Four Players New Orleans Pelicans Could Trade Into Top 10 For

It appears that as long as Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver are running things for the New Orleans Pelicans, they will continue to be in draft trade rumors.

The latest report/rumor comes from NBA insider Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, a respected source when it comes to this sort of release. In his latest intel dump, he said that the Pelicans are attempting to trade back into the lottery and "are believed to be targeting a specific player in the top-10 range."

That would obviously be a massive swing and take some major draft capital to pull off, given that they currently don't select until No. 58 overall. It's not far-fetched, though, given this front office's brief history together and Weaver's background as a draft savant.

Below are a couple of players who would make sense as volatile prospects that New Orleans could be willing to give up a haul to select, similar to what happened with Derik Queen last year:

Mara is a fast-rising favorite around draft circles, given that he could potentially become an answer to slowing down Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Teams are going to go all-out in their pursuit of the next "alien" type of player.

As for Mara, he stands at 7-foot-3 and 260 pounds with a 7-foot-6 wingspan and 9-foot-9 standing reach. After seeing what the Spurs are able to pull off with Wembanyama acting as a defense unto himself in the paint, it makes sense that Mara would be an attractive target.

The Wolverines star posted 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists with 2.6 blocks per game on 66.8% from the field. He doesn't bring the shooting ability that Wembanyama offers, but he had a strong combine performance and should go in the top-10.

It would be interesting to see the Pelicans go all-out for Wagler after preaching defense all offseason, but the offense can't be ignored either. It's not that Wagler is a complete negative on the defensive side, but anyone that wants him will want him for his tremendous scoring potential.

Wagler put up 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists on 44.5/39.7/79.6 shooting splits in his one collegiate season. Look no further than games like his 46-point outburst against the Purdue Boilermakers to see why teams want him. He shot 9-of-11 from three-point range and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.

The 19-year-old has the tools to be an alpha in a modern NBA offense and fits next to Queen, Jeremiah Fears and Trey Murphy. This would be an exciting development.

This would create a little bit of a talent vacuum at point guard/lead ball-handler with Fears, but with a player like Acuff that's not really important. It's about getting the skill of Acuff into the building, and then figuring everything else out after.

In his one year for the Razorbacks, Acuff posted 23.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and an SEC-best 6.4 assists per game on 48.4/44.0/80.9 shooting splits. The talent speaks for itself in the numbers.

Many scouts believe that Acuff is one of the next "alpha" players in the NBA, so it would make sense that this front office would give up a lot in order to get him. He is the type of talent that could turn their roster into a contender in a short amount of time.

This is where things get scary. Ament is a volatile prospect, and some do like him enough to pull off whatever trade that the Pelicans would need to pull off to get him. The problem, though, is that just as many think he is a telegraphed bust.

His freshman campaign for the Volunteers didn't really change anyone's opinion about him. He showed a ton of potential, as expected, but also proved to be very raw. There is clearly talent there, but he just may not be ready for the NBA.

The 6-foot-10 wing posted 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists on 39.9/33.3/79.0 shooting splits for Tennessee. Good numbers, poor efficiency.