New Orleans Pelicans eye aggressive draft-night maneuver, potentially sacrificing key players to reclaim a coveted first-round selection and secure top talent.
The New Orleans Pelicans front office is working to rebuild this team into their own image. It's hard to do that without first-round picks to get talent that they like into the building.
While fans of most teams outside of the playoffs are at least looking forward to the NBA draft, Pelicans fans must watch as the Atlanta Hawks get their pick, which currently sits as the eighth-best odds for the first overall selection in a loaded draft.
New Orleans did get Derik Queen out of that draft-day deal that cost them their first-round pick, and he had an excellent rookie campaign, but people have been critical of that deal since the moment it happened. This is why the Pelicans were bad, and now they're missing out on a top pick.
Whether or not Queen ends up being worth that pick is years down the road from being decided, but the frustration about not having selected a player this year is already present.
With the NBA draft not until June 23, there is plenty of time for New Orleans to move back into the first round. President of basketball operations Joe Dumars was asked about the potential of a trade back into the first round, and he definitely left the option on the table.
"We definitely have a chance to... You can always move, you know, when it comes around draft time. It's amazing the amount of phone calls you take just in terms of being able to move in the first, second, move out."
This is a very aggressive front office, and Troy Weaver's biggest strength is talent evaluation. It's something he's great at. Not drafting while still not having a set guideline for the future seems like a waste.
So moving into the first round is an option, but how exactly can New Orleans pull it off? As they showed this year, they are not afraid to use future assets to get a deal done. There is another option, though, that could end up upsetting some fans.
While it seems like the Pelicans are going to be running it back with Zion Williamson and this core, not everyone is going to be safe. Players like Jordan Poole and Dejounte Murray are almost certain to get shopped. Herb Jones also stands out as someone, being a couple of years older than even Williamson and Trey Murphy, who is highly sought after and could certainly land at least a first-round pick if they want to move on.