Re-drafting the 2020 NBA Draft reveals a different path for the New Orleans Pelicans, landing a more impactful wing and potentially altering their recent history.
A lot of things have had to have gone wrong for the New Orleans Pelicans over the past two years to lead to back-to-back seasons of fewer than 30 wins. One of those things was the 2020 NBA draft.
The Pelicans selected Kira Lewis Jr., a point guard that excited many fans. He just didn't really end up working out. Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley recently put together what it might look like if there was a re-draft. New Orleans would certainly change their pick if they had the chance to.
This experiment has the Pelicans going with current Indiana Pacers small forward Aaron Nesmith at No. 13 instead of Lewis. That would have almost certainly been a better choice for New Orleans.
Nesmith was orginally the No. 14 pick in this draft, so not a huge change for him. He originally went to the Boston Celtics and didn't have much of a role. His potential got unlocked with a trade to the Indiana Pacers.
This season, he averaged 13.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists on 41.4/37.9/82.9 shooting splits. The Pelicans would kill for that type of production.
Instead, Lewis ended up playing just 118 games for New Orleans over three and a half seasons. He averaged 5.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists on 39.3/30.2/85.4 splits. He has been out of the NBA since 2024, but is sticking around in the G League. He's currently on the Wisconsin Herd.
One unforeseen downside in this re-draft scenario is that the Pelicans would then not have the opportunity to add Naji Marshall as an undrafted free agent. Seeing as though Marshall is no longer on the team, it might not actually be a huge loss in the long term, but he was a fan-favorite when he was in New Orleans.
Marshall averaged 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per night on 42.9/31.3/77.6 splits. The numbers don't tell the whole story, though. In this re-draft, he went No. 15 overall to the Orlando Magic.
Current Pelicans star Saddiq Bey was also included in this draft class. He went No. 16 to the Portland Trail Blazers, which is three spots higher than where he initially went at No. 19.
Bey would have been a fair choice for New Orleans at No. 13. He is coming off a career-year, showing just how much offensive potential he has.