The New Orleans Pelicans target proven size and defense with Tennessee's Felix Okpara in this 2026 NBA mock draft.
The New Orleans Pelicans have just a single pick in the 2026 NBA draft as of now, in the second round courtesy of the Detroit Pistons. While it's not the flashiest pick, the Pelicans will have to hope to find some value out of it.
This is an interesting draft class with just 71 entrants for 60 slots, but it features a strong senior class, which means the second round will have a lot of people who can quickly contribute at the NBA level. Just thanks to college experience, which is a positive to balance the negative of a much older rookie age.
The Athletic's Sam Vecenie (subscription required) recently released a 2026 NBA mock draft and in it, the Pelicans go for one of those seniors in Tennessee Volunteers forward Felix Okpara.
Okpara played a whole lot of college basketball, appearing in 143 games across four seasons. He isn't the player with the highest ceiling, but he has proven to be reliable depth and size. If New Orleans needed someone to step in and grab some rebounds right away, Okpara would be a good candidate.
The 6-foot-11, 220-pound senior averaged 6.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per night while shooting 59% from the field.
The Pelicans would do well with adding someone to their defense with the combination of size and motor that Okpara has. He was an aggressive defender in college and could be more of a bully prototype for New Orleans to lean on when the matchup dicatates, rather than going for the finesse of Derik Queen and Yves Missi.