The New Orleans Pelicans stood pat through both nights of the 2026 NBA Draft, despite rumors of a potential trade up. While it seems like a major missed opportunity to start the reshaping and remolding of this current Pelicans roster, Joe Dumars does deserve credit for using the No. 58 pick to the max. With the Pelicans singular selection, the front office selected Jaron Pierre Jr., a Louisiana native who spent his final year in college as a star guard for SMU.
It’s rare to see a team draft a player with one of the final three picks of the draft who is the best player available and actually address a need for the team at the same time. The Pelicans were able to do that with Pierre Jr.
At 23 years old, Pierre Jr. is a mature scoring guard who doesn’t possess an incredibly high ceiling but can come in from day one and bring an impact as a shooter.
Jaron Pierre Jr. gives the Pelicans a real shooting boost
This past season, Pierre Jr. averaged 17.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the floor and 37.0 percent from three on over six attempts per game.
The biggest draw with Pierre Jr. and the reason he fits a need for New Orleans is his perimeter shot creation. During the 2025-26 season, the Pelicans were routinely shot out of games, finishing the year near the bottom of every single three-point metric and stat. Pierre Jr. isn’t just a catch-and-shoot ace, as he is comfortable shooting in movement and creating his own shot from the perimeter. This should translate nicely to the pros.
Outside of being a plus floor spacer, Pierre Jr. is a solid finisher and has a good handle, making him someone who Jamahl Mosley could trust with a secondary ball in most lineups. There are questions about his playmaking, as some have felt he may have tunnel vision. At the same time, this “tunnel vision” could also be him simply being a product of his environment, as at every stopover during his five years in college, his role was to be a bucket getter.
Bleacher Report recently compared him to Cam Thomas, as he has the ability to be a prolific shot creator and perimeter scorer. But what separates those two and should give Pelicans fans hope about Pierre Jr.’s NBA future is that, unlike Thomas, he isn’t an undersized two with a 6-foot-5, 210-pound frame.
His size positionally helps him defensively as he has both the height and strength to be a pest on the perimeter. However, defense is definitely still an area for improvement—he’s always shown flashes on that end but has struggled to be consistent.
With limited roster space, my guess is New Orleans doesn’t use a standard contract spot on Pierre Jr., but he'll occupy one of their three two-way roster spots entering the season.
We saw the value of having a plug-and-play floor spacer on a two-way deal last season with Bryce McGowens. Having another player ready to go who is allowed to play 50 games and address a real weakness when he plays is huge for the Pelicans.
Although a trade-up or some form of roster shuffling would’ve been great, it’s important to give credit where it’s due, and Troy Weaver and Joe Dumars deserve credit. They identified a talent they liked that fills a need and went out and got him at the very end of the draft.
