A look at potential New Orleans Pelicans draft pick, George Washington Revolutionaries forward Rafael Castro.
The New Orleans Pelicans have a great talent evaluator in Troy Weaver and an aggressive leader in Joe Dumars, so they should never be counted out to grab a player that they like.
They have a second-round pick from the Detroit Pistons to work with in this year's draft, but have not ruled out the possibility of going higher. Right now, though, the focus should be on the players who will be available in the second round, whom the Pelicans could consider.
Continuing to go through second-round options, one player who makes sense is George Washington Revolutionaries forward, Rafael Castro. Castro is someone that New Orleans could wait and take with the No. 58 pick if they can't find a deal to move up in the draft.
Castro lacks the floor-spacing that is consistently brought up as a need of this Pelicans roster, but he does just about everything else that they need. While finding more players who shoot the three ball would be nice, it's a more of a plus than anything right now.
Jamahl Mosley has mentioned wanting to focus on the defensive side of the ball first, and Castro would certainly help with that. He has been one of the biggest risers of the pre-draft process, simply because scouts didn't really take notice of him with the Revolutionaries.
The 23-year-old averaged 15.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.7 blocks per game. He averaged 3.0 steals plus blocks per game over his two seasons with George Washington. He had started his career with the Providence Friars, but didn't find the court.
Castro has a solid combination of size, athleticism and effort that could realistically lead to a steal at the end of the second round of the draft. If New Orleans feels confident in his defensive versatility at the next level, then this would be a very sensible pick.
He worked out with the Oklahoma City Thunder last month, which is always a good sign for finding hidden gems. They clearly know what to look for, so going after players they like is not a bad plan.
