Pelicans NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Iowa State F Milan Momcilovic

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 Iowa State Cyclones wing Milan Momcilovic. Momcilovic wouldn't really help out in terms of adding more rebounding, but he shoots the ball efficiently at high volume, and that's all that New Orleans needs right now.

Momcilovic averaged 16.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game for the Cyclones on 50.6/48.7/87.8 shooting splits. He pulled off that efficiency while attempting 7.5 threes per night. Even elite doesn't cover how impressive that is.

That's all that the Wisconsin native really brings to the table as a prospect. It's all offense, but it's a lot of fun offense. He doesn't turn the ball over much and is very efficient.

As a team, the Pelicans ranked No. 25 in the league with 32.1 attempts per game. They were also inefficient at low volume, ranking No. 24 at 34.7%, resulting in an ultimately useless perimeter offense.

The wing is actually where they get most of their shooting from, but there would be no danger in adding another shooter. Trey Murphy, Saddiq Bey and Herb Jones are three of their best shooters. The problem is that there isn't really anyone to come in off the bench and provide that boost. Bryce McGowens has potential, but he attempted 2.2 threes a game last year.

New Orleans could easily slide Momcilovic into their rotation next season. One of the strengths of this draft class as a whole is the amount of potential talent available in the second round, thanks to NIL keeping players in college longer. This junior and senior class is pretty good.

Momcilovic will be 22 years old next season, putting him right in line with the young core of Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears. He is a perfect fit next to those two in the long run, though they would need to surround them with a lot of defense.