Three Teams who Could Benefit from the No. 1 Pick at the 2027 NBA Draft

Evaluating three teams who could need the top pick the most.

Apr 3, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) during the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The NBA and college basketball seasons are on the horizon, with media days and various preseasons scraps kicking off in the coming weeks. That means we're near to moving into the 2027 NBA Draft cycle, which will offer a whole new crop of players to infuse both leagues with talent.

The '27 class isn't presently thought of to be as strong as 2026, and the new lottery rules will cause major shockwaves through the NBA. Though teams are still set to vie for the No. 1 overall pick.

Below are three teams who could benefit from an infusion of talent in 2027:

Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets have long picked near the top of the NBA Draft, and are fresh off a Play-In appearance. Still, they traded LaMelo Ball in the offseason, and now have need of another 1A player to build around.

Players like Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller are close to that line, but seem more like super compliments to a star core rather than the pinnacle.

The Hornets now find themselves in the perfect range to land a potential top pick, not quite in the bottom tier while likely still being too far away to make the postseason.

Sacramento Kings

As of now, the Kings are likely the most talent-devoid team in the NBA, though that’s somewhat by design as they re-position themselves for a new era in the Western Conference.

They’ve loosed themselves from veterans, and are now moving forward with a young core centered around Darius Acuff Jr., Keegan Murray, Maxime Raynaud and more first-round picks. They still have win-now talent in Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine, though even those players likely aren’t long for Sacramento if the organization can find value.

A No. 1-level talent would do plenty for the Kings to get things back on track.

New Orleans Pelicans

While the Pelicans have more talent and upside than they have in several seasons, they’re still in desperate need of a game-changing talent that will transform their outlook.

So far, Zion Williamson — the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft — hasn’t been that. And at 26 and only three seasons of 60-plus games, it isn’t likely he’ll find a new gear, even if he finds consistency.

New Orleans is also armed with players like Trey Murphy III, Dejounte Murray, Herb Jones and young players like Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen and Bennedict Mathurin. If the organization can land one top talent to pull everything together, things could be looking up.