Pelicans' Attempts to Trade into the Lottery Highlight Frustrating Incompetence

The New Orleans Pelicans enter the 2026 NBA Draft without a first-round pick. The only selection they have is the 58th-overall pick. It turns out, however, that the Pelicans aren't satisfied sitting around and waiting for their turn. In fact, Joe Dumars is reportedly active in trying to trade into the lottery, per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto.

In his latest reporting, Scotto said that the Pelicans are "believed to be targeting a specific player in the top-10 range."

Reported Pelicans Interest in a Lottery Pick Is a Big Mistake

This is frustrating to watch for Pelicans fans. New Orleans could have had the No. 8 pick in the draft if it hadn't traded it to Atlanta in the Derik Queen trade. If anything, the pick would have been higher if the Pelicans had kept it, since they would have presumably lost games intentionally down the stretch.

That is not even the only lottery pick the Pelicans could have had in this year's draft. New Orleans had control of Indiana's 2026 first-round pick as well. Before the 2025 NBA Draft, the Pelicans sent that pick back to the Pacers for the No. 23 pick in 2025. That was the pick the Pelicans later attached to their unprotected 2026 first to acquire Queen from Atlanta. That 2026 pick ended up being the fifth-overall selection.

So, instead of having two picks in the top ten of the 2026 NBA Draft, the Pelicans have Queen. This has nothing to do with Queen as a player. He has shown some promise in his rookie campaign, despite an inconsistent defensive effort. He might become a high-level starter for a long time, but that doesn't take away from the disastrous miscalculation by the Pelicans front office.

Now, the Pelicans are potentially making things even worse. Even though we don't know who they are specifically targeting in the draft, the fact that they are even thinking about it suggests organizational incompetence.

Since the end of the season, Dumars has been suggesting that the roster isn't far from competing. He has been signaling a desire to get better next season, highlighted by the hiring of Jamahl Mosley. The Pelicans have shown an unwillingness to listen to trade offers for Zion Williamson, Herb Jones, and Trey Murphy because they want to stay relevant and competitive.

The idea of adding a lottery pick into the mix is contradictory to everything the Pels have been communicating so far. Mosley has to navigate giving developmental time to Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen while trying to stay as competitive as possible. This proved to be very challenging for Willie Green and James Borrego last season, bringing an end to their time in New Orleans.

Now, the Pelicans are seemingly doing the same thing. They presumably have to give up a valuable asset to acquire a lottery pick. Whether it's Murphy, Jones, or future draft capital, the Pelicans have to give up a haul to convince a team to part ways with a top-ten pick.

Given where the Pelicans are as a franchise, this is clearly ill-advised. Unless this signals a complete overhaul of the front office's approach, this is just repeating the same mistakes of the past.

If the Pelicans are actually going to trade their valuable veterans for draft capital and rebuild from the bottom, then this is a good idea. Otherwise, this does nothing except for further angering an already frustrated fanbase.

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