One year after being the most talked about team on NBA draft night, the New Orleans Pelicans may not be talked about at all this time around.
As of now, the Pelicans don’t have a first-round draft pick for the draft that will be held Tuesday and Wednesday in Brooklyn, New York.
They relinquished their pick last year in the highly criticized trade that allowed them to leap from the No. 23 spot to No. 13 to select Derik Queen. Joe Dumars, the Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations, said after last year's draft that you could look at the Queen pick as the Pelicans just getting a first-round pick a year early.
But Dumars also said two days after the season ended in April that the Pels could make a trade to get back into the first round this year.
So far that hasn’t happened. All that has occurred lately are a bunch of trade rumors that have kept social media buzzing.
Dumars’ phone has been ringing with teams calling to inquire about guys such as Trey Murphy and Herb Jones, but none of those calls have come close to offering anything to make Dumars pull the trigger.
There’s still time for a deal to get done and the Pels make their way into the first round.
Such a deal wouldn’t have to come before commissioner Adam Silver steps to the podium Tuesday night to start the first round. If the Pelicans have someone they are targeting in the first round, they could just wait until the draft starts and see how things plays out. Finding a good player in that 15-20 range in a deep draft class is doable. They’d obviously have to move on from one of their key players, though.
On the day the Pelicans introduced Jamahl Mosley as the new head coach, Dumars made it clear that he’s willing to listen to offers. And who can blame him with a team that has finished with less than 30 wins in each of the past two seasons.
“Unless you’re a championship team, you might tweak one or two things,” Dumars said that day. “When you’re where we are, you have to be open to everything. And that’s where I am. I am open to whatever comes across my desk. Whatever phone calls I get, I’m open to it to listen and see if this is the right thing for us at this moment. I don’t think you can close off anything where we are right now.”
That response was followed up by Dumars being asked whether Zion Williamson was a guy he wanted to continue to build around.
“We haven’t changed our opinion on Zion,” Dumars said. “I’d love to see Jamahl coach Zion. I’d love to see him get Zion to defend and do all the things that he said. Let’s see what we have here.”
Assuming Dumars meant that, Williamson is likely one of the few untouchables on the team. You can also put Queen and Jeremiah Fears in that category. Queen and Fears, the two first-round picks from last season, both were voted second team on the All-Rookie team and are foundational pieces.
Will the Pelicans be able to add more quality pieces like that through this year’s draft? Or will they have to try to add through free agency, where their current salary-cap situation handcuffs them from landing some of the big names. We’ll have to wait and see what Dumars is planning.
What we do know is the team desperately needs more rebounding, rim protection and reliable 3-point shooting. Their only draft pick currently is a late second-round pick (58th overall).
Will the Pelicans find a deal to get someone in the first round to address those issues?
Stay tuned.