As recently noted, the Pelicans have a myriad of paths they can travel come the 2020 NBA Draft. While trades with their draft capital are possible, when projecting out draft picks it could lead to a variety of situations. The team could trade up in the draft or, with the large amount of picks held, could take a risk on a prospect or be in a position to draft a prospect that might slip down the draft.
In Yahoo Sports latest mock draft, the Pelicans would take advantage of a player slipping. Rob Dauster joined the Pro Basketball Talk podcast with Kurt Helin to do a mock draft. For New Orleans with the No. 13 pick, Dauster and Helin have Cole Anthony landing with the Pelicans.
Anthony is a fascinating prospect. Once considered the best point guard in the draft, a disappointing season at North Carolina included a knee injury that kept him out for multiple weeks. Because of that, Anthony slipped substantially this season, falling to No. 13 in DraftExpress’ early-April mock draft.
In 22 games with the Tar Heels, Anthony scored 18.5 points per game but shot just 38% from the field and 34.8% from three-point range. Landing with the Pelicans would be a great situation for the point guard as he would be under no pressure to play immediately and could develop under Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday and fellow young guards in Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Frank Jackson.