Gee Balance/The Who Dat Daily.com

New Orleans Pelicans Contributor

New Orleans, LA- The Pelicans Brass traded the 4th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft to the Atlanta Hawks for the 10th, 17th, 35th & the 2020 protected first round pick. The Pelicans later selected Texas Longhorn bigman Jaxson Hayes with the 10th overall pick.

Hayes 6-11 225 lbs, is considered by some as the best bigman prospect in the draft. He averaged 10 ppg 5 rpg 2 blks and shot almost 73% from the field while at Texas.

Hayes was also named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, second-team All-Big 12 and Big 12 All-Defense.

The former 4 star prospects overall scouting was as follows: Jaxson Hayes projects as a player that will, at minimum, be able to protect the rim, rebound, and catch lobs on offense from day one … He’s still pretty early in his development, and may be prone to some mistakes early, and take some time to develop, but his upside is clearly there … His elite frame, and fluid athleticism could render him one of the better defensive bigs in the NBA one day with the proper development … Unlike a lot of raw bigs, he actually shoots the ball pretty well, and is already hitting free throws at 74% … This gives him some intrigue as a player who could potentially develop on both sides of the ball … 

The Pelicans see Hayes as a big who can run the floor and defend the paint. The Pelicans have acquired talent in the Lakers trade that have solved many of the team’s needs. The potential lineup of the Pelicans look like this:

PG Lonzo Ball

SG Jrue Holiday

SF Brandon Ingram

PF Zion Williamson

C Jaxson Hayes

This isn’t a bad line-up and actually a very exciting unit. The Jaxson Hayes draft pick solves some serious defensive issues that dogged the team last year.