14. New Orleans Pelicans – Jett Howard, G, Michigan
The end of the NBA Draft Lottery is very much up in the air. There are roughly 10-12 solid lottery prospects that will almost certainly be selected in the top 14. At this point in the NBA Draft season, they’re almost locked in too. Could we see some of them make late jumps and falls, absolutely. And at No. 14, there’s a chance that Jett Howard can jump into the lottery. As one of the better shooters in this year’s draft class, Howard can emerge as one of the most interesting prospects in this year’s class because he has the capability of being much more than that.
And the Pelicans can use another scorer in their rotation heading into next season. The best part of Howard and his potential jump to the NBA is that we haven’t seen the best of him just yet. It could be tough for him to break into the rotation right away for the Pelicans, considering how much talent they have on their roster, but he could be a developmental project that pays off down the road.
New Orleans is one of the most interesting teams heading into the summer and Howard could be the team’s first step toward improvement.