New Orleans Pelicans 2025 Mock Draft: Who should the Pels target in a loaded class?

The New Orleans Pelicans are bad enough that drafting for "fit" shouldn't even cross the minds of the front office when the NBA Draft rolls around in June. This team still has talent — Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Brandon Ingram (for now) make up the beginnings of a quality roster — but the results with that core haven't been nearly promising enough to draft a player for the sake of immediate fit.

Instead, the Pels should be drafting the best player available. Period.

Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided’s daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend! If you don’t like The Whiteboard, share it with an enemy.

New Orleans Pelicans 2025 mock draft

At the moment, the Pelicans have just one pick in the 2025 NBA Draft — their own first-rounder.

Luckily, that one pick is incredibly valuable right now. If the season ended today, the Pelicans would own the second-worst record in the NBA. With the lottery system, that doesn't guarantee the Pels the No. 2 pick — but for this exercise, we're going to assume that's where the team lands in the draft.

It's not a particularly hard decision for the Pels at No. 2. Dylan Harper has been so good in his freshman season at Rutgers that he's starting to creep up behind presumed top pick Cooper Flagg.

I don't think Harper can actually overtake Flagg's spot at No. 1, but the Pelicans "settling" for Harper would be a hell of a consolation prize. Harper's strength, agility, finishing and frame are pretty rare in a lead guard.

He's listed at 6-foot-6 (which I think will come down about two inches by the time he gets to the NBA) and he's a force going to the rim. He also possesses great vision and should be a good NBA facilitator, though scoring is what he does best. He's scored over 20 points in all but two of his collegiate games so far.

DeJounte Murray is currently the starting point guard in New Orleans. He's a fine, capable NBA player but shouldn't be in the role that he's been forced into with so many Pels injuries. Again, this team can't draft for "need" right now, but taking Harper would be the best of both worlds: New Orleans gets the lead guard it desperately needs, and the best player available after Cooper Flagg.