The Golden State Warriors selected three players in the 2019 NBA Draft, but they weren’t done there. After the draft concluded, the Warriors jumped into the mass of teams jockeying to sign the best undrafted players.
“Steph gonna Steph”
The last time the New Orleans Pelicans (then the Hornets) drafted a generational superstar No. 1 overall, it was Anthony Davis. The team’s general manager, Dell Demps, proceeded to execute a fairly unique plan: build a high-end team around Davis over the ensuing years without staying in the NBA Draft lottery. He’d surround Davis not with similarly young players who would rise together into a beautiful cake of realized talent, but with so-called “young veterans” — established, decent-to-good players who could get Davis into the playoffs early and often in the Pels’ quest to convince the eventual superstar to eventually stay in town after his second contract concluded.
Josh Hart hasn’t officially been traded to the New Orleans Pelicans just yet, but he is already moving on.
Last night, I called Jack Hughes, The Big Deal. Before Round 2 began at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero made one. The blockbuster deal brings defenseman, star, and the Face of the League P.K. Subban to the Rock. Here is the full deal, as reported by Bob McKenzie [Davis is Davies]:
With the 17th pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans selected Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a highly regarded shooter, out of Virginia Tech.
On Thursday, the Golden State Warriors traded two future second-round picks to the Pelicans for No. 39 overall and used it on 18-year-old Serbian forward Alen Smailagic. Pretty normal, right? Wrong.
When the New Orleans Pelicans won the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery, it was a bit of a shock. They had the seventh-best odds (6 percent) of doing so, which are relatively good, but their 33-49 record is a far cry from what was expected before the season began. The Anthony Davis-fueled tumult, and the games it caused the star forward to miss, was aided by early season injuries, the trade of Nikola Mirotic to Milwaukee, and the season-ending abdominal injury to Jrue Holiday down the stretch in bringing that record so far down.
Former Duke teammates Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett are slated to make their NBA summer league debuts against each other.
The NBA said Friday that Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans will face off against Barrett and the New York Knicks on July 5, the first day of the league's annual summer showcase at UNLV. Williamson was the No. 1 pick in Thursday's draft, and Barrett was selected No. 3 overall.
