The New Orleans Pelicans find themselves in a very unique and envious position with regard to their future. On top of having a blossoming young core headlined by Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Zion Williamson, the Pelicans have a host of draft capital for coming years.
It creates a situation where New Orleans finds itself able to do a myriad of things. Any superstar that becomes available via trade will likely be linked to the Pelicans. It also means that their mindset in the draft will likely be one of drafting the best player available.
In Sports Illustrated’s latest mock draft, Jeremy Woo selected the Pelicans another guard in Kira Lewis and had the following explanation:
New Orleans can go in a number of directions with this pick, having addressed needs at multiple positions in last year’s draft. Whoever they draft shouldn’t be pressured to play much right away given the amount of talent on the roster. Lewis would be an interesting long-term investment, having made marked improvement over the course of the year at Alabama, and being a young sophomore who compares favorably with most of the freshmen in this draft. He’s arguably the fastest player in the class, and his development track is certainly encouraging.
Lewis is a prospect that is young and, as Woo noted, is more of a long-term project. He will be 19 years old at the time of the draft despite playing two seasons at Alabama. In his sophomore season, Lewis averaged 17.7 points, 5.0 assists and 4.6 rebounds. But he’ll need some fine-tuning, which he can get with the Pelicans as the team already has a dearth of guards.
He is the type of prospect the Pelicans can invest in and reap benefits down the road. It’s one of many paths the Pelicans can take come the 2020 NBA Draft.
[lawrence-related id=23642,23635,23615]