The New Orleans Pelicans face one of the more interesting decisions on draft night of all the teams in the top 10. After winning the lottery and securing the rights to Anthony Davis last season, the Pelicans already have one player thought to be a franchise cornerstone in place. That might not be all: if shooting guard Eric Gordon can ever stay healthy, New Orleans would also seem to have some much needed offensive firepower from the backcourt.
NBA Draft rumors roundup: Pelicans must decide if they want to roll with Greivis Vasquez
The futures of Trey Burke and Michael Carter-Williams may in part be decided by what the New Orleans Pelicans think of point guard Greivis Vasquez.
Andy Lyons
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
So where do the Pelicans go with No. 6?
They will certainly have their options. Many are pegging a point guard to New Orleans in the first round, and the Pelicans are obviously doing their due diligence. On Friday, the consensus top two lead guards in the draft -- Michigan’s Trey Burke (scouting report) and Syracuse’s Michael Carter-Williams (scouting report) -- participated in separate workouts for the team. But is point guard really a position of need?
The development of Greivis Vasquez last season in his third year in the league is what complicates the question. The 26-year-old Maryland product turned in by far the best season of his career, averaging 13.9 points, nine assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. The Pelicans certainly have an asset in Vasquez. They need to determine if he's good enough to be their point guard going forward, or if they believe Burke or Carter-Williams represents enough of an upgrade to warrant the No. 6 selection.
A sleeper candidate could be Maryland's Alex Len (scouting report), who was also in New Orleans on Friday to speak with coach Monty Williams. Len can't workout as he recovers from a partial stress fracture in his left ankle, but his size next to Davis is certainly enticing for the Pelicans.
-- The Orlando Magic also face an interesting dilemma at No. 2 in the draft. The team stands to upgrade at point guard, but if they don't believe Burke is worthy of the selection, they could go in a different direction. Orlando is certainly considering Burke, but Scott Howard-Cooper says there are questions about whether he is the second-best point guard in the draft, let alone the second-best player.
If the Magic don’t think Burke is worthy of the No. 2 pick, the choice could come down to a pair of shooting guards: Kansas’ Ben McLemore (scouting report) and Indiana’s Victor Oladipo (scouting report). The Magic would have to decide whether they prefer the superior offensive player (McLemore) or the superior defensive player (Oladipo).
What to do with Arron Afflalo is another decision facing the Magic. Afflalo's name has come up in recent trade rumors with the Clippers, but there's reason to believe he could shift to small forward and Tobias Harris could shift to power forward in a promising small-ball attack. Of course, Glen Davis' presence on the roster complicates Harris' move to the four, as well.
-- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (scouting report) is one name shooting up draft boards right now. The Milwaukee Bucks, holding the No. 15 pick in the first round, are one team taking notice.
Caldwell-Pope will visit the Bucks on Saturday to participate in a workout alongside fellow two-guards Ricky Ledo (scouting report) of Providence and Cal’s Allen Crabbe (scouting report).
If Milwaukee really does have its heart set on Caldwell-Pope, it might be in trouble. There’s growing speculation the Georgia product could now land in the bottom half of the top 10.
-- As far as NBA talent goes, Washington D.C. is establishing itself as a hoops hotbed. A recent study by CBS Sports shows that the D.C. region produces more pro talent than anywhere in the United States per capita.
Maryland, Alaska, Louisiana and Georgia round out the top five in the study.
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