New Orleans Pelicans: 5 compelling first-round draft targets

New Orleans Pelicans (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)

5. Josh Green, SG, Arizona

With their first-round pick this year, it would be wise for the Pelicans to try to draft a prospect to cover the two-guard spot. New Orleans currently has a young core consisting of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and then Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. You don’t know how good they’re going to be, but you’re going to want to try to get prospects elsewhere.

Josh Green comes out of Arizona after just one year and he has the tools to make an impact at the next level. His 6’6″, 210lbs frame gives makes him ready to deliver this impact from day one. It gives him that flexibility to not only play at the 2-spot, but fill in at the 3 as well, where the New Orleans Pelicans also need depth.

He is regarded as a 3-and-D guy who has enormous defensive potential. He isn’t going to be a guy who’ll average 20 points a game, but he’ll get to the rack consistently and will complement Zion Williamson and company very nicely. In his freshman season for the Wildcats, Green averaged 12 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

With his size, he can be a very good rebounder for a 2-3 combo player and his 1.5 steals per game personify his ability to be a pickpocketer as well as an incredibly tough defender. Whether he will develop into a number one or even two option is not a given, but you know what you’re getting with Green and he can be a very solid role player who can be another piece of this Pelicans puzzle.