The New Orleans Pelicans came into the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery with only a four percent chance of keeping their first round pick. As expected, they fell out of the top three and netted the 10th pick instead, which now goes to the Sacramento Kings.
And with the 10th pick in the 2017 NBA draft, the New Orleans Pelicans select….. DeMarcus Cousins.
No, the Pelicans obviously didn’t select DeMarcus Cousins in this year’s draft. However, after the midseason blockbuster trade that sent their 2017 first round draft pick (top-three protected) to the Sacramento Kings along with Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans Langston Galloway and a second round pick (via Philadelphia 76ers), the Pelicans understood there would be a high probability that the Kings would end up with their pick in this year’s draft.
As mentioned, per the trade agreement set in February, the Pelicans protected their first round pick and would’ve only been able to keep it if they landed one of the top three picks in this year’s draft.
The New Orleans Pelicans finished the season 34-48, giving them the 10th-worst record in the league at season’s end. Because of that, they came into Tuesday night’s draft lottery with only a four percent chance of landing a top three pick (1.1 percent for first, 1.3 percent for second, 1.6 percent for third).
So it was no surprise when, as expected, they fell out of the top three and netted the 10th selection in the draft instead, which in turn was conveyed to Sacramento.
Even though the Pelicans protected their 2017 first round draft pick, they did so with the expectation and hope that they would lose it.
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I know, on the surface that sounds crazy, but hear me out. Once the trade for DeMarcus Cousins was complete, the franchise shifted its mindset from a team on the rebuild whose best source of adding assets was through the draft to a team ready to win now.
Bringing in Cousins gave the franchise a much-needed jolt, changing the course of the season. Although the Pelicans only sat 3.5 games out of the playoffs at the time the trade was completed, they never resembled that of a team ready to compete for a playoff spot.
However, after acquiring Cousins, all focus geared once again towards one last stretch run for a chance to compete in this year’s postseason tournament.
So in other words, late season wins trumped keeping their protected first round pick. Winning now essentially trumped worrying about the future.
With the trade for DeMarcus Cousins, the New Orleans Pelicans were banking on two scenarios playing out in the latter half of the regular season: Either they would make the playoffs and justify once again sacrificing their future (Pelicans traded their 2013 and 2014 picks for Jrue Holiday and their 2015 pick for Omer Asik) or they would fall flat on their face, tailspin late in the season and still hopefully come away with the contingency of keeping their first round pick this year.
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Unfortunately for them, neither scenario played out. The Pelicans missed the playoffs but won enough games to essentially take them out of the running for a top-three pick, giving them instead only a four percent chance. And as it expectedly turned out, the New Orleans Pelicans came away with the No. 10 pick in this year’s draft, which they will now have to hand over.
So in essence, the New Orleans Pelicans knowingly flipped what would have been a top-10 selection in the 2017 NBA Draft — along with the aforementioned assets — for DeMarcus Cousins, knowing the likelihood of them landing in the top-three and keeping the pick would be near zero.
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They should be more than fine with that because in their eyes, bringing in DeMarcus Cousins outweighed any player they would otherwise be selecting in the top 10.