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[Jack's the newest member of our Bird Writes writing staff, and he'll be covering all Pelicans news stories this summer as they come up. Welcome! - Rohan]
The official offseason has not even started and the New Orleans Pelicans have already begun looking to make changes to the roster. According to Marc Spears of Yahoo!, the Pelicans have been actively searching for a draft pick.
Pelicans aggressively trying to trade into 1st round in hopes of drafting a small forward or center, sources say.2014 1st dealt in Jrue deal
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) June 14, 2014
The Pelicans are currently without any draft picks due to the Jrue Holiday trade (10th overall) and Antonio Daniels trade (40th overall) but are currently working the phones to see the value of picks. As Spears cited, the Pelicans are looking for a small forward and center, both of which are positions New Orleans needs the most.
So where would they be looking? Outside of the "Big Three" Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, you can find most of the mid and late first round saturated with small forwards and centers including TJ Warren, Kristaps Porzingis, Cleanthony Early, Clint Capela, and K.J McDaniels. The major concern is that finding a trading partner will be challenging. Only the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns own multiple picks that fall in the mid and late first round and will likely be looking for immediate help rather than a project.
A likely trading piece would be Pierre Jackson, a second round pick from Baylor who thrived in the D-League and scored prolifically. He could help teams like the Bulls, Grizzlies, Heat, and Rockets and would only cost them a draft pick. The news surrounding the Pelicans is very intriguing and it won’t be the last we hear about New Orleans this offseason.