2025 NBA Draft Lottery Preview: New Orleans Pelicans

The good times keep rolling, as Tyler Rucker and Stephen Gillaspie chop it up for the Draft Lottery Preview for the New Orleans Pelicans!

Stephen: Rucker, long time no chat? How’ve you been? I’m excited for another team preview with you. This time, we’re continuing with a team that we spent a LONG time discussing which direction they could go during our latest War Room: the New Orleans Pelicans. We don’t have to dive in too deep on this, but Zion is in the news for some not-so-nice things. Every podcast I listen to is trying to trade away Trey Murphy III. Names like Bruce Brown Jr. and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are expected to hit free agency. They have team options on Elfrid Payton and Brandon Boston Jr. Antonio Reeves is a restricted free agent. C.J. McCollum is an aging (only 31) undersized guard, and Dejounte Murray has been polarizing to say the least. There’s a lot going on for a team that finished 14th in the West. Picking seventh isn’t the worst spot to be picking at this season, so let’s try to give our beloved Pelican fans reasons to be excited!

Personally, I would just go Best Player Available (BPA) for the team. Even if that player plays the same position as a Trey Murphy III or Herb Jones, you can play those guys 2-4 on both sides of the floor. Now, you could make the argument that they could use some more playmaking, but they have over $28 million (and spent trade assets) invested into Dejounte Murray—and we saw what him splitting ball-handling duties looked like in Atlanta with Trae Young. There is also this sort-of-weird “we already have Yves Missi on the roster” thing going around as a reason they should not take a big. Couldn’t they take another big with how the league is trending? I think that could be a legit option.

I know I teed you up in a million different directions, but that’s just where I am with this team, man. Help me out, Rucker. Which way do we go?

Rucker: Stephen, it seems as if every draft cycle, we find one team that keeps us up at night when trying to predict the direction they could go in. Suddenly, the Pelicans have taken the top spot when it comes to creating potential headaches. This roster is way better than their record, and draft position, shows. But the Pelicans experienced a season from hell when it came to dealing with injuries. When this team has been healthy, they’ve looked like a team that can be a bully in the Western Conference. But we’ve been waiting…and waiting…and sooner or later, you have to start thinking of a different path.

Things could get interesting in New Orleans, especially with a new front office running the show. The Zion news hasn’t helped, as the direction of this team seems up in the air. Given the team construction, I agree with you; New Orleans should go best player available. They have plenty of enticing names on the roster, but I don’t think there’s anyone who should steer you away from trusting your board. When you’re a team like New Orleans, you’re HOPING that you have a healthy season and find yourself in playoff contention. That means that chances are you’re not going to be picking this high anytime soon…in theory.

Because of that, I think you also have to think about upside, which goes back into the best player available route. If the Top 5 goes “chalk” then we are thinking names such as Cooper Flagg (Duke), Dylan Harper (Rutgers), Ace Bailey (Rutgers), VJ Edgecombe (Baylor) and Tre Johnson (Texas) are all off the board, regardless of order. That means that the Pelicans could be sitting at #7 eye balling some fascinating talent. I thought the Pelicans struck gold last year with landing Yves Missi with the 21st selection. We’re about to find out what the franchise thinks of his long-term upside, especially if the Pelicans could be looking at someone like Khaman Maluach (Duke) or Derik Queen (Maryland) as a big man presence. Personally, I don’t love the fit for either player there. If it were me, I’d be looking to get some help on the perimeter or I would be looking to get a floor general for the future.

If that’s the route New Orleans would go, there are a lot of names that come into the conversation. Kon Knueppel would be a “safe” pick for this team and inject a serious amount of floor spacing and high-level feel to this roster. Any questions that arise about Kon’s defense, could be calmed down with the idea of him playing alongside the likes of Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III (I’m not trading Trey at all).

But I think there’s also some fascinating “wildcards” to throw into the mix. Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma), Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois), and even Egor Demin (BYU) could all make a ton of sense to me. There’s also a world in which New Orleans realizes they are in a bit of a “funky” spot, and they look to aggressively move up to try to land a big fish.

Stephen, we’ve been trying at No Ceilings to figure out what names could be in the picture if we were running the show for New Orleans if it’s NOT a big man. What route would you go here?

Stephen: I want to start by saying the upside point is very valid. There is the thought that BPA doesn’t always make sense, in the fact that if you get a player who is positionally redundant, their value can plummet due to a lack of playing time. So, I can hear out some other positions. We spoke on this during the War Room, but I personally worry about the spacing on this New Orleans squad. Sure, there are some names on this team you could look at and say “Oh, yeah; he can shoot.” but this team ranked 24th in terms of three-point efficiency. This was behind teams like Toronto, Utah, Houston, and San Antonio. Why I bring that up, is that I don’t think that throwing Fears and Demin on this team would be good for their development. Fears is a solid athlete and looks to pressure the rim, but he shot under 30% from deep. He was okay off the catch (36.1%) but, if we’re talking about Fears off the ball already, that seems to take away what makes him special as a prospect. Demin has made his round on social media doing some open-court shooting drills, but he is a similar sort of story—only he shot poorly on higher volume. If I had to choose between the two, I think Demin’s size and feel give him more of an edge to be a success on this team. I am more confident in Kasparas Jakucionis as an initiator of offense in the league. He’s like in the middle of a Venn Diagram of Fears and Demin, where he has good positional size, has shown good feel, and he moves well on the floor. He also shot the ball better on some pretty dynamic attempts. Including him in the mix, Jakucionis would make the most sense on almost every team in my opinion.

I believe that Kon Knueppel would likely be off the board by this point, so—while he would be fun—I want to shift to my board’s alternate reality. Carter Bryant (Arizona) would be a fun fit here, too, but I don’t want to keep banging that drum in every article either. Bryant definitely fits, and could give the Pelicans some fun lineup versatility. For a team that needs to improve its floor spacing, what about a player like Cedric Coward (Washington State)? I know he might be a reach for some, but there are others that have him Top 10 (Hi! I’m others!). For all of the talk we get about Knueppel (justified), Tre Johnson (justified), and Liam McNeeley (…) as some of the better shooters projected to be taken in the first round, Cedric has been that same level of shooter for three seasons in college basketball. What’s more is that Cedric also shows real tools on the defensive end, and a toughness to finish in traffic against real contact. Coward may not have the “star upside” of some but would it really be crazy if he has similar (or more) impact to that of Kon or Tre? I genuinely don’t think so. He also just has better tools (+9 inch wingspan; third in the three-point star drill at the combine; 38.5 vert jump) than many of the other players at his same position.

The big men that could be available here in Queen and Maluach are so different despite playing the same position, so a conversation about which one to take could be a bit interesting. Queen is more skilled in the “dribble-pass-shoot” aspect, but Maluach projects to be better as a traditional big man. I think each have distinct weaknesses that could be heavily magnified on this team. Derik has real concerns on defense. Playing next to Zion (potentially, hypothetically) probably won’t make those concerns any better. He would, however, be offensively fun on a team like New Orleans. Khaman would help shore things up on defense—whether he is playing in front of or behind Missi. Some are high on Maluach’s shooting projection. While personally, I couldn't care less about Maluach’s shot in comparison to some other offensive areas, it feels like his shot development would be a necessity instead of a nicety if he landed with the Pels. We already touched on the efficiency issues on this team, but Khaman would certainly clunk up what spacing this team has. To be honest, I don’t like the options at the 5 for New Orleans in particular this season either, dude.

I hate to make it sound like New Orleans is a tough team to nail down here, but getting the #7 pick in this draft makes their projection a bit tricky. Could you help me with the perimeter options here?

Rucker: I think Kon would be a great option if he’s somehow still on the board. Not only are you getting a player with a tremendous feel and floor spacing upside, but you’re also getting someone who lifts the floor of this team. If there are questions about his defense (I think it’s better than advertised), I think Kon has tremendous weapons around him that can “shield” that. It would be a home run selection and give the Pelicans another awesome wing with an offensive punch.

If they were to go another route on the perimeter, it could get interesting. We know that there’s been plenty of smoke around the likes of Trey Murphy III, and whether he could be a potential trade candidate. Personally, I’m not buying it unless New Orleans were to get extremely overpaid. The NBA is a league that always desires assets on the perimeter. You can sell me on Carter Bryant going just about anywhere and making sense. Bryant has tremendous upside and two-way tools to develop. In New Orleans, he wouldn’t be asked to carry the load as a rookie and he can learn from some fantastic assets.

From that point, I think it gets a little bold to be swinging aggressively for some perimeter help with that pick. This class has a lot of guard depth, and I think it makes a ton of sense for New Orleans to target that route with some good options on the board.

I’m going to call it right now, Stephen. For me, personally, I think it would come down to one of Jeremiah Fears and Kasparas Jakucionis. Right now, I still have Fears higher on my personal board, and I actually am intrigued with the idea of putting him in that situation that can be patient with his development.

Let’s hear it, Stephen; you’re on the clock. What direction are you going with this one?

Stephen: With the #7 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft (and with the guards laid out before me), the New Orleans Gillaspies select: Kasparas Jakucionis. Look, personally, I am lower on the organizers within this class, but I find myself more and more confident in Jakucionis’s abilities to be a little bit of everything for whatever team he finds himself on. You need someone to run pick-and-rolls? That was KJ’s most-used play type, accounting for 38% of his plays. When you include passes, Jakucionis ranked in the 65th percentile in that play type. What’s more is that he played a good portion of the season with a hand injury.

You need someone to play off other talented players? Kasparas did that as well. He played with another guard who can set others up and run plays in Kylan Boswell. He played with a taller, perimeter-oriented wing in Will Riley. He played with a monster rim-runner and play finisher in Morez Johnson Jr. He played with a stretch five in Tomislav Ivisic. Tre White is a dynamic scoring wing. Ben Humrichous is a floor spacer. What makes Jakucionis a realistic off-ball option is that he ranked in the 69th percentile (nice) on spot ups—shooting 39% on open threes. If KJ can continue to grow in that regard, you have a player that can be used in variety of ways, and a player who can create at a high level (26.0 Assist Percentage).

Defensively, Jakucionis can hold his ground fairly well. He measured nearly 6’5” without shoes, and he weighed in at 205 pounds. That sort of size gives KJ some ability to be versatile in defending either position in the backcourt. He recorded a Steal Percentage of 1.5 and a Block Percentage of nearly 1. Pitch in the fact that he rebounded well and didn’t shy away from contact, and you have a player who has the potential to play well at two positions on both sides of the court.

I believe that Kasparas does a good job of threading the needle between “BPA” and need here. He can play with either McCollum or Murray. He can run an offense that is more…forward…focused (see what I did there?). There are some outcomes where he can be featured in a three-guard rotation as well.

See, it wasn’t that hard to draft for this team.