2019 NBA Draft: Full Mock Draft 1.0, Atlanta Hawks Take Two Stars
By Chris Guest
#7. New Orleans Pelicans – De’Andre Hunter
With the New Orleans Pelicans offseason in complete flux with the pending trade of Anthony Davis (and most likely Jrue Holiday as well), the Pels will be looking to accrue as many assets as possible in those trades while also building smartly through the draft.
Not including players they’ll most definitely obtain in trades this offseason, the team is left with… Jahlil Okafor at the five? Frank Jackson at the one? The Pels will likely be a blank slate for new GM David Griffin, but one pick that could help immediately make them better is De’Andre Hunter with the #7 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Hunter played what was likely his best game of the season in the NCAA title game, putting up a career-high 27 points while playing extremely tight defense on a fellow lottery pick, Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver.
Hunter was everything the Virginia Cavaliers could’ve asked for and more, and his corner three from Ty Jerome will likely live forever in college basketball lore.
From an NBA perspective, Hunter has great size (6-foot-8, 225 pounds) with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, and would immediately improve any team’s defense on the perimeter.
Though he might not have the highest upside, Hunter does have an incredibly high floor and should be consistently impactful on a night-to-night basis for the Pels as they begin what will likely be a years-long rebuild.