This was not a good season for the New Orleans Pelicans, but the good news is that it could get better with some luck in the 2025 NBA Draft lottery.
After all of the compounded injuries and disappointing performances on the court, the Pelicans have lost a ton of games this season. As such, however, it may lead to an exciting young player to add their core.
Unlike other teams with poor records, the Pelicans are in a position in which they could potentially contend again soon once healthy. They already have a very solid core that includes several players capable of winning now. Perhaps they can add to that with an early pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Here is more from Jonathan Wasserman about the fit of a star Rutgers freshman (via Bleacher Report):
“Ace Bailey has looked much better lately attacking the rim and using his height and touch to finish around the basket. His float game has been a reliable weapon as well. More driving and less settling for tough jumpers will help eliminate any hesitation from NBA teams over Bailey’s style of play and general outlook.
Mixing up his offense more has led to some outstanding scoring efficiency as of late. It’s difficult to have a cleaner game than 30 points on two missed shots.
Bailey has also been noticeably more disruptive defensively using his length to get deflections and block shots.
Meanwhile, he continues to sell himself as a special shotmaker with four made threes in four of his last seven games.”
Bailey would provide a potential replacement for Brandon Ingram if the forward decides to walk via free agency.
The 6-foot-10 freshman is one of the best midrange shooters we have evaluated as a prospect, even if the game is trending away from long 2-pointers as a valuable shot.
He struggled to provide a positive impact to begin his collegiate career. During his first 10 games in the NCAA, his box plus-minus (0.1) was dangerously low.
Even by his 13th game of the season earlier this month, his BPM (2.1) would still have ranked lower while in college than any other top-5 pick since 2008-09. In fact, among those picked No. 12 or earlier, Bailey would have finished ahead of only Ziaire Williams.
As noted by Wasserman, however, Bailey has picked it up a bit lately and the numbers reflect as much. He has increased his BPM all the way up to 4.9 and that is a far more respectable output. (For comparison, that is the exact same box plus-minus former No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards had while at Georgia.)
Here is our latest NBA mock draft at For The Win, where Bailey goes to the Toronto Raptors.
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