The New Orleans Pelicans could eye Michigan State Spartans guard Jeremy Fears Jr. in the second round of the 2026 NBA mock draft.
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 Michigan State Spartans guard Jeremy Fears Jr.
The obvious place to start with Fears is that he is the older brother of 2025 New Orleans first-round pick Jeremiah Fears. Just because they both play guard, though, doesn't mean that they can't play together. The Pelicans could use more young guard depth, especially if they trade Dejounte Murray and Jordan Poole this offseason.
No matter what, they'll be fulfilling a dream.
"It's been a dream of [ours] to play against each other or with each other... [this summer] we're going to work out a lot, but not too much where he can get the scouting report," said Jeremiah coyly earlier this offseason.
This past season for the Spartans, the older Fears broke out into true stardom. He averaged 15.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and a nation-leading 9.4 assists per game on 43.1/32.1/88.5. He earned one major second-team All-American nod along with a couple more third-team selections. He was first-team All-Big Ten.
Similar to his younger brother, he was a volume scorer with poor efficiency. Jeremiah was a bit more well-rounded, but Jeremy is certainly more ready as a playmaking guard.
Fears has been at Michigan State for three years, meaning he'll be a little bit older as a prospect. That's probably why he would really be sliding into the second round. On the positive, he'll be a little bit more pro-ready than other guards and he's had a lot of time to learn under the fantastic basketball mind of Tom Izzo.
Joe Dumars mentioned wanting to add more toughness to the roster this offseason. Fears, like his brother, is certainly tough. They play with a ton of aggression and effort.
Perhaps he could fill a Jose Alvarado-like role off the bench of a lightning rod who could be trusted with the ball in his hands, which would be a great find in the second round.