Some new Pelicans rumors dropped on Wednesday afternoon as HoopsHype Mike Scotto reported that New Orleans is trying to acquire a top 10 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
He also mentioned that it is believed Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver are targeting a specific player in that range. This has led many fans to speculate about who the player could be. Some names I’ve seen thrown around are Tennessee's Nate Ament, Michigan's Morez Johnson Jr., Illinois' Keaton Wager, and the name I’ve heard most is Michigan’s Aday Mara. I believe none of these players should or could be who the Pelicans are targeting—instead, it’s Arizona’s Brayden Burries.
If you know anything about me outside of my Pelicans work, you’d know I’m an NBA draft fanatic who aspires to one day cover the draft for a major outlet every year. With this comes a ton of deep dives into every year's class and forming my own evaluations of players.
This has led me to the conclusion that in the 2026 class, no player is being overlooked more than Brayden Burries. He has no real weaknesses in his game and is the perfect modern-day NBA combo guard.
Now, I’m not saying he is a perfect prospect or that he'll be the best guard in the class. That said, Burries is still the perfect piece for the Pelicans, both short- and long-term.
Burries should be the real target
In his lone season for Arizona, the freshman combo guard averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. Burries also shot an efficient 39.1 percent from three, averaging over six attempts per game.
For a Pelicans team that finished in the bottom 10 in all three-point categories, adding Burries as a floor spacer would be huge.
It's rare to find a guard who can impact the game out of the gate in as many ways as Burries does. He can dribble-pass, shoot, and be a disruptive defender at the point of attack against guards and in passing lanes. Pair that with a strong athletic profile that can see him take off in transition, and combine measurements of 6-foot-3.75 (barefoot) and a 6-foot-6 wingspan, and he would be like a Derrick White-lite for New Orleans.
The D-White comparison doesn’t stop with his shooting size and defense, it goes much deeper. Like White, Burries is the ultimate hustle-glue guy, not afraid to dive for loose balls or crash the glass with a seven-footer down low. Those are the winning plays that fit the gritty physical winning culture Dumars preaches he wants to build.
When you have a guard like Dejounte Murray for the now and one for the future in Jeremiah Fears, putting them next to a player like Burries is a recipe for success. As a lead guard, the best thing you can have in the backcourt is someone who doesn’t need the ball, can be a reliable defender and outside shooter, and take over the PG role if you’re struggling. That’s Burries to a tee.
For a while, every little crumb Joe Dumars has left fans with about the front office's plans this summer suggests a win-now direction. So while fans gravitate toward the upside of a Mara, a Wagler, or Ament, the real target should and could be Burries.
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