generate a lot more of those opportunities for Jordan Hawkins, who desperately needs them to revive his stock.