New Orleans Pelicans: 2019 NBA Draft grades

No. 8 pick: Jaxson Hayes

Jaxson Hayes had routinely been mocked to the Atlanta Hawks at either No. 8 or 10, making it ironic that he was selected there but ended up on a different team. The 19-year-old Texas center is raw, and just three years ago was a benchwarmer on his high school team, but he joined a long line of Texas big men to go in the first round.

After trading Anthony Davis to the Lakers and with Julius Randle likely on his way out in free agency, the Pelicans badly needed a center to pair with Zion. Hayes, an uber-athlete standing at 6’11”, looks the part; New Orleans now has one of the most athletic frontcourts in the league.

Jaxson is undeniably raw, however, and if he does get playing time it will be solely for his defense, with the hope that he becomes a solid rim-runner in time. Hayes himself said as much at the draft, noting,

"“I’ve always kind of prided myself on my defensive game to kind of put my name on, something I pride myself on. But I feel like my offensive game came along way well while I was at Texas.”"

The results are loud and clear:

All that notwithstanding, Hayes had a lot of helium to his name during the draft process, and his emergence in the lottery, let alone at No. 8, reeks of a consensus mock draft hive-mind. There are simply too many capable centers available at any time to use a lottery pick on one unless you think they have the potential to be a 10-year vet or an All-Star. Jaxson is too raw to project safely and doesn’t have the ceiling to justify this pick.

Georgia center Nicolas Claxton, who had a not too dissimilar stat line from Hayes, dropped to the 31st pick. All the worse? Zion’s Duke teammate Cam Reddish, brimming with talent, was there for the taking.

Grade: C-