The New Orleans Pelicans could eye Tennessee Volunteers guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie 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 Tennessee Volunteers guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie.
This wouldn't necessarily be New Orleans picking what they need the most, but at No. 58 all you can hope for is to add a talented player. Gillespie certainly has talent, but it'll be up to the team to decide if they can handle someone so undersized in their lineup.
At the NBA combine, he came in at just under 6-foot-0 and 182 pounds. It would really be like the Pelicans adding Alvarado back into their lineup. An undersized guard who can shoot the ball well and is aggressive in getting steals. The defense still wouldn't be great, but he would at least add another volume shooter.
Gillespie averaged 18.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists on 41.0/33.8/81.4 shooting splits. He’s had years where he has been more efficient, but getting his three-point volume up to 8.2 attempts per game was a huge win.
One of the main goals of the offseason is just to find someone who can be a threat from range. This team needs far more spacing if they want Derik Queen and Zion Williamson to exist together.
Gillespie could be that option, a far cheaper one than what Jordan Poole currently is for the Pelicans.