2022 NBA Mock Draft: Pick #5
No team would be more likely to trade out of the top five of the draft than the New Orleans Pelicans, who have enough top-end talent already but just need to get it all healthy.
The Pelicans are sniffing the play-in right now without Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram in the lineup, so they obviously think health is their biggest obstacle to being a contender.
I could definitely see them packaging this pick along with a couple of their young players for a third star to go with Zion and BI, but for the sake of argument I’ll select Kendall Brown out of Baylor.
Brown can score from all three levels and projects to be a plus defender. The Pelicans drafted defensive standout Herb Jones in the last draft and adding another long, defensive wing makes sense, as they have enough scoring already.
This would give the Pels a tantalizing group of young players to potentially trade and they are a team to keep an eye on, as I think a blockbuster move is coming sometime in the future.